philosophy - FilmRoot

Wings of Desire (Germany) – Live as an Angel in Cold War Berlin

Wings of Desire Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Ever wonder what it’s like to be an Angel? In Wings of Desire you’re immortal, but confined to a half-reality. You can see and hear reality, but you cannot feel it. So all you can do is wander the world watching it change. Be an angel and watch Wings of Desire here (rent of buy on Amazon).

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Why Watch Wings of Desire?

To see Berlin before the end of the Cold War, complete with Berlin Wall
Because every line is quotable – it’s a philosophical muser’s paradise
To live like an angel (although it’s not as heavenly as you might think)
Because Wim Wenders won Best Director for this film at Cannes and it has a beautiful soundtrack.

The Breakdown

An eye opens and cuts to a sweeping aerial shot of Berlin. The eye belongs to Damiel, a winged angel, and the aerial shot is his view of Berlin from the top of one of the cities highest monuments. The only people that see him perched at the top of the building are a few passing children who stare at him in awe.

Damiel and the other angels wander the city invisibly. They cannot talk to humans and they cannot be seen by humans, but they can hear all of their thoughts. Therefore, all they can do is wander the human world as observers.

The director (Wim Wenders) portrays their wandering with extreme melancholy. Firstly, he shows them trying to help people in vain, like a man who commits suicide. Secondly, he shows their lives in black and white whilst the Berliners they listen and watch are shown in vibrant colour. By creating their lives as a half life (without feeling, colour, and action) it makes us sympathize with their desire to be human.

Portrayal of Berlin

Wings of Desire was shot in the decade before the reunification of Germany. Therefore you will see the Berlin Wall and East Germany looming in the distance. The melancholic lives of the Angels are a reflection of the melancholy in Berlin, a city that still hasn’t recovered from the the Second World War.

There are reminders of the war placed throughout the film, from the actors dressed as Nazis and Jews on a nearby film set to the Berlin Wall. However, the most prominent example of the wars devastation on life in Berlin is the fate of Potsdamer Plaza.

A storytelling character aptly named Homer walks through the no-man’s land wasteland by the Berlin wall where Potsdamer Plaza used to be located. He reminisces about the Plaza when it was full of life. Before the war, it was full of friendly people and tradesmen. But later Nazi flags filled the square and the people became unfriendly. And now it’s just part of an empty wasteland that runs alongside the Berlin wall, with no life at all.

Conclusion

Wings of Desire is a beautifully melancholic film that meditates on the plight of humanity in the 20th century. In the political volatility today, this film is particularly relevant. It’s almost a warning of what could happen if we let love abandon us; we’d become Angels wandering the wastelands.

For another great German film of almost epic proportions I strongly recommend watching Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun. It charts 20th century German history through the stoic Maria Braun, who is widowed as her husband fights in WW2.

If you love the melancholic philosophical musings I also recommend watching The Seventh Seal (rent or buy on Amazon), the story of a knight who is stalked by death.

The Stranger – A Long Lost Relative Unexpectedly Reappears

The Stranger Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

If you’re a fan of mellow conversation led family dramas, The Stranger might become your next favorite film. It features the unexpected return of a long lost relative after 30 years of traveling the world. On his return he finds a changed city and an unwelcoming family that are skeptical of his identity. What follows is a film that could take place on the stage. Shot mostly in a spacey urban Indian apartment, The Stranger focuses on the conversational duels between the returning outcast, Uncle Mitra, and his niece Anila and her husband. It swings between debates about civilization, religion, culture, identity and traveling the world. Plus there’s a heartwarming relationship between Uncle Mitra and his young grand-nephew, the only person that trusts him.

From: India, Asia
Watch: Trailer, JustWatch, IMDb
Next: Naseem, My Dinner with Andre, Pyaasa

The Red Turtle (Netherlands)

The Red Turtle Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli or struggling to answer some of life’s big questions, you should check out this film. It is a beautiful animation that explores some of the biggest philosophical debates. Who are we? What is the meaning of life and death? And what is beauty? Go ahead and watch Michael Dudok de Wit’s animation, birthed when Studio Ghibli sent him a letter out of the blue asking if he wanted to make a film!

Why Watch the Red Turtle?

You want to see a European Studio Ghibli film from Michael Dudok de Wit, complete with magical realism and beautiful animation
To hear an excellent soundtrack composed by a former doctor (it’s never too late to do what you love)
If you love the idea of being stuck on a desert island (Robinson Crusoe was the inspiration for this film)
Watch and question who you are really are if you were to be stuck on a desert island

The Breakdown

The film starts with a night time storm in the ocean. A man struggles to stay afloat as huge waves swirl and crash around him. He spots his dinghy but as he swims towards it, a wave crashes on top of it, breaking it into driftwood.

There are no colours in this opening scene. All of the night time scenes are shot in black and white. Later, on the island, the night sky shines with a beautiful mat of stars. The monochrome nights appear more real than the heavily lighted night scenes we are used to. They contain what the director calls ‘beauty in subtlety.’ There are no bright colours or heavy lighting similar to the Hollywood films we are used to. In fact the first appearance of the red turtle is the first moment in which red appears on screen. The director’s subtle palette is reminiscent of Studio Ghibli (see Tale of Princess Kaguya) and Japanese art in general. It is from these influences that the director found beauty in subtlety, used in this film.

