Saturday, December 8, 2018

Wings of Desire vs Luther

Cover of The Criterion Collection DVD

"I'm here. I wish you were here! I wish you could talk to me. 'Cause, I'm a friend. Compañero."

The movie, Wings of Desire, has intrigued and puzzled me since I first saw it when it was released in 1987.  It resurfaced for me again recently as I contemplated the recent passing of a dear friend from that era, Sue Fedor. Our group from St Peter's Church/CSU Newman Center was my social scene at the time. I think a bunch of us went to see this movie one Sunday afternoon. In any case, most of us had seen it and it was a topic of conversation. We were particularly intrigued and delighted with the portrayal of the guardian angels. The movie inspired us to go around and put a comforting hand on each other's shoulders ala the angels in the movie.

So not long ago, I borrowed a copy of the Criterion Collection DVD from the local public library and watched the movie and commentary and extras over several days. The same aspects that originally attracted me are still valid. And I still am not sure what the movie is really about. Oh, I know the basic "plot" line (i.e., narrative); but what does the movie "really mean"?

The portrayal of the guardian angels is still magnificent and of immense comfort and solace. No matter what the intent of the film makers, it seems many viewers are greatly attracted to this image of the angels.

The movie also seems to remind us of the tremendous blessings (and challenges) of being human. The movie shows the struggles of dealing with human relationships, the wonder of the innocence of childhood, and the loneliness of being. It also calls attention to the delights of human existence that we take for granted (e.g, "to smoke and have coffee - and if you do it together, it's fantastic").


When I watched the DVD, I remembered that there is a love story. This movie seemed to positively portray the benefits of "marriage" between woman and man. It suggests a synergy that appealed to me then and still does.


While the movie does not explicitly mention God and cannot be considered "orthodox" in a conservative "Christian" sense, the presence of the Creator (or a creative Force) fills the movie. At the end of the movie, I am filled with hope, optimism, bewilderment, and awe. I don't know if I misunderstood or got it wrong but each time I return to this movie, I reaffirm these feelings. Perhaps paradoxically, I come away with a greater trust and faith in God.

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When I first sat down with the Wings of Desire DVD, I ended up watching the first part of the movie (i.e., the patrolling of the guardian angels). Since I didn't want to stay up late on a weeknight to watch the whole thing, I stopped and decided to preview another DVD that I recently received.

I obtained a copy of Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer from Ligonier Ministries (think R.C. Sproul) for "a donation of any amount" (and it was very very modest).

Cover of my copy of the DVD.

I ended up watching about half of this documentary. What I want to say about this is that I sensed a great deal of evil throughout this DVD. This surprised me because I believe that R.C. Sproul was a sincere and devout Christian. Also, many of the Ligonier associates that appear in this DVD I believe to be professed Christians. 

No matter, I saw something sinister in this DVD right from the start, beginning with the cover art: it's all black, the church is upside down, and the font looks rather devilish to me. The narrator is a hunky-type guy attired in contemporary casual sloppy fashion that screams Lucifer! to me. For some reason, the close-ups of the principals appear stark and designed to accentuate negative and gross features. R.C. Sproul comes off looking to me like Jabba the Hutt ; the camera seems like it is looking up into the nostrils of Robert Godfrey; and Stephen Nichols comes off looking a preppy pretty frat boy.

Overall, the graphics in this DVD came off as digitally processed and, thus, fake. I came away with  a sense of evil and fraud about this DVD. Someone or something apparently pulled the wool over the eyes of Ligonier. If you get a chance, I recommend that you check out this DVD to see if you also experience the evil that I sensed. Let me know. 

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I don't know if my reaction to the Luther DVD was due to the peace and tranquility of the Wings of Desire movie I watched first. It was certainly a strange experience and something I did not expect.
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