City of Angels (film)
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''City of Angels'' is a 1998 American
romantic fantasy Romantic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre. One of the key features of romantic fantasy involves the focus on relationships, social, ...
film directed by
Brad Silberling Bradley Mitchell Silberling (born September 8, 1963) is an American television and film director whose credits include the feature films ''Casper'' (1995), '' City of Angels'' (1998), '' Moonlight Mile'' (2002), '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of U ...
and starring
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...
and
Meg Ryan Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Rich and Famous''. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap oper ...
. Set in Los Angeles, California, the film is a loose remake of Wim Wenders' 1987 film ''
Wings of Desire ''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its ...
'' (''Der Himmel über Berlin''), which was set in Berlin. As with the original, ''City of Angels'' tells the story of an angel (Cage) who falls in love with a mortal woman (Ryan), and wishes to become human in order to be with her. With the guidance of a man (
Dennis Franz Dennis Franz Schlachta (; born October 28, 1944), known professionally as Dennis Franz, is an American retired actor best known for his role as NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ABC television series ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–2005), a role that e ...
) who has already made the transition from immortality, the angel falls and discovers the human experience. When producer Dawn Steel saw potential to pursue more story ideas in Wenders' original concept, she and her husband
Charles Roven Charles Roven (born August 2, 1949) is an American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing the superhero films ''The Dark Knight Trilogy'', ''Suicide Squad (film), Suicide Squad'', ''Man o ...
acquired the rights for an English-language adaptation. After years of delay, they found support from
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and recruited Silberling and screenwriter Dana Stevens to execute the project. Themes were borrowed from Wenders' work, though the ending was altered, to a more tragic effect. ''City of Angels'' was filmed around California and dedicated to Steel, who died before the premiere. The remake was released to financial success, but mixed reviews, with some critics judging it to be a mawkish adaptation. It was also noted for its soundtrack, and nominated for several awards, particularly for its performances and soundtrack.


Plot

In
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California, Seth is one of many
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s who watches over humans, protecting them in unseen ways. His main responsibility is to appear to those who are close to death and
guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Ex ...
them to the next life. During this task, Seth and one of his fellow angels,
Cassiel Cassiel ( he, קַצְפִּיאֵל ''Qaṣpīʾēl'', "God is my wrath"; also known as קַפְצִיאֵל ''Qap̄ṣīʾēl'', "God is my leap"; ar, كسفيائيل, '), is an angel appearing in extracanonical Jewish, Christian, and Islamic ...
, ask people what their favorite thing in life was. Despite these daily encounters, they have trouble understanding human beings and their ways, as angels lack human senses. While waiting to escort a man undergoing heart surgery to the other world, Seth is impressed by the vigorous efforts of the surgeon, Maggie Rice, to save the ill-fated man's life and her sincere anguish at her failure to do so. Seth soon becomes focused on Maggie and becomes visible to her. They develop a connection, which soon turns to mutual attraction, although Maggie is already involved with one of her colleagues, Jordan Ferris. Seth then meets Nathaniel Messinger, one of Maggie's patients, who senses Seth's presence. He tells him that he, too, had once been an angel. But, as
free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...
is granted equally to mortals and angels, he decided to become human by " falling". Seth begins to consider being with Maggie, and she learns that he is an angel. Seth becomes human by jumping from the top of a skyscraper. Immediately upon awakening, he starts to experience many human feelings and sensations that he had never been able to understand, beginning with physical pain. As a human, Seth heads to the hospital to see Maggie but is told she has gone to her uncle's mountain cabin at Lake Tahoe. Penniless and naïve, he cannot pay for the journey and gets mugged. He eventually hitches a ride to Lake Tahoe and appears, soaked and cold, at Maggie's doorstep. She realizes he has become mortal for her love, and they have sex. The next morning, as Seth is showering, Maggie rides her bicycle to a local store. On her way back, happy and fulfilled, riding her bicycle with her eyes closed and her arms wide open. Her happiness is cut when she fails to notice a
logging truck A logging truck or timber lorry is a large truck used to carry logs. Some have integrated flatbeds, some are discrete tractor units, and some are configured to spread a load between the tractor unit and a dollied trailer pulled behind it. Ofte ...
crossing her path and is mortally wounded in the collision. Seth senses that Maggie is in trouble and runs to her aid. He arrives in time for her to tell him she sees the angel who has come to accompany her. Although Seth can no longer see angels, he senses one nearby and frantically begs Maggie not to look at him/her. She tells him she is not afraid anymore and that when they ask her what her favorite thing in life was, she will say it was Seth, before she dies. Grieving and alone, Seth is visited by Cassiel. He asks if he is being punished for becoming human, which Cassiel assures him is not the case. Sometime later, Seth expresses his joy in being human and the fact that he has accepted his new life by running into the ocean, feeling the waves at dawn, in sight of the angels.


