Read John "Christopher", I felt that it was more appropriate to describe the state of the two angels in "Under the Berlin Sky". (It is said that "Duofu" is here, just like Westerners reading the Bible, holding a few pages in their hands every now and then, and reading a few pages, life will have a new enlightenment)
It is said that "City of Angels" in 1998 was published in 1987 The popular version of the German film "Under the Berlin Sky" (also translated as "Wings of Desire").
The so-called popular version is to tell a complete and attractive story. Of course, it is also very important for the male and female protagonists to be eye-catching. Therefore, "City of Angels" took the story of male angels falling in love with female mortals, thus abandoning immortality and falling into the mortal world, which was intercepted from "Under the Sky in Berlin", plus various condiments commonly used in American romance films, cooking It's an American dessert. This kind of treatment is also used in "Titanic" for "Wreck on Ice". When the tragic group portrait of "Wreck on Ice" reaches Titanic, it becomes an adventurous love journey of the hero and heroine.
Many people commented that "Under the Berlin Sky" is more like a poem. In contrast, "City of Angels" is a popular romance novel.
In black and white tones, two middle-aged angels in thick woolen coats walked alone in the ruined city of Berlin. Lonely, confused, and depressed people, the monologues in their heads come to their faces, intertwined into a grand symphony. Although the voices of men, women and children fill our ears, and we can't be idle for a moment, this movie is still full of loneliness and silence. Seeing no colors, smelling flowers, tasting and touching, and having no substance, the angels Damir and Cassirer have always been bystanders, recorders, not participants in human society. They have flowed through the long river of life, but not a single ripple has swayed.
This is the first film directed by Wenders that I have ever watched. I don't know much about Director Wenders. It is said that his films have always been about the feeling of wandering and alienation. I don't know if it's true or not, but in this movie, it's really full of alienation. Angels are to humans, pictures are to cities, and directors are to works.
Not only the plot and pictures are poetic, but in this film, the lines are also poetic. Everyone's monologue, the angel's thinking, the repeated sentence pattern of "being a child or a child"... Almost every sentence can be picked out separately, chewed carefully, and slowly digested.
In "Under the Berlin Sky", the line of love is only one of the three main lines. The old writer who half-footed into the grave and the famous American actor who is suspected of being reincarnated by an angel are also the main targets of the angels.
In "City of Angels", love is the only one, the motive and meaning of life. The angel Seth, played by Nicolas Cage, went down to earth for the beautiful doctor Maggie (Meg Ryan), and even though the life he and Maggie had only had such a short day, he still died, expressing no regrets—— "I've smelled her hair in the air, I've kissed her soft lips, I've touched her warm hands - I'd rather have these brief moments than not have them The eternal life of loneliness." The
above lists a bunch of differences between the two films, but what's actually interesting is that even though the plots and characters seem to be the same in the two films, they are handled very differently.
For example, the main line of love, "City of Angels" Seth fell in love with Maggie because of her sweet facial features, moving eyes, and of course, the angelic soul who saved the dying. And in "Under the Berlin Sky", Damier told the circus acrobat Marion not only because he heard Marion's inner monologue and was attracted by the proximity of the soul, but also because of the beauty and lines of the female body. The fascination with beauty, the film spares no expense in this regard, repeatedly presenting Marion's charismatic body shape and body language, such as the coveted and terrifying swing on the swing, the various dangerous actions that trigger a double heartbeat, such as in rock and roll. Ecstatic twists and ecstasy swings on the dance floor. What a deadly temptation this is for angels who have no body and no sense of touch.
When it comes to the five senses, we have to make a point. When I watched "City of Angels", I thought the most expressive part was the part after Seth fell from a high-rise building and obtained a mortal body. He was pleasantly surprised, excited, novel, and cautiously. , feel the temperature of hot water, the fragrance of flowers, the deliciousness of breakfast, and even the color of blood and the feeling of pain. This, like "Feeling Perfect", reminds us that as a human being, we have so much happiness! (It's just that the City of Angels gets the five senses, and the perfect feeling is to lose the five senses). After watching "Berlin", I realized that, shit, it turned out to be a copy of someone else's.
Another example is the angel who fell into the mortal world. The fat patient in "City of Angels" has a very clear identity. He is the predecessor of the angel who fell one step earlier. In "Berlin", the famous American actor is just a "suspected" angel. The tantalizing remarks that the fast food shack on the street and Damier said while drinking coffee can be seen as intentional, as if he was practicing his lines, or just talking to himself. Because the director made him face the air (or Cassirer) and said it again at the end of the play, which made his identity more open. Moreover, the purpose and mission of the two senior angels to the world are also different. The fat patient focuses on experiencing the warmth of the family and the taste of delicious food (Cancer's work?), and he did not forget to steal ice cream in the ward; the famous American actor focused on To experience and observe, he traveled to different countries and cities, sketched different human expressions with a pencil, and figured out their spiritual world.
The performance of angels is related to the director's temperament. The spiritual cores of the two films are very different. German philosophers speculate alone, focusing on spiritual experience and self-torture; American fast food is sweet and brisk, entertaining and enjoying the senses, but the soul is also light.
From the award-winning records of the two films, we can see the preferences of professional filmmakers. Obscure and dull ones are always easy to win the favor of people who understand pedestrians. They also gave the opinion that "the remake of "City of Angels" is very hypocritical and far from the original." Evaluation. In fact, rather than saying that the two are superior, it is better to say that they are completely different types, and the audience can take what they want.
In the end, I pay tribute to Otto Sandel, who plays the second angel Cassirer in "Under the Berlin Sky" (in fact, he is a Cancer). Personally, I think that he plays Uncle Angel, which is better than Damier and Sailor. Si, more calm and restrained, wise and deep, and the black and white tone of the film is very good, the most important thing is, it is also very handsome.
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