FILM
Mortality is What Gives Life Meaning
2 hours and 10 minutes. 17 nominations. 12 wins. $4 million in the box office.
Those are the numbers of Wings of Desire, the 1987 film directed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders, which follows two angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) as they watch over the citizens of Berlin (divided by the Berlin Wall) and listen to their thoughts, recording the world’s events. The film primarily follows Damiel, as he begins to fall in love with a trapeze artist (Marion, played by Solveig Dommartin) as well as the pleasures and pains of human life. The movie ultimately ends off with Damiel making the irreversible decision to become a human, choosing to give up his immortality to spend whatever time he has with the woman he loves.
However, when talking about the film, its impressive numbers are far outshined by the cultural impact the film has had — spurring several adaptations, both on the film and the stage.
More importantly, I believe that in Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders shares his perspective on mortality — and the importance of it in giving life its meaning.
The proof of this lies in how Wenders utilises his camera and the power of editing.
Black/White
The most fundamental choice Wenders has made when it comes to the camera is that he has chosen to film the majority of the movie in black and white, with a select few scenes filmed in colour.
Hence it’s important to consider, why would Wenders film in black and white?
Subconsciously, we associate black and white with bleakness, and colour as being filled with life and depth.
So when it comes to Wenders’ perspective on mortality and the meaning that it provides life with, the use of black and white for as long as Damiel exists as an angel is telling of this perspective.
Damiel exists as an angel — an immortal being with no fear of getting hurt or experiencing pain — his life has no definitive start and endpoint and continues for eternity. By using black and white to follow Damiel’s journey, we are subconsciously aware of his growing boredom with life as an angel, and so when Damiel eventually decides that he’s had enough and wants to go down to live his life as a human, the viewer isn’t surprised.
On the contrary, when we see Marion in the middle of her trapeze act, the audience sees this in full vivid colour.
This juxtaposes the bleak nature of immortal life with the risk and thrill that a mortal existence has.
And this point is emphasised by the fact that Marion’s trapeze act is something of an art, as she balances on the edge of life and death. One slip and she would fall to her death. It’s a risky activity, but the fact that there are real stakes to what she does is what makes every living second so important, and this is shown through the use of colour.
When Damiel comes down to Earth, the film turns into colour — indicating that now, Damiel is just like anyone else. A car could drive through him, he could fall off a bridge, he could die. The fact that his time is now limited gives it meaning — his mortality gives his life meaning.
Damiel’s Descent (or Ascent) To Earth
The most important scene in the film to demonstrate how mortality gives life meaning is when Damiel descends (or ascends, depending on how you look at it) to human life.
In this intellectual montage, Wenders utilises the power of editing and camera movement to show the audience how Damiel has found a new meaning in his life — now that he has a life.
In the two shots above, Ganz’s acting really shines through. For most of the film he has played a character that is worn and tired, and with his transition to a human, he has changed into essentially a newborn in a grown man’s body. This switch in character, accompanied with the fact that this scene shows the first few moments of Damiel’s life as a human, communicates very clearly to the audience that Damiel has just been born, and this is a definitive start point to his life — implying that there is now a concrete end coming for Damiel unlike when he was an angel.
After Damiel purchases his coffee and experiences warmth for the first time, there are two long tracking shots following Damiel, with only one cut in between. The extended length of these shots signifies how the little moments in life, such as commute, are so much more extended now that Damiel is walking closer and closer to an end. Prior to this, the film never really showed any extended scenes of Damiel walking — it’s implied through the cuts that since he’s an angel, travel is almost instant for him. When he comes down, however, he is just like everyone else — having to wait to get from point A to point B.
These two tracking shots are effective in not only showing how now, Damiel actually experiences time, but also creates a subtle sense of impatience in the viewer whilst Damiel seems to enjoy the long walk. I believe that this is reflective of how as mortals, we feel a sort of frustration seeing Damiel spend time walking when he could just call a taxi and get to his destination quicker, and we feel this way because we’ve been mortal for all our lives, and time is running out by the second, giving it value.
“Time!”
Damiel exclaims whilst talking to Peter Falk (a former angel). He is excited by the concept of time, with the mise-en-scene of the watch further exemplifying this excitement. Both the watch and the dialogue in this scene, paired with Ganz’s newborn-like charm exhibits the value of time when it comes to life — in his immortal state, the concept of time didn’t exist, and now it does.
The montage continues, with Damiel discovering more and more about what it’s like to be human — the little nuances of life, such as the heat on a cup of coffee, interactions with children — all experiences that are marvellous to Damiel.
In conclusion, it is evident that through his creative decisions, Wenders shares his perspective on mortality (amongst many others) and how the limited time we have on this planet is what gives it meaning. Wenders utilises the difference between black and white film and colour film to express his ideas on mortality, and the montage in the film where Damiel descends to Earth further shows the importance of mortality through the eyes of someone who was able to choose between being mortal and immortal. Wings of Desire leaves its viewers with this idea, and upon finishing the film, places a question into the viewer’s head:
Am I truly living?
