Wings of Desire (DVD)

This highly-acclaimed and beautifully atmospheric film by German director, Wim Wenders, reveals  a world of trench-coated angels inhabiting the skies above a war-wounded Berlin who descend  to earth to listen to the conflicted thoughts of mortals, extending comfort and love.  One angel’s emotional investment deepens to the point where he yearns to become mortal himself, having fallen in love with a graceful trapeze performer.

Being a librarian, one of the things that I liked the most about this visually stunning and psychologically-nuanced movie was that one physical space in which these angels silently spoke to the melancholy humans in need of their comfort and care were the communal yet contemplative spaces of libraries.

Oddly enough, Peter Falk, plays himself in this absorbing and original film.