WEBVTT 1 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.640 We're Tarvi Lorenzo and this is the Bitter Kitten Movie Club. 2 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.719 Hellicitten's welcome back to another edition of the BKMC, which 3 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:32.439 is a supplemental PSO podcast that we do every week, 4 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:34.960 although we didn't do our regular PSO podcasts this week, 5 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.000 but it'll be back next week. This week, we are 6 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:41.479 taking a look at the at Vim Vendor, director Vim 7 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.640 Vendor's art house classic from nineteen eighty seven, Wings of Desire, 8 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.320 and typical of all of our BKMC pods, it'll be 9 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.079 attached to a review of the film with trivia and 10 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.119 videos and pictures and stuff like that. It's just a 11 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:02.320 discussion followed up movie club because we wanted to follow 12 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.159 the lines of a book club where we all agree 13 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:05.920 to watch the same thing and then we all talk 14 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:12.280 about it. I did not have this film on my 15 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:17.680 initial list for the BKMC, but that is because I 16 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:22.239 did not realize that it was available on hbox. And 17 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.879 I'm going to come right out and say it's in 18 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.439 my top three. It might even be my number one 19 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:28.040 of all time. 20 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.359 It is that's number one, that's your number one movie. 21 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:33.159 I think it is my number one movie. And what's 22 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.359 interesting to me about it is, and I want to 23 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:37.120 unpack a little bit of that when we talk about 24 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:39.519 this Is. I had not seen it for many, many years, 25 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:46.359 and that was partially deliberate. We're going to dive into 26 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.000 the themes on all of this, but I just want 27 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:52.560 to say that this film I saw as a very 28 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:56.280 young film student, and I did not understand the world 29 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:01.159 because I was a student, and it rewired my brain. 30 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:05.560 And as such, I did not want to revisit this 31 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:10.400 film too often. I wanted it to sit in perfection 32 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:12.800 in my memory and I have seen it many times 33 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.800 over the years. But I saw it last month and 34 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.680 it was honestly the first time I had seen it 35 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:23.639 in over ten years, probably closer to twenty. And I 36 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.400 remember I said to Lorenzo, tears in my eyes. I'm like, 37 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.800 it's still beautiful. It's still And the thing is, you 38 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:32.280 don't want these things to disappoint you when you come 39 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:36.199 back to them months later in your life. And it didn't. 40 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.680 But I will say this, I saw the movie last month, 41 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.439 you know, and I was watching it casually and then 42 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.360 I decided to put it on the on the roster 43 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.879 for the BKAMC. So then I watched it again, and 44 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:49.919 then I watched it a third time. So I watched 45 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.400 it three times in one month, when I had gone 46 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.080 probably twenty years without watching it. And when I was 47 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:56.919 watching it with you last night, I thought, you know what, 48 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.879 I'm not watching this again for a while. Because what 49 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:03.680 happens when you watch a film obsessively and this this 50 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:05.879 comes down to why I didn't want to watch it 51 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:10.919 too much. When you watch anything obsessively, it starts becoming 52 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.000 less art to you and starts becoming more something that 53 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:16.800 you can recite, something that you can see every flaw, 54 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.840 every edit, every musical cue before it happens, and it 55 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.000 becomes something else in your mind. 56 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.120 And I don't think that's the intent of a director, 57 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:28.439 you know, like the two, it depends in a point, 58 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.159 I mean, in a certain way. I think. I think 59 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:31.919 it's like looking. I mean, you can go back to 60 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:34.599 Mona Lisa, you know, to see the paint a painting 61 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:37.280 many many, many times, but it doesn't have the same impression, 62 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:40.159 you know, and I think movies is the same. I mean, 63 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:43.240 the first time you watch a movie, you have a reaction, right, 64 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:49.439 and then subsequently, subsequently you have a different reaction where 65 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:52.159 you watch it again and again and again it changes 66 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:52.800 in your mind. 67 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.159 And that is not a movie I