Northwest Film Forum Tears Down That Wall

The Divided Cinema film series starts tonight at Northwest Film Forum, marking a week of films exploring the social, cultural, and artistic impact of the Berlin Wall on a generation of German film. In addition to a number of excellent films including the stunning documentary The Wall, there will also be a pair of film symposia, which we gather are kind of like film classes, but for very smart people. At the very least, it is a fun word to say. Symposia.

The series kicks off tonight with Wim Wenders' modern classic, the masterful Wings of Desire. The story of an angel who falls in love with a human trapeze artist, Wings of Desire is an inspiring meditation on the nature of division, loss and separation that is beautifully shot, intellectually challenging, and haunting in the best ways. In fact, the only bad thing you can say about Wings of Desire is that it got remade as City of Angels, but you can't really blame Wenders for that. And besides, you wanted to punch Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage in their stupid faces before you even saw that movie, right?

Right.