I'm sitting in my sofa watching Der Himmel über Berlin on DVD. It's a beautiful movie. Henri Alekans cinematography is close to perfect. In 1946 he also shot Jean Cocteaus "La Belle et la Bête. The movie was released in 1987 and it had a great impact on me back then. It has this very heavy and dark 80's feeling. The Berlin Wall is very present through out the movie. So is the Second World War and to some extent the Cold War. There are also plenty of references to the early masters of German and European cinema. The music by Crime & the City Solution and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds fits the movie perfect. It has a lot in common with Lars von Triers movies The Element of Crime and Europa. Bruno Ganz is excellent as the angel Damiel. So is Peter Falk as himself. Unfortunately Solveig Dommartin, who was perfect as the trapeze artist Marion, died in January this year. Only 45 years old. It's a haunting movie. Very post punk, very European and very meditative. I found a nice clip with Solveig, Bruno and Crime & the City Solution on YouTube. Enjoy.
crime & the city solution - six bells chime
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