Cast


Themes

''City of Angels'' invokes the idea of the
fallen angel In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said ...
in Seth's transformation into a human. However, author Scott Culpepper argues this is not related to evil or exile from heaven, and is instead based on
free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...
. The fact that Maggie is killed very shortly after Seth's transformation poses the question of whether Seth left "heaven for ashes", but the conclusion is that "the very temporality of relationships, experiences and feelings are what make them meaningful". Seth's realization is followed by the concluding scene in which he dives into the ocean, and the otherwise "stoic" Cassiel smiles for him. Sociologists Albert Bergesen and Andrew Greeley write that this communicates "not only the glory of being alive ... but the seeming approval by heaven of that choice". Writer Brian Godawa interprets the film as having a "humanistic worldview" in which physical experiences humans can enjoy have more value to angels than the spiritual. However, Godawa feels this contradicts 1 Peter 1:12, where "things which angels desire to look into" are spiritual truths in the gospel of the Holy Spirit. Encyclopedist Andrew Tate writes Maggie is a surgeon with no spiritual faith and, through Seth, she "learns to trust the invisible", while Seth learns the wonders of life through her. Professor Christopher R. Miller observes Seth's book recommendation for Maggie is
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
's ''
A Moveable Feast ''A Moveable Feast'' is a 1964 memoir ''belles-lettres'' by American author Ernest Hemingway about his years as a struggling expat journalist and writer in Paris during the 1920s. It was published posthumously. The book details Hemingway's fir ...
'', but Miller suggests John Milton's '' Paradise Lost'' would have been more interesting. Miller contrasted Milton's epic, in which "angels were matter and spirit" and "sybaritic show-offs", with the depiction of the supernatural beings in the film. Tate believes the fact that angels reside in libraries indicates that they represent "an age of reason, order and learning", though these principles led to decline in faith, contemplating Nathaniel's line "They don't believe in us anymore". Miller questions the "no one believes" line, pointing to 1998
New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...
book sales, the play ''
Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award f ...
'' and the television series ''
Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...
''. On the choice of Los Angeles as a setting, Gabriel Solomons contrasts the depiction of the city as a door to heaven to other films depicting it as a "psychological dead end" or actual hell (as in ''
Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
''). However, Professor Jeff Malpas says that, whereas ''Wings of Desire'' was informed by Berlin, Los Angeles, sometimes known in real life as the "City of Angels", "provides nothing more than a convenient location".


