Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)

Again, in the words of the Empire!

The contrast of a grim West Berlin setting and the magical images of overcoat-clad angels among us is what lingers longest in the mind after watching this Wim Wenders effort - that, and maybe Bruno Ganz' beatific smile. As the angel who falls in love with a trapeze artist and starts to long for mortality, Ganz is a literally otherworldly observer, but it's only when he abandons his wings that the film leaps into colour and life, like a reverse Wizard of Oz. And any film that casts Peter Falk as a formerly divine being gets our vote.

Director: Wim Wenders

Writers: Wim Wenders, Peter Handke

Stars: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin and Otto Sander

Night Watch

Here is what the Empire thinks about this movie: and I agree!


It's Buffy meets The Matrix meets Blade! In Moscow! Russian madman / genius Timur Bekmambetov arrived on our screens with a bang thanks to this demented, dizzily dark twist on the action movie. It seems that the world is still peopled with witches, werewolves, vampires and the rest - but they are divided into Light and Dark Others, battling it out for supremacy, and the souls of new, emerging Others, on the streets of Russia's capital. Extraordinary visuals on a shoestring budget, bravura subtitle design (it matters) and a plot that just makes sense (unlike its "Chalk of Destiny" powered sequel), this is the most visually imaginative superhero movie of the last decade.

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Writers: Timur Bekmambetov (screenplay), Laeta Kalogridis(screenplay)

Stars: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Menshov and Mariya Poroshina