want to change 68 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:57.240 in my mind or in my heart. It means that 69 00:03:57.599 --> 00:03:59.879 much to me. If you've listened to the pop style 70 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:03.840 of Manifest before, you might remember me talking about Neil 71 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.000 Game and Sandman. And I was thinking a lot about 72 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.680 it when I was rewatching this movie, because that was 73 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.639 another piece of art that rewired my brain. And they 74 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:16.279 really actually do have a lot in common. In fact, 75 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:20.079 I'm fairly certain Gayman said that he was partially inspired 76 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:22.680 by the among many other things, he was partially inspired 77 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.920 by this film, like the Sandman, Wings a Desire is 78 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:31.399 a story that and this sounds so trite, but it 79 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.800 is a story about life, about the totality of life 80 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.360 from childhood to death, from you know, all the pain 81 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:41.279 and stupidity that comes in between it. And this starts 82 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.000 for love. This starts for love and meaning in your life. 83 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.319 So and Sandman is very much like that. Both of 84 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:51.360 them occur on a rather like Goth scale. I mean, 85 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:53.480 Wings a Desire is not a Goth movie, but it 86 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:00.120 can easily be adopted by Goths, and it unpacks spirituality 87 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:05.759 and the you know, the inner life, and that to 88 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:11.360 me when I say it rewired my brain. The scenes 89 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:13.920 of the angels in that library. 90 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:15.160 Oh my god, Yes, it makes me. 91 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:20.040 I'm gonna get choked up thinking about it. The idea 92 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:22.959 that let's talk about the premise of the film first, 93 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.319 although if you're listening, I'm assuming that you've watched it, 94 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:27.160 and if you haven't, shame on you turn this off 95 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:30.040 right now and go watch it. It is a spectacular film. 96 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.519 It is not a perfect film. It's very much an 97 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.160 art house film. It's very much a German art house film. 98 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:37.560 Of the eighties, very much of the time. 99 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:40.040 Yet it which means you may run into things that 100 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:43.839 seem like cliches and stereotypes to you, but they were 101 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.639 fresh at the time. And there are times when I 102 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.720 think the film drags where he vendors takes too long 103 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:56.120 showing his girlfriend doing a trapez act, or showing Nick 104 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:59.319 Caves singing two whole songs on film because he just 105 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:03.160 wants to unfold. So it's not a perfect film, right, 106 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:09.160 But in terms of its themes and it's it's perspective, 107 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.199 I think that is what makes it to me in 108 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:15.439 many ways. It's not a perfect film technically, but it 109 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:17.920 is a perfect film. Emotionally right. 110 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:21.040 Uh, let's just go back here a little bit. And 111 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:24.160 on I think it was the first date something like that. 112 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:25.160 It was our first date. 113 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.319 I was talking about how much I loved international movies 114 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:30.879 for movies, and then you mentioned this movie. 115 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:32.720 And on our first date, I said this was my 116 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:33.439 favorite movie. 117 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:35.800 Right, So I still remember that and you were so 118 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:37.959 excited about it, and it is one of It's a 119 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:44.439 great movie. I like m. Vanders very much, and he's 120 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:47.079 a special director to me at least. First of all, 121 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:51.199 he loves Peinabalchit, which tells you right there that Heino 122 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:58.240 the Peinabusch is a choreographer ballet, German theater, choreographer German. Uh, 123 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:01.480 and he loved her work and he ended up directing 124 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:03.199 a documentary about her. 125 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.279 Lorenzo told me he loved Peenabouche on our first date, 126 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:08.759 just so you know, and then dragged me to. 127 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:13.560 Say, I worship ping A Belus very very much. She 128 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.920 has a very different approach to dance. Anyway, She's another story. 129 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 But when I found out he loved her, I was like, Okay, 130 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:23.800 this man is a special And at the same time 131 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:27.040 I have to mention that I I wanted to learn 132 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:30.759 German and I had no money, so I went to 133 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.639 the Good Institute and I said, I want to learn. 