Corinne Beale- Wings of Desire

The film Wings of Desire is a 1987 movie that depicts the story of an angel who grows tired of overseeing human activity. He falls in love with a human girl and wishes to become mortal, as she is, that he may be with her. The filmmakers use four main techniques to portray various symbolisms in this film. These techniques include color scheme, actors playing themselves, time depicted from two dimensions and prose versus poetry.  The color scheme in this film was an intentional way of aiding the viewer in understanding what point of view the present scene was in. Portions of the film were in black and white, which is indicative of the angels’ point of view. When a scene was portrayed in color, it meant that it was the humans’ vantage point. The second technique used was actors playing themselves. This is seen in the character Peter Falk, who played himself as a movie star in the film. Falk’s character is also unique in that it is discovered that he was once an angel who became a mortal human in order to pursue an acting career. This is what Damiel’s wish is, as he desires a human life in order to be with Marion, the circus trapeze artist whom he falls in love with. The third technique was time from two different dimensions. The angels, as immortal beings were not bound by time, rather, they were outside of it. The humans, however, were time-bound given their mortal nature. Lastly, the use of prose versus poetry was a technique used by the filmmakers to appeal to viewers in a unique way. The film concludes with the message of, “To Be Continued,” in order to leave viewer wandering what would become of Damiel and Marion’s relationship.