# In weiter Ferne, so nah!
**In weiter Ferne, so nah!** (released in English as *Faraway, So Close!*) is a 1993 fantasy drama film directed by [Wim Wenders](https://www.edgepedia.org/wim-wenders) and the sequel to his 1987 film *Wings of Desire* (*Der Himmel über Berlin*). Set in Berlin three years after the fall of the Wall, it follows the angel Cassiel, who gives up his immortality to save a child's life and must find his way in the reunited, morally uncertain city.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) • [2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) The film competed at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival and won the [Grand Prix](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-prix-cannes-film-festival) du Jury.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Wim Wenders, with screenplay by Wenders, Ulrich Zieger, and Richard Reitinger[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) |
| Production | Road Movies Filmproduktion GmbH (Berlin) and Tobis Filmkunst; Germany/USA co-production, 1992/1993[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) |
| Format | 35 mm, color and black-and-white, Dolby Stereo; 146 minutes (4,001 m)[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) |
| Principal cast | Otto Sander (Cassiel), Bruno Ganz (Damiel), Nastassja Kinski (Raphaela), Horst Buchholz (Tony Baker), Willem Dafoe (Emit Flesti), Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin, Heinz Rühmann[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) |
| Awards | Grand Prix du Jury, Cannes 1993; Bavarian Film Award 1994 for Best Direction; German Film Award 1994, Filmband in Gold for Best Cinematography (Jürgen Jürges)[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) |
| Release | Premiere at Cannes on 17/18 May 1993; German theatrical release 9 September 1993[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) • [2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) |
| Critical scores | Metacritic 61/100 from 17 critics; Rotten Tomatoes 54% positive among 13 reviews[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/faraway-so-close%21/critic-reviews/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/faraway-so-close) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film picks up where *Wings of Desire* left off. Damiel ([Bruno Ganz](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruno-ganz)), the angel who became human out of love for the trapeze artist Marion (Solveig Dommartin), now runs the pizzeria "Da Angelo" in Berlin and the two have a child.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) His former companion Cassiel (Otto Sander), described by the Cannes festival as "the angel of tears", grows increasingly dissatisfied with his fate as a powerless observer who can only comfort people, never intervene in their destinies.[5](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/)
When Cassiel sees the little girl Raissa falling from the balcony of a high-rise, he catches her, and through this act he becomes mortal, irreversibly.[6](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_ea43d4a6a19d5006e03053d50b37753d) As the human Karl Engel he wanders the streets of the reunited city, disoriented by its cold commercial bustle, and is soon drawn into a shady milieu as assistant to the German-American businessman Tony Baker ([Horst Buchholz](https://www.edgepedia.org/horst-buchholz)), who profits from illegal arms deals and trades pornographic films eastward in exchange for weapons.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) He also encounters the Mephistophelean Emit Flesti ([Willem Dafoe](https://www.edgepedia.org/willem-dafoe)), a figure who seems to embody "time itself"; the name is an anagram of that phrase.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) • [7](https://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Wenders-weiter-ferne-nah.htm) When Cassiel discovers Baker's Nazi past and criminal business, he enlists Damiel, Peter Falk, and Marion's circus-artist friends to break into the weapons depot beneath the old Tempelhof airport and send the crates of Kalashnikovs floating down the Spree.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) In the climax, Karl swings on a long trapeze from a boat lift to rescue Raissa, who has been taken hostage, and is shot by the gangsters; the film ends with his burial and Damiel's sense that Cassiel is present again as an invisible angel.[7](https://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Wenders-weiter-ferne-nah.htm)
## Production
Wenders shot the film from 14 July to 3 October 1992 in Berlin and at the Schiffshebewerk Niederfinow boat lift, three years after the fall of the Wall.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) Berlin had become a different city, and Wenders judged that he could best tell that change with the same figures from the first film.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) Whereas *Wings of Desire* had been forbidden to shoot in [East Berlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-berlin), the sequel could balance its portrait across the whole reunited city.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-ca-3999-story.html)
The production was a German-American co-production of Road Movies Filmproduktion and Tobis Filmkunst, with Ulrich Felsberg as executive producer and world sales handled by [HanWay Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanway-films).[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) • [2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) Wenders told the Christian Science Monitor that he had expected the film to be less ambitious than *Wings of Desire*, but it turned out to cost twice as much; he considered the earlier film a "poem" while the sequel was an "explicit" examination of the issues embodied by his angel characters.[9](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/1216/16152.html)