134 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:36.439 Institute is like a school where you learn German. But 135 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.199 it's more than a school. It's it's pretty much like 136 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:44.639 a cultural cultural center where they promote German history, culture, everything, music, 137 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.879 where it's everywhere. Where was the one you went to, 138 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:52.319 it was actually in Europe. Uh. So I I wanted 139 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:55.040 to study German, had no money, so I walked up 140 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:57.319 to the front desk and I said, I have no money. 141 00:07:57.319 --> 00:07:58.800 I want to start German. What can I do? So 142 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.759 they said, well, you can work here, volunteer here, working 143 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:06.040 at the library or whatever, and then you know, you 144 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:08.079 have your lessons for free. So that's what I did. 145 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.920 But they didn't need anybody at the library. They needed 146 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.920 someone at the film Attech, which is the film archive. 147 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.879 This guy, crazy guy coming back from German Germany. He 148 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.040 was in charge of the department and everything was a mess, 149 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:27.519 so he needed someone to organize the movies, do everything. 150 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:33.519 So that's how I became across this immense library of 151 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:38.600 German movies and culture, and that's how I discover his work. 152 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.159 And I remember at the time, you have I was 153 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:44.559 in the center the entire time, and it was so 154 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:47.679 German to be there. Everything was very German. And so 155 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.759 when I watched the movie Last Night with You, everything 156 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:56.679 came back to me, like the whole German environment vibe. 157 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:00.279 Then everything about it, it just came back to me. 158 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:04.559 The history of the people, the wall, the Berlin Wall, everything, 159 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:08.159 everything just just came, you know, immediately in my head. 160 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:11.399 So I think the movie is very very German to me, 161 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:15.519 the movies very so German, very very very very of 162 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:19.000 the time. And at the same time, the movie is 163 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.639 is universal. I think the at least a message in 164 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:24.960 a way. 165 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:27.240 I think it is, yes, because it is a film 166 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:29.480 about life, and it is partially a film about the 167 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.840 pursuit of love, and it's also partially a film about 168 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:37.919 the approach of death. And so yes, those are universal themes, 169 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:41.759 but they are are told within a very specific setting 170 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:44.559 with very specific people, and to me, that is part 171 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:50.600 of the power of the film is you know, they 172 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:52.919 did do an American remake of this called City of 173 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.000 Angels and in Los Angeles with Nicolas Cage and Magryan 174 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:57.919 had a very different vibe to it. It was more 175 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.600 of a not a comedy. It was more of a romance, 176 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.159 and it was less of a it was less about 177 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:10.399 the larger themes that this film was about. But for me, 178 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.200 it's settled the question can you make Wings of Desire 179 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.720 in another city, And no, you can't. You can make 180 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:20.799 a similar story. But Wings of Desire is about all 181 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:24.039 of these larger universal things, while at the same time 182 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.279 it is very much about the city of Berlin. And 183 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:28.360 I should say that the title, the German title is 184 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.799 something like Heaven over Berlin or something like that, the 185 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:36.320 Sky over Berlin. It's not called Wings of Desire, so 186 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.240 it is you're looking it up right now, yeah, because 187 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:41.240 it's like him a uber Berlin or something like that. 188 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:48.200 So it's very much Yes. Is it the sky over 189 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:51.720 Sky or Heaven over Berlin? It could be either one, yeah, but. 190 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.399 It's pretty much like it's heaven or Sky, can be both. 191 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:57.759 And part of the part of the genesis of this 192 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:01.639 was that of Ven Vendors had been living in America 193 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.960 for several years. He had received a lot of critical 194 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.080 acclaim a few years before this for his film Paris, Texas, 195 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.759 and he wanted to go back to his favorite city 196 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.840 his I guess it's his home city, Berlin, and he 197 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:18.320 wanted to shoot a movie there, and when he got 198 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.320 to Berlin, he wandered around the city looking for inspiration, 199 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.679 and that's when he noticed that Berlin has all of 200 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:27.879 these they're actually most of them aren't angels. They're mostly 201 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:31.080 wing victories statues, that sort of thing. The most famous 202 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.720 shot in the film is him on top of a 203 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.720 wing victory statue in Berlin. But it's you know, it's 204 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.919 pretty much substitutes, says an angel. And that's where he 205 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.000 got the idea of angels looking down over the city 206 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:47.679 of Berlin. And then he went and he he approached 207 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.480 a German poet named Peter Hanky. 