Production


Development

Director
Brad Silberling Bradley Mitchell Silberling (born September 8, 1963) is an American television and film director whose credits include the feature films ''Casper'' (1995), '' City of Angels'' (1998), '' Moonlight Mile'' (2002), '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of U ...
praised Wim Wenders' 1987 Franco-German film ''
Wings of Desire ''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its ...
'', calling it "truly the most incredible cinematic experience of observation of human detail". Silberling, while acknowledging Wenders' film was meant as a tribute to
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, remarked that it became "a larger human discussion". In 1989, at the initiative of producer Dawn Steel, her company reached out to Wenders to purchase the rights for an adaptation. However, production was delayed, as Steel took the project to
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
and
Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
before finally settling at
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Silberling secured the position of director after his success with the 1995 film adaptation of ''
Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...
''. While Steel's husband
Charles Roven Charles Roven (born August 2, 1949) is an American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing the superhero films ''The Dark Knight Trilogy'', ''Suicide Squad (film), Suicide Squad'', ''Man o ...
said she "felt that there was another movie in the idea for ''Wings of Desire''", screenplay drafts by various authors dissatisfied her. She subsequently selected Dana Stevens as screenwriter. Stevens professed admiration for Wenders' original and believed she could "capture its essence", while reconsidering its nonlinear narrative. She also defended the California setting, saying "Los Angeles is metaphorically more representative of America than any other city ... It has every personality, and I like the idea of angels being among all these different ethnic cultures". Star
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...
said that moving the setting from Berlin in the time of the
Wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the sup ...
to Los Angeles demanded story changes, with heavier focus on romance. Silberling and Cage noted the project followed other angel-themed films, such as '' Michael'' and ''
The Preacher's Wife ''The Preacher's Wife'' is a 1996 American comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall and starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Courtney B. Vance. It is a remake of the 1947 film ''The Bishop's Wife'', which in turn was based on t ...
'', both released in 1996. They were unimpressed with these earlier films, and drew angel wings in the ''City of Angels'' screenplay to identify parts they felt needed improvement. Though Silberling did not use the black-and-white the angels see in the original ''Wings of Desire'' and ''
Faraway, So Close! ''Faraway, So Close!'' (german: In weiter Ferne, so nah!) is a 1993 German fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by Wenders, Richard Reitinger and Ulrich Zieger. It is a sequel to Wenders' 1987 film '' Wings of Desire''. Actors ...
'', the remake does borrow the idea of angels inhabiting libraries. Wenders and his crew also developed the costume design of overcoats for angels, with Wenders telling Silberling they experimented with costumes during production before deciding on this look. The ending of the story was altered, so Maggie is killed, a less happy conclusion than the original. Silberling equated this to a scene in ''Wings of Desire'' where the angel protagonist goes to the side of a motorcyclist near death. Silberling claimed there was minimal supervision from Warner Bros. throughout writing and filming, due to priority given to the ''Batman'' film franchise. ''City of Angels'' was the last film produced by Steel and Roven before her death, and it is dedicated to her.


Casting

Originally, Silberling envisioned employing novice actors in the lead roles, but acknowledged performers with the level of recognition of Cage and
Meg Ryan Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Rich and Famous''. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap oper ...
would attract support for the production. After having completed action-oriented roles in '' The Rock,'' ''
Con Air ''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a prison break aboard a ...
'' and ''
Face/Off ''Face/Off'' is a 1997 American science fiction action thriller film directed by John Woo, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The first Hollywood film in which Woo was given major creativ ...
'', Cage was eager to star in a more profound film when he received Stevens' screenplay. He agreed to accept the role, noting the spiritual issues in the story and the impact it had on him, but not elaborating on his own beliefs. Ryan also agreed to accept the role of Maggie, remarking "I don't know if angels are floating around, but the idea that there's a guiding force is something I embrace".
Andre Braugher Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the com ...
, an actor on the television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', was able to work on the project while ''Homicide'' was on break before the beginning of its sixth season. His new co-star
Dennis Franz Dennis Franz Schlachta (; born October 28, 1944), known professionally as Dennis Franz, is an American retired actor best known for his role as NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ABC television series ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–2005), a role that e ...
was also starring on a police procedural series, '' NYPD Blue''.


