Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)

'When the child was a child,

'it walked with its arms swinging.

'and this puddle to be the sea.

'When the child was a child, it didn't know it was a child.

'When the child was a child,

'it had no opinion about anything,

'had no habits,

'often sat cross-legged, ran off abruptly,

'and didn't pull faces

'when being photographed.'

Look!

'Such a delight to lift your head out here in the open,

'to see the sun shining through the colours,

'in people's eyes.'

'Mad at last, but no longer alone!

'Mad at last, but redeemed!

'Mad, but at peace!

'A fool, but with an inner light!'

'Ladies and gentlemen, the no-smoking sign has been turned on,

'as we're approaching Berlin Tegel.

'Please stop smoking and refrain from smoking until you're in the terminal building.'

'We've arrived already. 9:00am in New York…'

'…ran up to him…

'…and hugged him.

'There's a little house with two floors and a terrace,

'and we go swimming every day…

'The man who lives there is called Peter.'

'I don't even understand this character.

'It's amazing how little I know about this part.

'Maybe we'll discover it during the shoot.

'Well, I'll get a good costume, and that's half the battle.

'Berlin.

'Emil Jannings.

'Kennedy. Von Stauffenberg.

'Hell of a guy.'

What a nice picture!

'That wasn't in Berlin.

'What difference does it make? It happened.

'If Grandma was here, she'd say, "Spazier!

"'Go spazieren!"

'Tokyo, Kyoto, Paris, London, Trieste… Berlin.'

'…brings you updates throughout the weekend. AFN Berlin.'

(Various radio stations in English and German, indistinct)

'There's never anything of interest on TV…'

'…time to go out.

'You stumble over your colours, and you're never on time.'

'How am I gonna get a refrigerator and a washing machine in here?

'I'll have to figure it out.'

'Still smells the same, only dustier.

'She collected everything,

'stamps, postcards, subway tickets…

'She never threw anything away.

'She just couldn't.

'Mother…

'She was never… my mother!

'My father… My father was my father!

'Now she's dead.

'No tears, no grief. Maybe later…

'God, I feel old!

'My sister… I have to get out of here!'

You can't catch me!

'She doesn't love you, she never did.

'And you're faking it, too!

'Be glad they've forgotten about you! You're free at last…

"'I wanna die right away and then live forever," she said.'

QUIET!

'My God, what's gonna become of that boy?

'Music's all he's got in his head.

'No, I can't take this anymore.

'What more does he want?

'I've already bought him a guitar,

'now he needs drums…

'It all costs a fortune.

'I'm getting fed up.

'Is he ever going to come to his senses?

'Well…

'I've had it! This can't go on!

'There's an end to everything!

'I can't take this anymore…'

'No wonder! Rock 'n' roll is all he knows.

'Maybe he'll get a grip one day!

'One can only hope…'

'When the child was a child,

'it was the time of questions like,

"'and why not you?

"'Why am I here and why not there?

"'When did time begin, and where does space end?

'"Isn't life under the sun just a dream?

'"Isn't what I see and hear and smell

"'just an illusion of a world in front of the world?

"'Does evil actually exist, and people who are really evil?

'"wasn't me before I existed,

"'and that someday this 'me' that I am

'"will no longer be me?"'

'The child needs oxygen. I have to breathe deeply!'

- (Man) 'If I could only suffer in her place.' - (Woman) 'It hurts so much!'

- (Man) 'It'll be over soon.' - (Woman) 'It's almost over.'

- (Man) 'It's almost over.' - (Woman) 'Yes… It's getting less.'

'Little thing, I can't wait to see you. I wonder what you look like.'

- (Man) 'It's almost over.' - (Woman) 'It's almost over.'

- (Siren wailing) - (Woman) You bastard!

'Your downfall, one day, will be women…'

'Blackie, I think I'm lost.

'We wanted to go to the cemetery. We haven't been there for such a long time.'

Well?

Sunrise, 7:22am. Sunset, 4:28pm.

Moonrise, 7:04pm. Moonset…

Water level of the Havel and the Spree…

Twenty years ago today,

a Soviet jet fighter crashed into the lake in Spandau.

- Fifty years ago, we had… - The Olympic Games!

200 years ago, a Frenchman flew over the city in a hot-air balloon.

Like those fugitives recently.

And today…

…on Lilienthaler Chaussee, a man slowed down

and looked over his shoulder into space.

At the post office, a man wanted to end it all today

and put a different collector's stamp on each farewell letter.

Once outside, he spoke English with an American soldier,

for the first time since his schooldays, and fluently, too.

Just before running head first into a wall, a prisoner said, "Now!"

And a subway conductor, instead of calling out the "Zoo" station,

suddenly shouted "Tierra Del Fuego".

Nice!

And an old man read to a child from The Odyssey,

and the young listener stopped blinking completely.

And what do you have to report?

A woman in the rain who folded up her umbrella…

…and let herself get drenched.

A schoolboy…

…describing to his teacher how a fern grows out of the ground,

and the astonished teacher.

A blind woman who felt for her watch when she sensed my presence.

It's wonderful to live as a spirit

and witness for all eternity strictly what's spiritual about people.

But sometimes I get fed up with my transcendent existence.

I don't want to always hover above. I'd rather feel a weight within

that would end this boundlessness and tie me to the earth.

At every step, or every gust of wind,

I'd like to be able to say "now"

and "now" and "now"…

No longer "forever" and "for all eternity".

To take the empty seat at a card game

and be greeted,

even just with a nod.

Every time we got involved, it was just make-believe.

Putting a hip out wrestling with one of them — a sham.

Catching a fish — a sham.

Sitting at tables,

drinking and eating — a sham.

Having lambs roasted and wine served

by the tents in the desert — all make-believe.

I don't have to father a child or plant a tree…

…but it would be nice to come home after a long day

and feed the cat like Philip Marlowe.

To have a fever,

get black fingers from reading the newspaper.

Not just be excited by the mind, but by a meal, for once.

By the curve of a neck.

By an ear.

To lie!

Through one's teeth!

To feel your bones as you walk along!

Let things dawn on you, not always know it all!

Be able to say "Ah!" and "Oh!" and "Ouch!"…

instead of "Yes" and "Amen".

Yes.

Get enthused about evil for once!

Draw all demons of the world onto yourself

and then drive them off, once and for all.

Be a savage!

Or feel what it's like to take your shoes off under the table

and wiggle your toes, barefoot, like this.

Keep to yourself,

let things happen,

remain serious!

We can only be savage to the extent that we keep our sincerity.

Do no more than watch, gather, testify, verify, preserve.

Remain spirit!

Keep the distance, keep our word!

Look, a convertible.

You don't buy a car like that. You steal it.

- Or it's stolen from you. - Just imagine!

Put the top down and leave the smog behind!

In a pimpmobile.

"'In the beginning, God created

"'the heavens and the earth.

"'And the earth was waste and void."'

'Tell us, O Muse, about the storyteller,

'stranded at the end of the world,

'childlike and ancient,

'and in him show us "Everyman".