1. Der Himmel über Berlin
Shiqi Ding

2. Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin is a 1987 Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders,
German filmmaker, playwright, auth-or,photographer, and a major figure in New German Cinema.

3. The film is about invisible, immortal angels, Damiel and Cassiel, who roam contemporary West Berlin, unseen and unheard by its human inhabitants and listen to the thoughts Berliners and comfort those who are in distress. Even though the city is densely populated, many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones: a pregnant woman in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, a painter struggling to find inspiration, a broken man who thinks his girlfriend no longer loves him. One of the angels, Damiel, falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist. Damiel chooses to become human so that he can experience the human sensory pleasures, ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one, and so that he can experience human love with the trapeze artist.

4. In addition to the story of two angels, the film is also a meditation on Berlin's past, present, and future. Damiel and Cassiel have always existed as angels; they existed in Berlin before it was a city, and before there were even any humans.

5. The film was shot by the 77-year-old cinematographer Henri Alekan, who had worked on Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête. It represents the angels' point of view in monochrome -- they cannot see colors -- and switches to color to show the human point of view.