#the joy i feel over peter falk being in my favourite movie

[sophsun1]

It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick and I used to read it to your father. And today, I'm gonna read it to you.

The Princess Bride (1987)

[chemicalarospec]

rewatched Wings of Desire/Wings Over Berlin with my family. thoughts: (spoilerfull! this movie is from 1987 though)

(Okay apparently the literal German is not “Wings Over Berlin” but “The Heavens Over Berlin“. what. man. okay.)

Gayness: not a lot. they are in Germany though. I headcanon two girls in the background of one scene as lesbians. (only including this because I think I saw someone call it a vaguely gay movie. ig Cassiel could be read that way? but overall, nah. As someone very well versed in many types of queer-coding, not where the movie aims for or lands.)

Women: okay. Lead woman is written very well but the romance is.... eh. very weird from her POV. And, related, the last four minutes are basically male lead talking about sex in metaphor, after she talked about sex in metaphor before that, and just like. I don’t give a damn. 

Cassiel: Didn’t know he had a name. Don’t think the other guy has a name??? Similar to “Castiel” KekW

Berlin Library: GOES OFF!!!! Probably remodeled since then but if when I go around Europe I will be sure to visit.

Credits: Forgot it was this movie but lol baller. smth along the lines of “The Dying Man, A Sad Man, The Suicide, Female Prostitute”. (honestly still not sure who the last one was???)

Nick Cave: and the Bad Seeds. Rocks ‘n rolls but honestly the other guy (Simon Bonney) really just went for it more. And his backup band had more style, or at least there was more shots of them.

The Berlin Wall: it’s there. Feels worth mentioning. no politics in the movie, but a little bit from the woman (French in origin) about being countryless. As we know, Berlin is the heart of the movie.

The sequel: sucks balls apparently. my dad misremembered what goes on in it but it still sucks balls apparently.

Neil Gaiman: Idk I just wanted to throw his name on this wall. His aesthetic seems vaguely similar to this movie. Especially the two concert scenes, remind me a bit of Sandman, in a way, style, you know. Honestly I think it’s just because his name begins with ‘N’.

People’s Thoughts: Okay I know it’s like. A big part of the movie. But I vaguely feel like the first time I watched I didn’t realize the angels were hearing people’s thought until my dad/the other kids mentioned it? (So maybe not even until the post-movie discussion.)

When the Child was a Child monologue thing: at first it’s just repeated but the evolution of it when Male Lead becomes human is pretty cool. Ig the analysis of it could be along the lines of now he understands how life has everyday joy, throughout life, past childhood, and we all can keep that. idk.

Old Man: SADDEST PART!!! (Does not die. But blatantly dying.) (actually the suicide was sadder obviously. Cassiel’s “NEIN” is the most emotion out of any angel dialouge in the movie. I mean Male Lead can get pretty happy but yeah that scream hits hard.)

Wing imagery: gets a bit overdone at a point but not too bad. My favourite example is a shot of a pair of stone wings and Cassiel walks in and you KNOW it’s gonna line up but then it cuts away the second it does so it doesn’t get corny.

That Notebook/Report Thing at the Beginning: I think they should have done it again, to like establish that was their routine. idk it’s one of those things the movie throws up and then doesn’t really elaborate on or even catch. You do see the angels going around Witnessing after though, so I suppose that takes the place of another Human Report.

Honestly. The romance bit straddling the border between artful and taking away from the city/people profile kind of explains why the sequel sucks -- director affinity for. loser movie plots or whatever. One part from the beginning I’m remembering now is the teenager(?) who “only has music” and wants to play the drums and stuff. See that first half of the movie was super atmospheric. Actually a bit similar to Waking Life, I suppose. Anyways yeah go off!! Aesthetics/motifs rock. Trapeze woman and Peter Falk (oh yeah Peter Falk’s here) don’t suck but like. the no-plot was good too.

edit: forgot to mention that Mikhail Gorbachev, yes, THAT Mikhail Gorbachev, is in the sequel.