When I bought my first DVD player a few years ago, I made a short list of movies I felt were must-haves. The ones I really, really wanted on my shelf.
High on that list was Wim Wenders' 1988 German-language film "Wings of Desire."
So imagine my disappointment when I discovered it had not been released on DVD and, at that time, there were not plans to release it any time soon.
Fortunately, that error was rectified last week when the film was issued at last on an extras-laden disc (MGM, PG-13, $24.98).
I've seen "Wings of Desire" several times since reviewing it in 1988 but never with its imagery so gorgeously pristine — perhaps not even when I saw it the first time in a theater.
Movies about angels or the afterlife are fairly common, but those that are thought-provoking are quite rare. This is one of those, as Wenders spins a story about our guardian angels envying our mortality; what they really want more than anything else is to experience life on Earth. And especially to experience love.
The idea of an angel yearning for mortal love is not new to the movies — check out "The Bishop's Wife" or "Heaven Can Wait" or any number of others. But in Wenders' hands, this deceptively simple idea gets some unique twists and his direction is so graceful and artistic, and the film is so gentle and hopeful, that it is not only satisfying but lingers long after it's over.
Bruno Ganz stars as a wistful angel in Berlin named Damiel who, with his more playful compatriot Cassiel (Otto Sander) and a few other angels we see here and there, observes human kind and attends to those in need.
They cannot be seen by the people with whom they mingle . . . except very young children. But as overlapping human thoughts fill their ears and compassion fills their hearts, they offer a light "touch" on the shoulder or sit next to someone, in an effort to bring spiritual comfort. Often, they help; sometimes, they have little or no effect.
Eventually, Damiel confides to Cassiel that he would like to be mortal. And when Damiel falls in love with a trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin), his desire to shed his wings becomes all the more urgent.
He does get his wish and in the film's final third, Damiel marvels at the smallest human experiences and begins in earnest to pursue the woman he loves.
One of Wenders' most interesting ideas here is to show the angels' points of view in black and white, which accounts for most of the first two-thirds of the film. After Damiel becomes mortal, it switches (mostly) to color. It's a tricky bit of metaphorical business that works perfectly.
Also tricky and surprisingly successful is casting Peter Falk in a supporting role as himself, the actor who starred in TV's "Columbo." He's in Berlin to make a movie — and he reveals a startling secret about himself before the film is over.
Add to all of this the wonderfully thoughtful commentary by Wenders, in both a feature-length audio track over the film (with Falk occasionally chiming in) and in documentary "extras," and the result is one heavenly DVD.
"The Song of Bernadette" (Fox, 1943, not rated, b/w, $19.98) is also fairly new to DVD, with an audio commentary that puts the story behind the film (and the book on which it is based) into perspective with the history of miracles in latter-day history.
Jennifer Jones' excellent Oscar-winning performance as a young girl in 19th century France who sees a vision of the Virgin Mary and, as a result, receives no end of persecution, is still quite compelling and uplifting.
The supporting cast is also strong and Alfred Newman's Oscar-winning score is among his most stirring (also discussed at length in the extras). A bit overlong, but who cares?
Extras: full frame, audio commentary, biography of Jones, newsreel, restoration footage, trailer, etc.
E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com