I really like "Der Himmel über Berlin", so I was delighted to see Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Otto Sander and Solveig Dommartin back for a second film directed by Wim Wenders and written by Wenders and Reitinger again as well. Sadly, everybody from this quartet has a significantly smaller role except (the recently deceased Sander who plays the lead character this time, but is my least favorite of them. Instead, they added rising star Nastassja Kinski (daughter to Klaus), Willem Dafoe (who plays a mysterious character as usual that you cannot summarize with either "good" or "bad"), Mikhail Gorbachev (in small cameo) and German acting legend Heinz Rühmann (already over 90, in his final role).
There are some similarities compared to the film. A big part of it is in black and white again and it changes to color after Sander's character becomes human. Sadly, the strength of the first film, the whole poetic approach to life and atmosphere was sacrificed here a bit for stories on homelessness, alcoholism and a major crime-related plot. At least, Peter Falk brought some comedic delight again when he pretends to check a location for an upcoming Columbo movie. For me, a major reason why I rated this film lower than its prequel is because I also prefer Ganz a lot over Sander. Apart from that, the ending was slightly confusing and I felt they could have cut out at least 15-20 minutes and not hurt the film. The German Film Festival, Cannes Palme d'Or and Golden Globe Awards probably disagree as they gave this movie some recognition.
All in all, I would say this is still a fairly good movie on its own, even if it hardly never reached the greatness from the first. Fans of Wenders' "Alice in den Städten" could also give this a go.
There are some similarities compared to the film. A big part of it is in black and white again and it changes to color after Sander's character becomes human. Sadly, the strength of the first film, the whole poetic approach to life and atmosphere was sacrificed here a bit for stories on homelessness, alcoholism and a major crime-related plot. At least, Peter Falk brought some comedic delight again when he pretends to check a location for an upcoming Columbo movie. For me, a major reason why I rated this film lower than its prequel is because I also prefer Ganz a lot over Sander. Apart from that, the ending was slightly confusing and I felt they could have cut out at least 15-20 minutes and not hurt the film. The German Film Festival, Cannes Palme d'Or and Golden Globe Awards probably disagree as they gave this movie some recognition.
All in all, I would say this is still a fairly good movie on its own, even if it hardly never reached the greatness from the first. Fans of Wenders' "Alice in den Städten" could also give this a go.