The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress. One of them tires of overseeing human activity and wishes to become human when he falls in love with a mortal.
Startlingly original at first, Wings of Desire is in the end damagingly overloaded.
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
June 25, 2011
How brilliant is Wings of Desire? Understand that Peter Falk is playing himself - that is to say, he's playing actor Peter Falk, who happened to be an angel himself until he elected to become human decades earlier.