The left’s ongoing wakeful fascist era has turned into a re-watch of Wim Wenders’ masterpiece wings of desire (1987) For something special.
We are all human, and as humans we tend to take things for granted. Sometimes it’s good. Youth wasted on youth, they say i disagree. The joy of youth is taking youth and health for granted. It would be a shame to give youth to someone as exhausted and experienced as I am. I would not sacrifice for anything the glorious decades I thought I would live forever, nor would I deprive others of that joy.
Yet it is both human nature and a curse to take things for granted, especially when one of the main keys to happiness is gratitude. and they have one thing in common: ingratitude. They want, want, want… all they can do is want, want, want… want let everyone be themselves want they should be.they want money.they want fame.they want free college.they want Life is easy, kind, and positive.
And they appreciate nothing.
Even in this rich cultural miracle of ours, with air conditioning, iPhones, Netflix, central heating, refrigeration, hot and cold water, microwave ovens, cable TV, and enough food, the poor are better than the old pharaohs. are also living well. They are worth nothing if they cause an obesity “crisis”. It’s all for granted. Their misery and their twisted need therefore make the rest of us miserable.
Losing something certainly helps us appreciate what we had…and that is another curse. ) is required. have instead of what had or what hope. That’s why you need to call your parents now. Here’s why you should play with your dog right now. And why should you entertain your own little ones before they make you quit college.
Put down your phone and go for a walk. Risk a little boredom to appreciate the trees, the air, and what your neighborhood is now.
the first and only time i saw wings of desire I didn’t appreciate it. Twenty years ago I found it a little boring, a little slow, a little too intellectual. More than an hour has passed. That said, something about this movie stuck with me, and yet I didn’t appreciate it.
Last night I did.
If only there was a love letter to humanity more beautiful than this wings of desireHaven’t seen it yet.
There is an angel in the sky above the still-divided city of Berlin. They are not guardian angels (which I always pretend to be silly). They are like observers. they are watching us They listen to our thoughts and write them down. Although God is never mentioned (Wenders has been a Christian for several years), you can sense that these angels are part of His omnipotence. Through them he knows everything, including our thoughts.
*****SPOILER GWYNETHPALTROW’S HEADIS IN THE BOXSPOILERS***
As divine stewards, like gods, they do not intervene in the natural world. For example, one angel helplessly watches as a desperate man (he thought of the woman he loved last) jumps to his death. Another angel witnesses a man dying in a motorcycle accident. The only thing these angels can do (or are willing to do) is to place a comforting hand on our shoulders and direct our thoughts to a better place… perhaps already good within us. to what? I do not know. I’m glad it wasn’t explained. Think twice, why did the angel touch the fateful motorcycle and his rider’s thoughts out of blind panic…
leaf veins. blowing grass. stone color. Pebbles on the river bed. White tablecloth outdoors. A dream of a house within a house. Beloved sleeping in the next room. peaceful sunday. horizon. Light from the garden room. It’s a night flight. Ride a bike without using your hands. beautiful stranger. my father. my mother. my wife. my child.
Much like real life, Wenders’ life in Berlin is endlessly mundane, a mundane day-to-day routine, where Wenders spends most of his time laying out cards methodically in a way that sneaks up on you. . In the thoughts of these everyday people we expect to hear drama, darkness and evil – this is a movie after all. I expect to come across the killer.
It still smells the same, just more dust. she collected them all. Trading stamps, postcards. even a ticket. She didn’t throw anything away. she couldn’t. Mother—She wasn’t my mother. My father — my father was my father. she died No tears, no sorrow. Maybe later. God, I’m old. my sister is coming i have to get out of here
Elsewhere, fathers worry about their sons and how they feel about them…
God, what’s going on with that kid? Music is the only thing on his mind. No, I can’t take it anymore. what more does he want? I already bought him a guitar. Does he want the drums now too? It costs a lot of money. I’m fed up Will he ever come to his senses? I’m fed up. This cannot continue. This really has to stop. I can’t go on about this anymore.
So does your mother…
No wonder. He only learned rock and roll. Maybe he will figure himself out one day.I have no choice but to expect
Here are the thoughts of a lone, bright trapeze artist who finds himself unemployed tomorrow…
So that’s it. It doesn’t even have a season. Again, no time to really go anywhere. My circus dream is a memory of him 10 years from now. Tonight is the last time to do good old numbers. Also full moon, “the trapeze player breaks his neck”. be quiet! …and I am a waitress again.
Wenders understands that we humans are mostly good, and that this good turns us into anxieties, worries, stresses, insecurities, questions about why we are here, a bundle of contradictions. I’m here. A dark corner of our thoughts. Most of all, Wenders understands that these constant anxieties overwhelm our heads and entire beings, undermining the endless joy of being human.
To regain our senses, the director asks us to see ourselves through the immortal angels who have been here from the beginning since the tide found the shore. …they never feel pain, never worry about rent or cancer or leaks…yet they envy us. The existence that we envy… we.
I’m not going to spoil one of the movie’s more satisfying reveals (you can spoil it yourself and watch the scene here), but in the most unexpected way, the moral of the story is told through a human who was once an angel.
Let’s smoke cigarettes and drink coffee here. And if we do it together, it’s great. Or to draw: use a pencil to draw a dark line, then a light line, and put together a good line. Or when your hands are cold and you rub them together, voila, it feels good! There are many good things.
Our main character is an angel named Damiel (the late Bruno Ganz). He’s seen the best and worst of humanity, and yet he wants us to be.
[I]Coming home after a long day and feeding the cat like Philip Marlowe, getting a fever, getting black fingers from the newspaper, not just the mind, but finally the excitement of the food, The line of the neck around the ear. lie! through your teeth. When you walk, you can feel your bones moving. Last guess instead of always knowing.
Most importantly, he wants this.
With every step, every gust of wind, I say, “Come on. It’s no longer ‘forever’ or ‘forever.’
now.
And after Damiel becomes human, he asks for this:
First, take a bath. Then have a Turkish barber shave and massage your fingertips. Then I buy a newspaper and read everything from headlines to horoscopes. We are waiting for you on the first day…
Yes, there are love stories, beautiful and moving things, but nothing is more beautiful than indescribable than a reminder from an angel that there is so much to be grateful for and in gratitude you will find the key to happiness.
wings of desire I’m not asking you to reach for the stars, chase your dreams, or do anything other than appreciate life as it is. And all I can say is Amen.
Can you imagine a movie like this being made today? A movie that teaches us to appreciate humanity instead of depicting us as diseases and parasites… Feeling empty and lonely without a man? A film about the love of a man who wants to support and protect the woman he is, is a blessing and not sexist or regressive?
Earlier, when I wrote about your lack of appreciation, offal, that’s what I meant…. I have always loved and appreciated cinema, but one of the benefits of this anti-art, anti-human awakening era is a stronger appreciation for the humanism in cinema that I once took for granted.
There are many good things.
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