Wings of Desire
Submitted 6 years 5 months ago by franryan.
Monday, February 10, 2014 - 18:20
Wonderful film by Wim Wenders where the angels listen to and come and comfort those who are in pain. Set in Berlin. I've always thought it was about compassion but it's about empathy too. If only there were angels...and fairies.
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Wings of desire
This movie is a must see for so many reasons. I have used this film in my AP English class when teaching Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, especially when discussing archetypes and the spiritus mundi. Regarding empathy, the relationship between the angels and humans, is a study in what truly makes us human: not our ability to aspire toward and reach perfection, but our ability to find grace through our all too imperfect existence. In fact, it's what the angels envy in us, not what we envy in angels, that makes this film so inspiring.
great film
A really nice film for the Empathy Library. Wim Wenders has a really good feel for empathy.
Wings of desire
I love this film. The angels in this story hear the private thoughts of all around them. One craves to share the sensations that humans feel. Peter Handke's poem "Song of Childhood" which features in the film is also worth reading.
Which of the five senses is most important?
“The empathic understanding of the experience of other human beings is as basic an endowment of man as his vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell.”
- Heinz Kohut
"What does that taste like?"
"You don't know what a pear tastes like?
"I don't know what a pear tastes like to you."
- City of Angels: http://goo.gl/zST8lR