Abstract
This article explores the representation of angels in Wim Wenders’ 1987 film Wings of Desire (Der Himmel ueber Berlin). Set in both East and West Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the film follows encounters of two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, with the city’s residents.
Frustrated by being unable to interact with people and the world actively, Damiel, one of the angels, sets out to become human. The article suggests that it is desire that leads him to his decision.
It interprets this desire as longing to have one’s own story, to transcend the borders and limitations of definiteness, and thus realize one’s own meaning of life.