The film is also a tale of life and death, similar to the circle of life in Lion King. You see animals on the island full of life in one scene and then dead and being fed on in the next. The film’s cyclical view of time and narrative (another Eastern inspiration) contrasts with the traditional Western linear narrative. It gives the story a certain timelessness (are the characters dead or in a dream?). It also questions the meaning of life – why do we so desperately strive for goals when nature and time are cyclical? (see more on linear vs. cyclical time here).

Conclusion

The Red Turtle is a beautiful animation that on the surface is a story about a man stranded on a desert island. However, on further analysis, it’s subtle techniques and cyclical narrative reveal questions about the meaning of life and time. With only nature to keep you company, you find out who you really are.

Illumination (Poland) – Search for Life’s Meaning in this Experimental Film

Illumination Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

If you love film and philosophy, Illumination might be the film for you. It’s like watching an existential essay: you’ll follow the main character as he stumbles through life trying to find meaning. It’s experimental and brilliant. Watch the film here (Buy on Amazon).

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Why Watch Illumination?

You love philosophy (bonus points if you love existential philosophy)
Or if you love science (some parts are not for the squeamish)
Or if you don’t know what to do with your life and want to watch someone else who struggles to find meaning in theirs
It’s experimental – the editing will remind you of Bergman’s Persona (if you haven’t seen Persona watch it now)

The Breakdown

“What is illumination? Illumination is a term and concept of Augustine. We obtain knowledge by an enlightenment of the mind.”

The film starts by musing what the meaning of illumination is. Then it cuts to a half naked man taking a medical check. The camera cuts from a close up of his hand to a close up of his foot. Then someone asks the male subject for his name, his surname, his place of birth, height, and weight. In this opening, Zanussi (the director) reduces Franciszek to his physical being before we’ve had a chance to get to know him. This raw physical being is the starting point of this philosophical film essay.

After we meet Franciszek the film flashes to ‘reality’. You’ll see footage of the moon landing, and troops marching ready for war. These images quickly provide us with context. From them we can assume that the film is set in the late 1960s/early 1970s during the Cold War between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. These cuts of footage are also included to disrupt the rhythm of the film. Zanussi includes a lot of interjections like this in his film to intentionally jumble up the story. His intention is to show us the mess of images we see during our lifetimes and to make it difficult to follow the film, to reflect the struggle to find meaning in life.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

There is a story-line in Illumination (the story of Franciszek) but it is hard to follow. Zanussi only uses Franciszek’s life as a framework for the film’s progression. Franciszek’s struggle to find enlightenment is the framework for the film’s commentary on the world’s struggle to find meaning in life. (Warning: you may be filled with existential angst/dread when watching this film).

First up, you need to watch Ingmar Bergman’s Persona if you haven’t already. It’s one of the best explorations of the human psyche (and at a level above David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive).

For more from Zanussi, I strongly recommend watching The Structure of Crystal before this one. It’s easier to watch and is one of those films that makes you feel at peace with life and death (a bit like Wild Strawberries).

Or for more straight up philosophy check out the stream of conscious genius of My Dinner With Andre.

After the Rehearsal (Sweden) – Bergman vs. Your Mind

After the Rehearsal Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Bergman is back on FilmRoot to play with your mind. What initially seems like an ordinary conversation between two characters becomes something that you start doubting. See if you can gauge whether the characters are acting or just having a regular conversation. Top marks to anyone that can decipher it!

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Why Watch After the Rehearsal?

For more Ingmar Bergman! We’ve already looked at Persona and Cries and Whispers so here’s more from the Swedish maestro!
If you love the theatre – this one has plenty of Strindberg references and even looks like a play
You love character focused dramas
It’s another film that messes with you (like in Persona and Mulholland Drive)

The Breakdown

After the Rehearsal starts with a shot of the floor which works its way across a carpet, up to a desk to show a man’s head lying on the desk. He is lingering on the stage set after the rehearsal to reflect. His narrative voice kicks in with an inner monologue reminiscent of Bergman’s opening to Wild Strawberries.

The man’s inner monologue is interrupted by an actress returning to the set to collect something she left behind. The man wants to carry on thinking, and whilst he politely greets the actress with his voice, his inner voice shouts at her to go away.

Unfortunately for him (and for the sake of entertainment) the young actress does not go away and they start talking. They talk about life and the future and other things. However, the manner they both show emotions and talk to each other becomes more and more unclear to us. Are the acting? Is the actress a figment of the man’s imagination? Or are they just chatting?

Conclusion

Bergman always likes to play with his audience (most notably in Persona) and he does it again here. In this film, he blurs the lines between life and acting. He even hints that the actress could just be a figment of the man’s imagination. What a trickster! This one is another classic Bergman to play with your head!

I recommend checking out the ‘Breaking Down Bergman’ YouTube channel after you’ve seen this film to find out more. Link here.