Filming

Cage said that with this role, he had to switch from his regular methods of constant movements to trying to be "effective" while often still. He remarked on having to adopt the mindset of a child, and act impressed by commonplace experiences such as feeling rain or sunlight. A rig for the camera was built for the scene where the angelic Seth sees Maggie look in the mirror, and the crew shot the mirror without the actors for one take so Cage's reflection could be edited out from the take with both. Other special effects involved a "going to the light" afterlife depiction, in which Seth walks with a little girl, played by Sarah Dampf, who has died. After cinematographer
John Seale John Clement Seale ACS ASC (born 5 October 1942) is an Australian cinematographer. He won an Oscar for his work in the 1996 film ''The English Patient,'' in addition to a BAFTA and Satellite Award. He is a member of both the Australian Cinem ...
shot the scene in a hallway,
Sony Pictures Imageworks Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
' John Nelson increased the brightness to end in white, adding splinters of light. Some of the film was shot at Lake Tahoe's surrounding areas and
Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
. The "falling" scene was partially shot at the Los Angeles Bank of America, while Cage was placed on a moving rig over a bluescreen. Ryan's death scene was filmed on Old Mill Road in
Crestline, California Crestline is a census-designated place in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, USA. The population was 10,770 at the 2010 census, up from 10,218 at the 2000 census. Geography Crestline is located at . According to t ...
. The library scenes were shot at
San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as '' Library Journals ...
. For angel scenes shot at
Malibu Beach Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...
, though the characters are not physical beings, it was decided that the angels would have briefly visible footprints to avoid the perception that the sand was too hard to leave imprints. Thus, Nelson erased the footprints soon after they are first seen.


Music

The score was composed by
Gabriel Yared Gabriel Yared (Arabic: غبريال يارد; born 7 October 1949) is a Lebanese-French composer, best known for his work in French and American cinema. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Yared scored the French films ''Betty Blue'' and ''Camille Claud ...
, often using three notes to convey ascent. Pop synthesizers, pianos and strings were used for the three-note compositions where the angels observe Los Angeles, where the child in the prologue dies and where Seth experiences Maggie's despair, respectively. Yared also employed violins and celli, sometimes using one to accompany a line of
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
dialogue and another for follow-up dialogue. Choirs and distant voices reminiscent of Jürgen Knieper's ''Wings of Desire'' score can be heard. The soundtrack debuted at number 23 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart on the issue dated April 18, 1998. Its two singles, the
Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sou ...
' "
Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...
" and Alanis Morissette's " Uninvited", were released to U.S. radio in March and were still receiving substantial radio airplay by August. While composing "Iris" for the film, songwriter
John Rzeznik John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik (; born December 5, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the founder, guitarist and frontman of the American rock band Goo Goo Dolls, with whom he has recorded 14 studio albums. Early life Rzeznik w ...
described feeling inspired to write the lyrics from the point of view of a character, rather than in his own voice. Music author John Braheny wrote that Rzeznik's composition in "Iris" follows a form where a melody, represented by A, is given AAA repetition, with an added repeating chorus lyric.


Release

In
test screening A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or ...
s, Silberling said the film had favorable reactions, though with some confused viewers. ''City of Angels'' had its debut at Los Angeles'
Mann Theatres Mann Theatres was a movie theater chain that predominantly operated in the western United States, with a heavy concentration of theaters in Southern California. Its motto was "Where Hollywood goes to the movies". History The Mann Theatres chai ...
on April 8, 1998. The screening was held to benefit the Dawn Steel Putting Girls in the Picture Fund, in honor of Steel, who died in December 1997. Silberling, Roven and the stars were in attendance. The film's wider release in the United States took place during the weekend, distributed by
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
published a special edition DVD in December 1998. In 2014, Warner released a
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in Region A, with
audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
from Silberling, Roven and Stevens.


Reception


Box office

The film opened first in the box office, making $16.1 million in its opening weekend. It displaced ''
Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'', which was first in the box office for one week, after overtaking ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'', first for 15 weeks. ''Titanic'' ranked third behind ''City of Angels'' and ''Lost in Space''. ''City of Angels'' reached the $100 million mark by October 26. It finished its run after grossing $78,685,114 in North America and $120 million in other territories, for a total of nearly $200 million. Writer
Craig Detweiler Craig Detweiler (born 1964) is a writer, filmmaker, and cultural commentator. He is dean of the College of Fine Arts and Production at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. Early life and career Detweiler grew up in Charlotte, North Caro ...
concluded the remake drew more viewers than the original.


