Faraway, So Close! (1993)
Damiel is now married to Marion, runs the pizzeria “Da Angelo” and the two have a child. The solitarily remaining angel Cassiel is more and more dissatisfied with his destiny as a mere observer of human life and finally decides to take the great leap. As Karl Engel he soon gets into a dubious milieu and finds himself as the assistant of the German American Baker, who makes his money with shady arms deals and sends films east in exchange for weapons. Cassiel’s adventure turns into a “thriller” when he decides to put a stop to Baker’s game.
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A group of angels in the German capital look longingly upon the life of humans.I think generally people consider "Wings of Desire" to be the better film between that one and this. And there is good reason for that. One, it was first, so it has a bit of an edge on originality. And two, it was remade into "City of Angels", so it got some attention from Hollywood. The average American film-goer probably has no idea there was a German version 9or a sequel).But I think this film has its own charm. Peter Falk is amusing, and you wonder if he really draws and why he would be in Berlin. Willem Dafoe (who does not play himself) was still relatively unknown at this point (though this is post-Last Temptation) and it is nice to see him in a European film. To this day (2016), he never shies away from controversial films, even if he is kind of a jerk in real life.
I really like "Der Himmel über Berlin", so I was delighted to see Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Otto Sander and Solveig Dommartin back for a second film directed by Wim Wenders and written by Wenders and Reitinger again as well. Sadly, everybody from this quartet has a significantly smaller role except (the recently deceased Sander who plays the lead character this time, but is my least favorite of them. Instead, they added rising star Nastassja Kinski (daughter to Klaus), Willem Dafoe (who plays a mysterious character as usual that you cannot summarize with either "good" or "bad"), Mikhail Gorbachev (in small cameo) and German acting legend Heinz Rühmann (already over 90, in his final role).There are some similarities compared to the film. A big part of it is in black and white again and it changes to color after Sander's character becomes human. Sadly, the strength of the first film, the whole poetic approach to life and atmosphere was sacrificed here a bit for stories on homelessness, alcoholism and a major crime-related plot. At least, Peter Falk brought some comedic delight again when he pretends to check a location for an upcoming Columbo movie. For me, a major reason why I rated this film lower than its prequel is because I also prefer Ganz a lot over Sander. Apart from that, the ending was slightly confusing and I felt they could have cut out at least 15-20 minutes and not hurt the film. The German Film Festival, Cannes Palme d'Or and Golden Globe Awards probably disagree as they gave this movie some recognition.All in all, I would say this is still a fairly good movie on its own, even if it hardly never reached the greatness from the first. Fans of Wenders' "Alice in den Städten" could also give this a go.
This is my favorite movie of all time. I saw it at its time of release and now own it on DVD. It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. The movie really portrays the complexities of us human beings, so wonderful and yet so frail. Cassiel discovers that life as a human is much harder than he thought, but despite the despair and temptations, there is hope and tenderness... I haven't seen the Wings of Desire -only its very bad Hollywood remake, City of Angels- but I don't think you have to see that other movie, so called prequel, to appreciate this beautiful film. Cassiel becomes a human for his love of all human kind, not one particular person... that's a great definition of unconditional love.
"Far Away, So Close" (1993): The sequel to "Wings of Desire" by Wim Wenders. You have to understand that "Wings..." is probably THE film I would take with me to the proverbial desert island...i.e., the film I most often claim is my FAVORITE film of all time. Sequels are famous for being weak, distorted, caricaturized follow-ups of their originals. This is no exception. Because of WHO made this one, I've given it four chances. Wenders either hits or misses by what I'm guessing is over-enthusiasm for his work - which doesn't always allow him the restraint needed to stick to a single, clear issue. "Far Away, So Close" HAS the original seed of "Wings of Desire" in it...but is quickly deserted for a montage of other ideas, each one worthy of it's own film, but jammed into this "part two". Whereas "Wings..." leaves you with a feeling of the grandeur of the universe, the real meaning we all seek...."Far..." leaves me with a "so what/oh brother/gimme a break" feeling, topped off by an extremely stupid "theme song" at the end that is just plain embarrassing. Please SEE "Wings of Desire". Please AVOID "Far Away, So Close".