On the forty- second episode of All the Film Things, writer/ director Bassel Jadaa and actor Melissa Lindsey join me in analyzing Wim Wenders’s 1987 romantic fantasy classic, Wings of Desire! This episode is spoiler- filled.
Wings of Desire is a German art film that follows two angels who have been around since the beginning of time, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) in a, literally, divided Berlin, before the wall came down, as they observe and take note of the thoughts of people, young and old, in the city. One angel in particular, Damiel, confesses his desire to become human as he’s grown tired of merely being an observer of humanity, craving to understand the good, bad, and mundane that comes with the human experience, of which he wholeheartedly celebrates. His desire becomes a reality as his falling in love with a trapeze artist named Marion (Solveig Dommartin) motivates him to “take the plunge”. The film also stars Curt Bois and features a special appearance by Peter Falk. Wings of Desire succeeds Wenders’s widely acclaimed film Paris, Texas (1984) and, out of rebellion from calls to make “another Paris, Texas”, Wenders made something completely opposite, which ended up, much to his surprise, achieving higher levels of success. Wings of Desire is one of my very favorite films and is truly one of the most beautiful films ever made as it leaves a significant impact on all those who watch it.
This is both Bassel and Melissa’s first times on the podcast! I first met Bassel a few years ago through attending WIFT events before recurrently attending Jax Film Bar, for which he is one of the hosts. In recent months, we befriended Melissa, who has just recently began attending these events as well. Wings of Desire is Bassel’s very favorite film while this was Melissa’s first time watching the film. As we discuss in the beginning of the episode, we have all been deeply impacted by it. For the first twenty minutes, Bassel's audio is a tad quiet and staticy but I assure you the rest of the episode, his audio is much better! This episode was recorded on May 1, 2025.
Bassel’s long- awaited feature film, Dances of the Dead, is expected to premiere this year so I will keep you all updated on its release! Melissa is a talented free- agent actor/ dancer/ singer so if you have a project in the works, definitely reach out to her @evilseamonkey or on Facebook under her name (Melissa Lindsey)!
Like the film Wings of Desire itself, our conversation seamlessly flows from one talking point to another. In this episode, we examine the thoughts of those the angels encounter, discuss the limited power angels have in helping humans, the important yet overlooked character of Homer, and the surprising way in which this film was made. All this and much more on the latest episode of All the Film Things!
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