Modern Cities and Intellectuals

Kameron 2022-04-22 07:01:32

"Berlin Under the Sky" is a film about modern cities and intellectuals. Taking modern life as the surface, it browses the reconstructed Berlin city and various lives in the city, and compares the contemporary intellectuals' perception of the postmodern world. A sense of alienation clings to it.

The central narrative assumption of the film is the existence of angels. This hypothesis is presented and enriched through several narratives and images: apart from children, angels cannot have any physical contact and contact with real-life individuals, they are invisible, odorless, tasteless and touchless; between angels Can talk to each other, ordinary people can't hear their conversations; Angels have mind-reading skills and can hear the inner monologues of ordinary people; The world of angels is black and white; Angels appeared before the birth of human beings, and they have been bystanders of human society The change. With the help of the above means, the film actually presents the real society as a world of self-talk, autism, no communication and paleness, which actually symbolizes the alienation of individuals in modern society. The angle from which angels observe society and their inability to participate in real life are the typical living conditions and thinking content of European intellectuals after World War II.

In the process of constantly wandering in Berlin, the angel gradually became curious about a circus actress, resulting in a strong will to enter life; later, he finally entered the colorful real world and found a female Actor, after a long period of philosophical dialectical dialogue, the actress "brought the self into her body", the two put aside their fear of the future and uncertainty, and came together with the present as eternity. However, this narrative is different from the average melodrama, and the angel does not officially enter life and develop his love until about two-thirds of the film's length. This is completely different from the handling of the later remake of "City of Angels", which maintains more stream of consciousness and philosophical thinking, and does not organize the film around the core narrative.

Beyond the main characters and core narrative, Under the Berlin Sky can be seen as a documentary about Berlin in the style of an urban symphony. Through the assumption of angels, the film allows a dialogue between the city's past and reality. The comparison between the ruins after World War II and the prosperity in reality shows the uncertainty of "phase" in the sense of Buddhist philosophy. This space on site is characterized and linked. In addition, the film also highlights the two urban spaces of the library and the circus. The library is represented as a quiet, bright, high-contrast religious place, where the modern knowledge depends on the operation of modern society; The circus, on the other hand, is a temporary pyramid-shaped shed with a fluid character, a place of revelry and entertainment, which, together with discos, demonstrates the self-indulgence of modern life. These two spaces form a contrast in multiple angles, representing the living conditions of two different modern cities, and enriching the connotation of the modern city of Berlin.

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Wings of Desire quotes

  • Marion: It must finally become serious. I've often been alone, but I've never lived alone. When I was with someone I was often happy. But the same time, it all seemed a coincidence. These people were my parents. But it could have been others. Why was this brown-eyed boy my brother and not the green-eyed boy on the opposite platform? The taxi driver's daughter was my friend. But I might as well have put my arm round a horse's neck. I was with a man in love and I might as well have left him there and gone off with the stranger I met in the street. Look at me, or don't. Give me your hand, or don't. No. Don't give me the hand, and look away. I think tonight is the new moon. No night more peaceful. No bloodshed in all the city. I've never played with anyone and yet I've never opened my eyes and thought: Now it's serious. At last it's becoming serious. So I've grown older. Was I the only one who wasn't serious? Is it our times that are not serious? I was never lonely neither when I was alone, nor with others. But I would have liked to be alone at last. Loneliness means I'm finally whole. Now I can say it as tonight, I'm at last alone. I must put an end to coincidence. The new moon of decision. I don't know if there's destiny but there's a decision. Decide! We are now the times. Not only the whole town - the whole world is taking part in our decision. We two are now more than us two. We incarnate something. We're representing the people now. And the whole place is full of those who are dreaming the same dream. We are deciding everyone's game. I am ready. Now it's your turn. You hold the game in your hand. Now or never. You need me. You will need me. There's no greater story than ours, that of man and woman. It will be a story of giants... invisible... transposable... a story of new ancestors. Look. My eyes. They are the picture of necessity, of the future of everyone in the place. Last night I dreamt of a stranger... of my man. Only with him could I be alone, open up to him, wholly open, wholly for him. Welcome him wholly into me. Surround him with the labyrinth of shared happiness. I know... it's you.

  • Peter Falk: [inner voice] Yellow star means death. Why did they pick yellow? Sunflowers. Van Gogh killed himself. This drawing stinks. So what? No one sees it. Someday you'll make a good drawing. I hope. I hope. I hope.