208 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:51.879 Who Australian act. 209 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:58.039 Oh, Australia, Austrian, Austrian, I'm sorry, name is Austrian. Austrian. Sorry, 210 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:03.279 Austrian poet named Peter Hanky who did not. He's listed 211 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.519 as a co writer on the film, but my understanding 212 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:11.759 is that he he sort of guided vendors on the 213 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:15.000 on certain scenes. He wrote the poem that anchors the 214 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.519 whole films, such as the Song of Childhood, Song of 215 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:21.159 child which I was crying as soon as I heard it. 216 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:22.960 That is beautiful anyway, the. 217 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:27.720 Line about you know when the child was a child. 218 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.159 First off, let's unpack that when the child was a 219 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.799 child is a sentence that implies that you never actually 220 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.120 stop being a child, because it doesn't say when the 221 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.519 man was a child or when the woman was a child. 222 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.519 It's when the child was a child. And that, to 223 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:47.720 me is the because the person who is reciting that 224 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:52.720 poem is an angel, so from his perspective, people are 225 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:55.840 never not children to him, right, They're just children at 226 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:59.320 different stages of their lives, and which again kind of 227 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:02.399 a beautiful, if a little condescending, but still kind of 228 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:05.799 a beautiful perspective to have. And the line is when 229 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:08.320 a child was a child, he sat cross legging and 230 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.879 got up running And I'm like, oh, or he swung 231 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:15.080 his arms while he walked, or he didn't make faces 232 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:16.639 when you took a picture of it. I mean, I'm 233 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.519 not quoting it exactly, but my point is. 234 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:22.639 Well, you remember the line I die? I do like 235 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.320 when they when the poem says when the child was 236 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.200 a child, he did not know that he was a child, 237 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.480 And that's the whole sense of it, you know, it's 238 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.679 just like, yeah, when you're a kid, you don't. 239 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.519 You don't know anything. You know, and the world is 240 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.399 so perfect to you and so exciting to you, and 241 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.399 you you get up running, you know that sort of thing. 242 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.919 There's such a poignancy to that because as soon as 243 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.000 you hear those lines, and like I said, I was 244 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:50.200 a young man when I read when I first saw 245 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.759 this film, but even as a young man, I felt 246 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.480 the weight of time when those lines like yeah, I 247 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:59.440 don't get up swinging my arms, you know, I don't 248 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.039 get up running from across like it's. 249 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:04.559 Such a great understanding of what a child is like 250 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.399 and what we become, you know, when. 251 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:08.799 What happens to us. 252 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:10.720 Yeah. Yeah, Because there's a line where it says, when 253 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:13.279 the child was a child, apples and bread were enough 254 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:17.039 for him, and that is that says so that that 255 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:20.840 says so much of what we become as an adult. 256 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:22.480 Such a beautiful poem. 257 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:23.200 Yes, it is. 258 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:26.600 Honestly, I don't speak German, but I honestly think it's much. 259 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:29.240 But it's beautiful, beautiful in German. 260 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.639 It's beautiful, beautiful, Especially the first line is just beautiful. 261 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:35.519 Yeah. Yeah, I told you I was last week. I 262 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.840 wasn't going to get through this without crying because this film, 263 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:41.960 Oh it means so much to be Okay, the scene 264 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:43.879 in the library, I wanted to come back to that. 265 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.600 And I was a film student when I saw this, 266 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.480 so libraries were very much part of my life. I 267 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.679 lived in them, like a lot of college students. And 268 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.440 the idea that what I love about the scenes in 269 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:02.320 that in that library is that it is teeming with angels. 