City of Angels

Here’s a great movie to watch this month, the month of transience.

I’ve always thought that no matter what you believe about whether or not there’s a life after death, Life is incredibly special.

Let’s just assume for a moment that part of a human being (call it “soul”, “spirit”, or some other such term) exists after the death of the body. If a soul is eternal, then does that make the short few decades of the average life trivial? It doesn’t feel that way to me.

Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, the average time a human being spends on Earth (any one time around! ) is around seven decades. In the context of eternity that’s a very short time. In many religions, believers emphasise how much there is to look forward to after death (if you believe), but it seems to me that whatever we believe, living, this short time we spend alive on the Earth, is a truly amazing, incredible and precious experience.

That thought is captured by this great story. I first came across this story as “Wings of Desire” by Wim Wenders (in German, with English subtitles) and the moment when the angel falls to Earth and becomes human transfixed me. As he becomes aware of the sensations of his new body, I felt totally overcome with the thrill, the uniqueness, the wonder and amazement of Life. The re-telling of the story as “City of Angels” captures all that equally well.

There are many great scenes in the movie, and it really merits a complete viewing, but my favourite scenes include the one where the angel falls to Earth and becomes human; the one where he stands on the beach with the other angels asking the patient if he can hear the sound the angels hear, and the man replies, “no, but you can’t feel this” as he runs into the surf; and the scene where the angel-become-human runs into the surf himself as his fellow angels look on; ah, many favourite scenes actually.

The main theme of this story, which is most appropriate to our theme this month, is transience, or impermanence, without which there could be no Life.

There’s another theme in this story, however, which I think is also worth highlighting. Before he becomes human, the angel walks, invisibly amongst people. He hears their thoughts, and sitting silently beside them, he soothes their troubles with his presence, but once he becomes human he can experience dialogue, and, so, relationship. We touch each other with our words and with our actions, neither of which last forever. How special does that make today?

What do you think? Watch the movie, and then come back and share your thoughts.