In 1987 the German director Wim Wenders made the film The sky above Berlin, an ode to his city in which, according to his words, present and past coexist, where the latter manifests itself through omnipresent angels and observers of what happens in good and bad. The film, particularly evocative and rich in themes, was a great success internationally and its echo reached Hollywood, where in 1998 a remake was made in reality only partially inspired by the German film. The title of this US feature film is City of Angelsdirected by Brad Silberlingwhose first film as a director had been, curiously, Casper.
In creating this remake, producers, writers and director necessarily had to make a series of changes, starting with the city in which the story is set. From Berlin we move on to Los Angeles, the city of angels, here taken as a metaphorical place at the gates of Heaven. Compared to Wenders’ film, which is more focused on the identity of Berlin and the existence of its inhabitants, City of Angels it is configured more as a love story, an element that contributed to its great success with the public. Although with a completely different ending, the issues related to the value of life and human relationships remain here.
Played by famous Hollywood stars and with all the right elements to become a small cult, this film is probably not suitable for fans of the Wenders film, but it is a great title for those in search of heartbreaking love stories. Before embarking on a vision of the film, however, it will certainly be useful to deepen some of the main curiosities relating to this. Continuing the reading here, it will be possible to find further details relating to the plotto the cast of actors and his soundtrack. Finally, the main ones will also be listed streaming platforms containing the film in their catalog.
City of Angels: the plot of the movie
The protagonist of the film is Seth, an angel who takes care of accompanying people who are about to die to the afterlife. When one day he is in Los Angeles, in a hospital operating room, to take care of the patient under the knife, who will die, his attention is captured by Maggie Rice, the cardiac surgeon doctor who is carrying out the operation. From that moment on Steth cannot help but remain close to her, coming to decide to make herself visible to the doctor who, although she maintains a strong skepticism due to her scientific background, opens up to a friendship that quickly turns into love.
One of the patients treated by Maggie is Nathaniel Messinger, who can sense Seth’s presence. Nathaniel, in fact, is a fallen angel who chose to become mortal for the love of the woman he later married. This meeting insinuates in Seth the idea of following the same path: abandoning his own condition of angel to become human and finally being able to love Maggie with all his senses, be close to the woman even physically and be able to experience all the human sensations that appear incomprehensible to him. . To be able to do this, however, he must perform a ritual and will have to face two aspects of human life that he had not considered: unpredictability and transience.
City of Angels: the cast of the film and the soundtrack
For the two main characters, the director originally intended to choose two unknown actors. However, he later discarded this notion knowing that having two well-known performers in the film would favor his success. So it was that for the part of Seth the actor was chosen Nicolas Cage. After completing action roles in films The Rock, With Air And Face / Off, Cage was looking forward to starring in a drama and when he received the script he accepted the role, appreciating the spiritual issues in the story and the impact they had on him. Cage then built the character by adopting the mentality of a child, showing himself impressed by common experiences such as feeling rain or sunlight on the skin.
Next to him, in the role of the angel Cassiel, appears the actor Andre Braugher. The actress Meg Ryan instead she is the interpreter of Maggie, who has accepted to accept the role having appreciated the idea of an angelic guide alongside human activity. The actors then appear in the film Dennis Franz in the role of Nathaniel Messinger e Joanna Merlin in those of Teresa Messinger e Colm Feore like Jordan Ferris. The film’s soundtrack, on the other hand, includes some of the most prestigious names in the history of music, including U2, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Gabriel and Eric Clapton, and enjoyed enormous commercial success, becoming one of the most successful soundtracks of the 1990s. The two singles Iris of the Goo Goo Dolls And Uninvited from Alanis Morissette they too achieved great international success.
City of Angels: the trailer and where to see the film in streaming and on TV
You can take advantage of City of Angels thanks to its presence on some of the most popular streaming platforms on the net today. This is indeed available in the catalogs of Rakuten TV, Chili Cinema, Google Play, Now and Amazon Prime Video. To see it, once the reference platform has been chosen, just rent the single film or sign up for a general subscription. In this way you will be able to watch it in total comfort and at the best of video quality. The film is also present in the television schedule of Monday 6 June at 21:10 On the canal The 5.
Source: IMDb
City of Angels: everything you need to know about the film with Nicolas Cage