270 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:05.279 You go there and it is loaded with angels, right, 271 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.960 and the implication, but bear in mind, the film never 272 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.840 takes you inside a church. It never shows you anything religious. 273 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.120 I never thought of that, never shows you anything religious, 274 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:20.000 And I just loved the implication there that this is religion. 275 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:23.600 But the pursuit of knowledge, people trying to expand their 276 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:28.440 own minds and just swarming with angels while they're doing that. 277 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.679 Oh, be so touched by the library is my favorite scene. 278 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:37.919 I agree exactly because of that, because that was the 279 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.039 time when that was the center of knowledge. Yeah, it 280 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:43.639 wasn't computers, Yeah, I mean now we don't even have 281 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:45.399 to search anymore. We just ask. 282 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.639 To Yeah, we ask our phone, We ask our phones. 283 00:15:48.679 --> 00:15:51.080 I mean, but you know, I remember having to go 284 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:53.679 to a library with a notepad and have to write 285 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:54.200 everything down. 286 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:57.679 I mean, people still do researchers say it's not the 287 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:58.440 same the same. 288 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.480 I mean that was the place the books were the 289 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:02.840 only source of information. 290 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:04.440 And I'm just I'm sorry, go ahead, no. 291 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.279 And and that scene is so beautiful. First of all, 292 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:08.440 the library, it's gorgeous. 293 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:10.679 It is and it still looks like that. I looked 294 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:11.960 up all the locations. 295 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:14.600 Yeah, the library is beautiful. I can't, you know, I can. 296 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:16.879 I can see why he chose that location because he's 297 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:22.480 absolutely and the thought, the idea that this is the 298 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:25.919 place where everyone is quiet, but at the same their 299 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:27.600 minds are just running. 300 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:28.720 This place is holy. 301 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:34.559 Yeah, it's just amazing to think that everybody there is thinking. 302 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.679 It's their minds are running, but everyone is silent, right, 303 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:40.720 and the angels are there to listen to them. So 304 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:42.440 it's just it's amazing. 305 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:45.679 To bear witness to them. And the scenes where an 306 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:49.240 angel is pressing his head against another person's head, I'm 307 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:50.240 gonna get cry again. 308 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.399 We're not gonna be able to get through the. 309 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:57.919 If you've ever had intrusive thoughts, are racing thoughts or 310 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:04.240 that sort of thing, those scenes are so soothing. Yes, 311 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:07.240 that's what I want to get at, is that I 312 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.519 love the scene in the library, because it elevates the 313 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.279 pursuit of knowledge to something that is holy, while at 314 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:18.759 the same time acknowledging that the mind can be a 315 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:23.720 raging sea. And it just it pays attention to both 316 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.480 of these aspects. And I don't even know how much 317 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.200 of this was articulated by Vendors or his co writer, 318 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.920 whether they really were looking at that scene and going 319 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:35.599 and now we're going to talk about the human mind. 320 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:40.480 Oh sorry, there's a phone ringing. Lorenzo's going to go 321 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:42.680 turn that off while I just keep talking, talk, talking. 322 00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:45.279 But one of the things I wanted to say is 323 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:51.920 that I think the film does a beautiful job of elevating, 324 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.759 elevating the inner life, that what goes on inside your 325 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:01.880 mind is almost or equally as important as what you 326 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.920 do when you're moving through the world. And as someone 327 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.319 who spends a lot of time inside his head, that is, 328 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:14.039 like I said, soothing and even a little revelatory. Why 329 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.359 don't we take a short break and when we and 330 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.519 we'll come back and unpack some further st up, Okay, 331 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:24.559 we are back and we're talking Wings of Desire, And 332 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.720 one of the things I now I want to unpack, 333 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.400 and I promise. Now, I can't promise that I won't 334 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.480 cry throughout the rest of it, but I don't think 335 