Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27321 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-03
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL, Original recording remastered
• Original language: English, French, German, Turkish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 122 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
"There are angels over the streets of Berlin," quotes the movie poster, but these are like no angels you've ever seen. Bundled in dark overcoats, they watch over the city with ears open to the heartbeat of the human soul, listening to the internal musings and yearnings of earthbound humans like existential detectives. In these delicate, astounding scenes we float through the thoughts of dozens of Berlin citizens, from the weary and worn to the hopeful and young, as the angels record the magic moments for some heavenly record. When Damiel (the empathic and sensitive Bruno Ganz) falls in love with an angel of another sort, the lonely trapeze artist Marion (willowy, sad-eyed Solveig Dommartin), he gives up the contemplation and observation of life to experience it himself.

Wim Wenders' most purely romantic film is like poetry on celluloid, a celebration of the transient and fragile moments of being human: the warmth of a cup of coffee on a cold day, the embrace of a friend, the touch of a lover, the rapture of love. Opening with an angel's-eye view of Berlin in silvery black and white (delicately captured by the great cinematographer Henri Alekan, who photographed Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast 40 years earlier), it transforms into a gauzy colour world when Damiel "crosses over" by sheer will. Peter Falk plays himself as a fallen angel with a special sensitivity for celestial visitors ("I can't see you, but I know you're there," he proclaims), and Otto Sander, whose smiling eyes brighten a face etched by eons of waiting and watching, is Damiel's partner. Wenders made a sequel in 1993, Faraway, So Close, and Hollywood remade the film as City of Angels with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

Special Features
German
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround German
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Outtakes
Deleted Scenes
English Commentary By Wim Wenders
Trailer
Photo Gallery
Wim Wenders Biography
English

Synopsis
The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One of the angels wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist. Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the transformation by explaining the simple joys of a human experience, such as the sublime combination of coffee and cigarettes. Simultaneously sentimental and cerebral.

Customer Reviews

There must be an angel
"Wenders never would have dared pull that stunt with the angels had Fassbinder been alive" - but I'm so glad he did.

I saw this film in -88 and havent forgotten it
For maybe twenty years I've been rethinking scenes from the film over and over. I just recently realized it can be bought, and am about to order it. Then I shall rewatch it. I might be a disappointment, as it has been integrated somehow in my brain. I hope the english subtitles will not confuse me... I might have my friends discover it...
What made this movie so special was the idea of angels actually interfering with our thoughts, making us think differently. Beautiful in a disturbing way. What if this were true, and are they really getting fewer? And the way litterature seemed to play an important role ( I guess that's why they had headquarters in the great library?) And the shock of discovering colour and gravity, all at the same time.. I am really looking forward to see the REAL version again, hoping that my own version isnt better ( It's shorter). This is, in my case, a film that has made a lasting impression.

Watched it after reading reviews...
I rented this film after reading the reviews already posted. I have seen the updated version 'City of Angels' so thought I would give it a go. Maybe after reading the rave reviews I expected a bit more but I found it a bit hard going. I'm a Bruno Ganz fan so it was great to see him probably in his best role. I'm glad I watched it but found it a bit dated, typical 80's film. If you're a Nick Cave fan you will probably love it! Maybe I need to watch it again and I would recommend it .. I went to Berlin recently so it was interesting to see the backdrops of how it used to be. I'm not knocking this film at all... I just expected something else.