Daily Dialogue — December 23, 2019

The Dying Man: You never saw anyone die? I stink of gasoline. I saw it all clearly — the Mercedes, the pool of oil. Karin, I should have told you. It can’t be that simple. I’ve still so much to do.
Damiel: [places his hands on the Dying Man’s head] As I came up the mountain, out of the misty valley into the sun. The fire on the cattle range, the potatoes in the ashes, the boathouse floating in the lake. The Southern Cross.
The Dying Man: The Far East. The Great North. The Wild West. The Great Bear Lake. Tristan da Cunha. The Mississippi Delta. Stromboli. The old houses of Charlottenburg. Albert Camus. The morning light. The child’s eyes. The swim in the waterfall. The spots of the first drops of rain. The sun. The bread and wine. Hopping. Easter. The veins of leaves. The blowing grass. The color of stones. The pebbles on the stream’s bed. The white tablecloth outdoors. The dream of the house in the house. The dear one asleep in the next room. The peaceful Sundays. The horizon. The light from the room in the garden. The night flight. Riding a bicycle with no hands. The beautiful stranger. My father. My mother. My wife. My child.

— Wings of Desire (1987), screenplay by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Angel.

Trivia:Wim Wenders originally wanted Peter Handke to collaborate on the script. Handke declined to work on the script as a whole but agreed to write a set number of important scenes which Wenders could then work around.

Dialogue On Dialogue: This movie blew my mind. IMDb plot summary: “An angel tires of overseeing human activity and wishes to become human when he falls in love with a mortal.” If you haven’t seen it, do so soon.