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:33.880 I will know because I think we unpacked most of 336 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:37.519 the emotional stuff, although I will get to her speech 337 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:39.160 in a bit. Okay. So one of the things that 338 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.000 I find so so, so incredibly poignant about this film 339 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:48.119 is that it's as we are as far away from 340 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.480 the shooting of this film as those people were from 341 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:57.079 World War two, right, And the film it is a 342 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:00.319 film about how do I put this? And I actually 343 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:01.759 said this before we turned on the mics, and I 344 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:05.599 should have written it down thematically. The film is a 345 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.720 film about a city that has lost and and a 346 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:11.240 Berlin that is gone. The scenes of the old man 347 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:14.319 played by Kurt Boys wandering through what used to be 348 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:17.240 the pots Damar plots and was no man's land at 349 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:20.759 that point, bemoaning what used to be there, the coffee 350 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:22.640 shops that he used to go to and that sort 351 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:26.079 of thing. And then you know, Peter Fok, who we 352 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:28.839 haven't even gotten into, is they're shooting a movie and 353 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.640 it's all Nazis, and it's all you know, unpacking that 354 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.640 history there. And at certain times in the film they 355 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:39.079 start using archival footage of Berlin, you know, when it 356 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:41.960 was all bombed out, bodies in the street, right. 357 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.599 And if you know a little bit about Berlin, the 358 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:47.960 movie was shot in the eighties, and that's what Berlin 359 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:49.000 looked like in the eighties. 360 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:50.079 That was what I love about it. 361 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:51.079 It looked like shit. 362 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:53.160 It is such a snapshot at that. 363 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:55.680 Time, kind of like New York, you know, sort of 364 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:58.160 like in the eighties. Yeah, I mean, like like completely 365 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.559 not I wouldn't say run down, but thing are like. 366 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:04.039 You know, I mean, they're right next to Soviet Russia. 367 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.920 The city has been has been cut in half, and 368 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:10.000 it never fully recovered from the war. This is only 369 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.000 this is less than forty years after the end of 370 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:13.640 the war, and it's interesting to. 371 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:17.240 See the walls and all that, and knowing that the graffiti, 372 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.680 yeah that a few years later, you know, it's all 373 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:24.160 all come down. Yeah, it's fascinating. And I also think, yeah, 374 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:26.319 I mean that's the other point that it really gets 375 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:28.000 me when I watched the movie is the whole idea 376 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:30.920 that you have to let things go, that you know 377 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.559 things are not going to be the same, right, You're 378 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:36.359 not going to experience things the way you experienced them before. 379 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.200 I love the line about like you know you missed 380 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.519 the ink when you read newspapers, getting hands, you know, 381 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:44.480 dirty with the newspaper, inc. 382 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:46.599 Stuff like don't do that anymore. 383 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:49.279 Not really if I mentioned that to a young person, 384 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:51.720 that wouldn't even know what I'm talking about, right, So 385 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:53.799 so yeah, this goes back to the point about the 386 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.119 library and about this is a pre computer era. 387 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:58.440 This is literally the height of the Cold War. Watch 388 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.799 it's more the end of the Cold War, and it's 389 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:05.240 a film about a city that no longer exists. People 390 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:08.839 wandering through this city trying to find snapshots of when 391 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:13.359 of the old Berlin, and now forty years later watching 392 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:17.640 the film, that city doesn't exist anymore. I was shocked 393 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.000 the first time I looked up the pots Dahmer plots 394 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:23.160 because to me, for years, I hadn't been to Berlin. 395 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:25.799 To me, if I heard the word the phrase pots 396 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.559 Dahmer plots, it's that old man wandering around that you 397 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:31.400 go look at it now and it is this stunning 398 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:35.160 city center. Because of course the walls came down, Germany reunited, 399 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.519 And that's my point. The Berlin that is showing the 400 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:42.000 nineteen eighty seven Berlin is as gone as the nineteen 401 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:45.480