Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Scarecrow-88 Cassiel(Otto Sandler)decides to follow Damiel's path and become human, but realizes that this world differs greatly from where he came from. His supposed "nemesis" is a shady character named Emit Flesti(Willem Dafoe playing him very oddly)who can communicate through both worlds..he talks with Cassiel's "angel partner" Raphaela(Nastassja Kinski)and can also chat away with mortals. He seems to have this particular interest in time and time seems to be very prevalent in how Cassiel views this brand new world. The world to Cassiel can be a curious beast..he starts out as any new babe in a brand new world by slowly adjusting to his surroundings. He visits several mortals he viewed as an angel in the other existence taking what little he knew from them incorporating everything into his new man..Karl Engel. As Karl, he has a hard time making headway in the mortal world, at one point deep in an alcoholic daze, but meets a corrupt businessman who changes him into a whole different person. Money begins to slowly corrupt Karl who is entering a world of crime with his boss that may ruin his goal set when he even decided to come to our world..to try and bring humanity to a cold and sad world. That seems to be Flesti's desire(as he often tells Raphaela who often begs him to let Karl alone)for Cassiel..that his Karl descend in this mortal world finding out that he doesn't belong here and should return to his angel duties.This film is quite a contrast to "Wings of Desire" for which it's a sequel. While Damiel's entrance to our mortal realm was indeed because of love for his beloved Marion(the lovely Solveig Dommartin)for whom he often shadowed, Cassiel's decision came because he wanted to make a difference..bring joy to a disheartened world. But, corruption, greed, and other vices may put a damper on those plans. The film, through Wenders direction, lovingly meanders with the German and American languages often mixed together as characters speak. There's less of a melancholic tone to this one where "WoD" was centered in a location of West Berlin before the wall came down and many's hopes and dreams seemed nil. Like in the first film, the camera offers a POV shot of how Cassiel flies, and there's the drifting between B&W and Color to show the changing of worlds for which the angels and mortals inhibit.

MartinHafer Every so often, I come upon a film that I can't really describe as either GOOD or BAD--they just seem to transcend words and explanation. What you think of this movie will depend a lot upon whether or not you pay strict attention and try to make sense of the movie or just turn off your brain and watch the beauty of this movie. If you are one of those who want it to make sense, then you will sadly disappointed, as the movie abounds with plot holes and inconsistencies. But, if you just turn off your brain, you will be amply rewarded. I think I fall more in the first group, as at times I got awfully bogged down by the MANY problems with the plot (naming all of them would take pages, believe me). But, I gotta respect the makers of this film to taking risks and trying to produce something unique!One final word. This is the sequel to Wings of Desire and the original is a much more satisfying movie overall. If you only see one, see Wings of Desire.

cindy_bcr It's difficult to make a sequel as good as the original. If it's done in the same style, it becomes a poor shadow. Here, Wim Wenders has made something different than in "Wings of Desire:" what I consider a comedy of a misfit ex-angel, to counter the desire of an angel to become human in the other film.Near the end of the other movie, we saw one of the angels, Damiel, become human for the love of a beautiful trapeze artist. In this film, we see the other angel, Cassiel, become human by accident as he wanted to help people. As much as he wanted to fit in with our world, the more he tried to do good, the worse trouble actually made of things. He often quotes the Lou Reed song he heard: "Why can't I be good, make something of this life?"There is a cameo appearance of a world leader, when Mikhail Gorbachev (filmed the summer after resigning as Soviet president) ponders the age-old question about the meaning and purpose of life; or two leaders if counting that the guard dog's name is Khadafy. There are jokes about getting lost between East and West, since the Wall no longer was there as a landmark. But there is the serious side at the beginning, of the war and the Nazi past, which is a little hard to follow. I almost forgot about it as I got caught up in the humor of the fallen angel, but even that had the darker side of an evil angel who was leading him astray. Yet the ending tied everything together nicely.Like "Wings of Desire," there are nice transitions between black and white, which is how the angels see the world, and color, for how humans see things. There is also a poem started at the beginning, about humans being everything to the angels, when Cassiel looks down from the statue to "you whom we love." The angels are just the "messengers who bring light to those in darkness." The poem is repeated at the ending, adding that the message is love.The angels lament that humans can only believe what they can see and touch. The Wall fell, the tangible symbol of the division between East and West, yet still one driver whose thoughts we heard couldn't see what the difference was between the two areas; freedom can't be seen or touched. Love, the angels message, can be neither seen nor touched, yet that, and not "blood and steel" (as said the Russian poet and diplomat that Gorbachev quotes), is what is needed for there to be peace.

Carl S Lau "Faraway, So Close!" is a very confusing movie if one has either not seen its predecessor, "Wings of Desire," or knows something about that movie. I was in that state when I first viewed "Faraway, So Close!" and could only think that I was watching an artsy movie. Fortunately, the movie is now available on DVD in a widescreen anamorphic version with the director's commentary of Wim Wenders. The movie began in black and white and seemed to morph every now and then into color that had me wondering whether or not I had a defective DVD. Eventually, I figured out, as the movie was running, that this was intentional with the black and white sequences depicting the angel(s) observing humans. In the meantime, I managed to miss much of the subtlties of the movie that were only revealed from the lips of Wim Wenders in his running audio commentary. With a backdrop of Berlin, the movie was filmed in German. Fortunately, there are English subtitles and it is sometimes odd when the dialog actually breaks into English. As Wenders points out, this was his third movie with Nastassja Kinski that began with her very first movie in 1975, "The Wrong Movement," and was followed by the 1984 "Paris, Texas." Spaced approximately 10 years apart and with "Faraway, So Close" in 1993, Wenders mentioned that it is now time to do a fourth picture with Nastassja. One can only hope that it materializes.The basic story has to do with the protagonist as Cassiel, the actor Otto Sander, taking human form from his previous angelic state in which he can only observe and sympathize. An event propels his wishful transformation into the human dilemma. Wim Wenders said that this film was a continuation of "Wings of Desire" and not a sequel. It is probably splitting hairs because I do not readily understand the difference, if any. Nastassja Kinski has the major supporting role of Raphaela and is always shown in black and white. Raphaela becomes Cassiel's, always present, angel. It is a very difficult role to pull off because Nastassja only has her voice (in German), her facial expressions, her hands, and her body movements to bring her character to life. Her on screen presence appears natural and effortless. It is nothing less than a superb performance of a first rate actress. But it is up to Otto Sander to carry the movie. The supporting cast is first rate.My third viewing of the film was an experience. 146 minutes passes relatively quickly. The film is dripping with intensity and is larger than life. Wim Wenders' vision and its execution is astonishing and will reverberate through time because it captures the essence of life and death. It is a movie director's awesome tour de force.