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"Everyone loves a detective story..." *spoilers*
posté par FergooseSTAFFMOD le 14 octobre 2021 à 17h50
This line (or similar), delivered by Falk quite early on, primed me for a sensational tale of fallen angels. A whodunnit with the villain obscured despite being in plain sight. Angels tempted into hedonism, but instead of an apple it is the irresistible allure of... erm, rubbing your cold hands together?
I don't think this would be popular with Christians. A randy angel decides to leave the hereafter and centuries of selfless devotion to humanity because he has an itch he wants to scratch. But uh, he did all that because he was in love with her mind and spirit. The fact that she was half his age, attractive and could do the splits had nothing to do with it and we should just ignore the bit where he abused his angelic powers to ogle at her in the nude in her caravan.
Life as an angel was portrayed as boring, so after millenia of tedium who wouldn't be looking for a new job? But I genuinely thought they were going to pull the genius move of making Columbo be Lucifer and show him trying to tempt all these angels to give up their elevated thinking and holy works for the superficial shortlived hedonism of cigarettes, alcohol and Nick Cave (I mean, if wasn't even 'The Boatman Calls').
If Columbo was not Lucifer it is strange why they showed him giving the same sales pitch to Cassiel about "how much I want to tell you", and then when he lures an Angel to mortality he refuses to tell them anything and says "you have to find it out for yourself". This was a complete tease by the director I think, else why include that scene with Cassiel?
Beautifully shot, but I just couldn't get over Columbo not apparently being Lucifer. Make Columbo Lucifer, make Dammiel never find the girl (or be rebuffed by her for being old and balding) and this could have been just about the best thing ever committed to celluloid.
7/10
Réponse de rooprect
le 1 décembre 2021 à 10h58
There's a great line from the movie "Kisses" about 2 runaway kids. After a particularly bad episode, one kid says to the other "You were right, there is no devil. Only people."
I think Wim Wenders understands this sentiment. That's why his movies rarely (never?) have a devil or a personification of evil & temptation. Normal humans have all of this already built in. Hence no need for a fabrication of Lucifer. Have you seen the companion film to Wings of Desire, "Faraway So Close"? I think it might address a few of your issues. It's about Dammiel's friend Cassiel who becomes a human. But Cassiel is drawn to the darker side of humankind. Drugs, violence and all the seedy stuff. Peter Falk is in it as well but once again he plays a neutral angel. Not exactly a disciple of god but not an agent of evil either. That was the purpose of the "tease" you mentioned above: a setup for the sequel.
Not sure what to say about your criticism of the love story. I mean sure. But the whole point of the movie was the idea that a love is what prompts an immortal being to give up immortality ("she was half his age"? More like he was infinity times her age--that's the point!). Strip out love and there's no story. Two dudes in black coats eavesdropping on random conversations for 2 hrs? lol
Réponse de Fergoose
le 4 janvier 2022 à 11h38
Very interesting about the sequel, thanks.
Réponse de rooprect
le 4 janvier 2022 à 11h52
Enjoy! But if you watch it, take it with a grain of salt... parts of it are sorta silly, I think Wim was indulging his comedic side. But there are some cool artistic moments. The final scene does a long walking steadycam on the deck of a boat, then rises up into the air as the boat sails off into the distance. Figure out how he did that with 1993 technology!