Faraway, So Close! review
Review:
The lyrical romance Wings of Desire gets a lighter, less developed sequel in Faraway, So Closefrom director Wim Wenders. As the first film was centered on the angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz) becoming human to be with his love, circus performer Marion(Solveig Dommartin), this story revolves around the less intriguing story of Cassiel (Otto Sander), who questions his angel. The pain of observing humanity without interfering is explored as Cassielcrosses over in an attempt to right some of the wrongs he has witnessed. Wenders works in both color and black-and-white to switch between the angelic and mortal worlds, and he has the newly unified Berlin to wander around in. However, the story wanders around a bit too much when Emit Flesti (Willem Dafoe) arrives to make all sorts of trouble for the newly mortalCassiel. The involvement with gangsters and weapons dealers leads the story into several different directions, making for an overabundance of subplots. Random characters get the tale off track, especially the old chauffer, played by Heinz Ruhmann. Though overlong and meandering, Faraway, So Close offers some worthy spontaneous philosophical moments. by Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
