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| DIRECTED BY |
| Wim Wenders
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| STARRING |
| Solveig Dommartin |
| William Hurt |
| Sam Neill |
| Max von Sydow |
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One can easily compare the major difference between what happens to a movie when a filmmaker loses focus of his ideas (�Until the End of the World�) and what happens to a movie when a filmmaker focuses upon his ideas well (�Wings of Desire.�) The difference is quite obvious � unfocused ideas result in a rather sloppy, frustrating, and often incoherent film whereas focused ideas make some sort of an impact (this may not always be positive, but it�s better than a mess nonetheless.)
Wenders tried to make this film into so much more than what is essentially is � a cyberpunk film noir � that it falls unbearably out of control. There is most definitely room for philosophizing within the cyberpunk genre, but it�s not a good thing when everything that preceded the film is thrown onto the back burner in order to make these statements (this film is a case in point.) Some parts don�t even make any sense whatsoever � for instance, why does the detective feel somehow compelled to surrender to Sam after searching so much for him? Is Sam some sort of an unearthly character? Is Wenders trying to make some sort of religious statement here now? None of this works well.
As per usual with a Wenders film, there�s much to admire as well � its lighting is wonderfully crafted, particularly in relation to the dark blue texture that is created in the aforementioned scenes. There are some very well executed communications ideas such as the bizarrely constructed video telephones that we see throughout the film. The story that the film sets off on is actually quite a curiously entertaining film noir-like road movie with decent characterizations until it suddenly reverts into its boring, heavy-handed subplot.
I could only ask myself �why?� when I began to see what appeared to be a slapstick sequence that Wenders decided to throw into this film which involves overblown music and angry, acrobatic Chinesemen. It�s one of those ridiculously puzzling sequences that directors just whimsically decide to include in their film once in a while simply for the hell of it, because there�s certainly no other way to justify it. As a matter of fact, Wenders� choice of music for this whole film just seems wrong � a fight scene between Neill and Hurt with poppish music playing in the background is another oddity.
Variations motivations between characters in this film are only decipherable if the viewer puts a lot of thought into it, because the writers certainly didn�t bother explaining anything very clearly. The film loses any suspense that it may have had once it begins its dream storyline with von Sydow, which is kind of interesting when it doesn't get too melodramatic. However, the fact that so many characters who were made out to be prominent in the film�s previous hours just fade away into the background is simply unforgivable.
