Product Details

• Actors: Otto Sander, Bruno Ganz, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nastassja Kinski, Martin Olbertz
• Directors: Wim Wenders
• Writers: Wim Wenders, Richard Reitinger, Ulrich Zieger
• Producers: Wim Wenders, Michael Schwarz, Ulrich Felsberg
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French, German
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: August 24, 1994
• Run Time: 140 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303148263
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,855 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Thought-Provoking Companion Piece to "Wings of Desire", December 27, 2001

By 

cdset "cdset" (Saylorsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Faraway, So Close [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Unlike the angel in "Wings of Desire," who longed to be human to experience the pleasures and satisfactions of being in a physical body, the angel in "Faraway So Close" (more a companion piece than a sequel to "Wings of Desire") longs to be human to see through man's eyes and discover why human beings find it so difficult to experience the spiritual.

The angel reborn into a physical body learns the harsh lessons of life: humans can barely see beyond their own physical bodies much less glimpse the spiritual world; time passes quickly and often leaves one behind in the dust without anyone noticing or caring; and the bitterness of loneliness is a terrible thing. This is in direct contradistinction to the angel in "Wings of Desire." That angel finds joy and satisfaction in love, work and family.

Wenders, therefore, brilliantly shows us both sides of the human coin. The postive side is reflected in "Wings of Desire" and represent love and growth and the negative side is reflected in "Faraway So Close" and signify loneliness and decay. Although "Faraway So Close" sacrifices the originality that "Wings of Desire" offered us, it makes up for it by completing the human picture; for "Wings of Desire" and this film form a complete and compelling whole.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is a time that is right for each and everything, April 19, 2006

By 

R. Galeano Valencia (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faraway, So Close! (DVD)

In searching for the transcendent, and for a spiritual explanation of its material certainties and flaws, there are people who choose to believe in angels, those unmaterial beings that watch over mortals perennially, shedding light and preventing souls from falling into darkness. It is certainly a great story line, and one that touches many, but "Faraway so close" distants itself from the mere and plain interest of the obvious subject and dares to explore way deeper in the uncertain terrains of beliefs, sentiments, destiny versus will, friendship and the very essence of good and evil. It ends up being a beautiful and moving screen poem. I just love this movie and treasure it at home as one of my favorites..

This is the long awaited sequel to a previous movie by Wim Wenders under the title "Wings of Desire". In the first movie, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) an angelic being, falls in love with Marion (Solveig Dommartin) a mortal woman. Due to the strength of his feelings, Damiel chooses to make the transition to mortality and ends up forming a mortal family. The movie comes across as a beautiful love story.

In "Faraway so close" a somewhat darker side of the same process is told. Cassiel (Otto Sanders) another angel, and friend of Damiel, makes the same transition to mortality but essentially, to prevent destiny from fulfilling itself. That is, for the wrong reasons although for a good end (saving a little girl's life). Mortality ends up being a painful and shocking process for Cassiel no matter how desperately Damiel and his family try to help. In the end, there is some sort of agreement that the time for Cassiel to come down to this earth was not right. And perhaps neither were the reasons. However, destiny shows up again, and time comes for Cassiel to leave its mortal self and set things right again. The momentum is symbolized by Emit Flesti (Willem Defoe). Spell it backwards and the name will read "Time itself".

Certainly a thought-provoking kind of movie, with a great script in German, English, French and Italian and an impressive photography and marvelous direction. Beautiful and well constructed characters abound such as Raphaela (a companion angel for Cassiel, played by Nastassja Kinski), Tony Baker (Horst Bucholz), Heinz Rahrmann (Konrad), Philip Winter (Rudiger Vogeler), Camilla Pontabry (who plays Doria, Damiel and Marion's daughter) and of course the already beloved characters of Damiel, Cassiel and Marion.

Cameo appearances by Lou Reed, Mikhail Gorbachov and Peter Falk are included, all playing themselves. And the post-Berlin wall setting, together with the contradictions and conflicts still present in current German society are worth every penny. It is certainly not a mainstream sort of movie, yet in my opinion it delivers a strong message to everyone with a touch of spirituality and wanders about life, death, love, fate, will, good, evil and the essentials of our presence in this earth.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great one from Wim Wenders, June 30, 2000

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Gutter-ball "gutter-ball" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faraway, So Close [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is the sequel to Wenders 1987 masterpiece "Wings of Desire", a film that if you haven't seen you are only depriving yourself!

In this film viewers are returned to Berlin (albeit in the post-Cold War era), to see how Cassiel struggles with the barrier that exists between men and angels (for those of you who have not seen "Wings of Desire" - Cassiel is an angel). As with the first film, the angels in this movie watch over humans as if they are there own charges. Casssiel's problems eminate from his desire to make contact with these people, much the same way that Damiel did in "Wings of Desire".

Cassiel achieves his wish when he is forced to a make a split-second decision to save a young girl's life. By interceding he becomes a part of the world he had only been able to view from afar. The rest of the movie thus focuses on how Cassiel deals with the pressures and stresses of being "human". I don't want to give away too much of the story so I'll stop my description here.

There is an all star cast in this movie, such as; Nastassja Kinski, Willem Dafoe, Peter Falk, and what must have been a real coup - Mikhail Gorbachev! Don't prejudge this film if you wasted your time on that second rate, Hollywood knock-off "City of Angels" starring Nicholas Cage. This by far a superior movie. A+++++++