Critical reception

Roger Ebert gave ''City of Angels'' three stars, saying Meg Ryan was at her best here, but the film was "more of a formula story" than the original ''Wings of Desire'', and that many of its qualities were lifted from there. In ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'',
Emanuel Levy Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema ...
positively reviewed Cage as "endlessly resourceful" and Ryan as "terrifically engaging". In ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'', Jennifer Wolcott compared it to '' Ghost'' (1990) and ''
Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * ...
'' (1997) as a U.S. film that could explore religion and love, highlighting Maggie's realization that her life will continue after the death of her blood cells, and that love is more than "a chemical reaction". '' Sun-Sentinel'' reviewer Roger Hurlburt praised the acting, direction and "profound" feelings, and advised readers, "don't forget the Kleenex". Wenders was satisfied with the adaptation of his work, remarking, "It's done with respect, with a sense of discovery all its own". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' Stephen Holden wrote the standard romantic clichés were "sumptuously" displayed, Cage resembled a
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
more than an angel, and he preferred Ryan.
David Denby David Denby (born 1943) is an American journalist. He served as film critic for ''The New Yorker'' until December 2014. Early life and education Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B. A. from Columbia University in 1965, and a master' ...
wrote in '' New York'' that unlike Berlin, Los Angeles offers "the sunlit paradise" where people do not need convincing as to how nice life can be. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' gave the film a C, with Owen Gleiberman describing it as "a hymn to sappiness".
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's Paul Clinton dismissed the remake as a "schmaltzy" and "vapid" version of ''Wings of Desire''. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''s Michael O'Sullivan dismissed it as "a mawkish debasement of its source material", asking "When will Hollywood learn to leave well enough alone?" Michael Wilmington gave it two and a half stars in the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'', enjoying the appearance of the film but concluding it feels "forced and mechanically weepy". Writing for ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'', William Thomas credited Silberling for "a fresh eye", but felt the film fell short in "philosophical claptrap". Andrew Johnston writing in
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
concluded: "In the final reel, what began as a philosophical study of death and longing becomes a blatant tearjerker, but even then the accumulated momentum sweeps you along. Mainstream films are seldom more lyrical." In 2012, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' included it in its Top 10 On-Screen Depictions of Heaven list, for its portrayal of the "go toward the light" afterlife experience. In his ''2015 Movie Guide'',
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
gave it two and a half stars, judging it "still intriguing" though losing much of the atmosphere of the original. That year, ''
Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
'', in reviewing remakes, called ''City of Angels'' "a sickly bastardization" of its source material, though remarking Wenders himself was unable to duplicate its success with his 1993 sequel, ''
Faraway, So Close! ''Faraway, So Close!'' (german: In weiter Ferne, so nah!) is a 1993 German fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by Wenders, Richard Reitinger and Ulrich Zieger. It is a sequel to Wenders' 1987 film '' Wings of Desire''. Actors ...
''. In 2017, MSN included it in its 20 All-Time Worst Movie Remakes list, acknowledging it as a financial hit but "a schmaltzy tearjerker" compared to the poetry of the original. The film has a 58% score on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 6.24/10. The site's consensus states: "''City of Angels'' may not tug the heartstrings as effortlessly as it aims to, but the end results will still leave more than a few viewers in tears." The film has a rating a 54 out of 100 on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
based on 22 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Accolades

'' City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture'' received nominations at the
41st Grammy Awards The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill received the most nominations with 10, setting a record for the most no ...
, and the film received nominations and awards at ceremonies honoring cinema:


See also

*
List of films about angels This is a list of films where angels appear. Angels * '' The Christmas Angel'' (1904) * ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' (1935) * ''The Green Pastures'' (1936) * ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' (1941) * ''I Married an Angel'' (1942) * ''A Guy Na ...


References


Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:City Of Angels 1990s romantic fantasy films American remakes of German films American romantic fantasy films Atlas Entertainment films Existentialist films Films about angels Films based on works by Peter Handke Films scored by Gabriel Yared Films directed by Brad Silberling Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in San Francisco Regency Enterprises films Warner Bros. films Wim Wenders Films produced by Dawn Steel 1990s English-language films 1990s American films