## Cast and cameos
Wenders assembled what he called the most improbable casting he had ever put together.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) Heinz Rühmann, the beloved German actor born in 1902, appears as the old man Konrad in his final film role; he died in 1994.[10](https://www.cinema.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah%2C1317778.html) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://www.edgepedia.org/mikhail-gorbachev), the former Soviet president, plays a world leader who sits at his desk and dreams of global peace, a cameo the Christian Science Monitor called the most unexpected of the year.[9](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/1216/16152.html) [Lou Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/lou-reed) appears as himself, strumming a new song, and [Peter Falk](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-falk) returns in an expanded appearance as "Himself".[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/faraway-so-close) Henri Alekan, cinematographer of the first film, has a walk-on part as a ship's captain in the final sequence.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-ca-3999-story.html) • [12](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/movies/faraway-so-close/)
## Music
Laurent Petitgand wrote the romantic score, with David Darling contributing solo cello.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-ca-3999-story.html) • [2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) The soundtrack contrasts the score with contemporary songs by Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, U2, Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, Jane Siberry, and others; [Nick Cave](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-cave)'s "Cassiel's Song" accompanies the end titles.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-ca-3999-story.html) • [2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) U2's song "Stay", written by Bono with music by [Adam Clayton](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-clayton), The Edge, and [Larry Mullen Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-mullen-jr), was nominated for the 1994 Golden Globe for Best Original Song.[13](https://www.imdb.com/de/title/tt0107209/awards/)
## Release and reception
The film premiered in competition at Cannes in May 1993. Reception there was cool; the Christian Science Monitor reported that it "was not received with much enthusiasm", even though admirers secured the special Grand Jury Prize on closing night.[9](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/1216/16152.html) The German theatrical release followed on 9 September 1993.[2](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/)
Critical response was divided. On Metacritic the film scored 61 out of 100 from 17 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews; Caryn James of The New York Times called it "lyrical and profoundly goofy" and "one of the more intriguing messes on screen".[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/faraway-so-close%21/critic-reviews/) Rotten Tomatoes records 54% positive among 13 critics.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/faraway-so-close) Time Out found the film a sprawling disappointment lacking any sense of form, while the Los Angeles Times' Kevin Thomas judged it a demanding but rewarding meditation that could be taken as an allegory of the coming together of the two Germanys.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/faraway-so-close) • [8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-ca-3999-story.html)
Runtime figures differ across sources: the German federal film portal lists the original at 146 minutes, the Cannes festival page gives 165 minutes, and several home-video and review listings give 140 or 144 minutes; the German theatrical version was cut by 22 minutes relative to the Cannes version.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca) • [5](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/) • [14](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/52366/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah)
## Assessment
The film's standing rests on a tension its commentators describe consistently: Otto Sander's gentle, wistful Cassiel and Jürgen Jürges's camera work, honored with the German Film Award, carry a poetic, warm-hearted parable, while the crime-thriller plot around Tony Baker is widely judged trivial and poorly timed.[14](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/52366/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah) • [7](https://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Wenders-weiter-ferne-nah.htm) German-language critics added that the film risks dissolving into side plots on post-Wall commerce, organized crime, and the Nazi past, and that Wenders appears to quote his own earlier work.[14](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/52366/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah) • [15](https://www.wissen.de/lexikon/weiter-ferne-so-nah) The film nonetheless remains the canonical continuation of *Wings of Desire*, read as a portrait of Berlin after reunification, with the rubble of [Potsdamer Platz](https://www.edgepedia.org/potsdamer-platz) giving way to the mirrored towers of capitalism.[16](https://press.moma.org/wp-content/files_mf/wimwenders_screeningschedule.pdf)
## References
1. [In weiter Ferne, so nah!, filmportal.de](https://www.filmportal.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_d1b9e04ad8ac463ea5b8fbaff01fb4ca)
2. [In weiter Ferne, so nah!, Wim Wenders Stiftung](https://wimwendersstiftung.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/)
3. [Faraway, So Close! critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/faraway-so-close%21/critic-reviews/)
4. [Faraway, So Close!, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/faraway-so-close)
5. [IN WEITER FERNE, SO NAH!, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah/)
6. [In weiter Ferne, so nah! (English page), filmportal.de](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah_ea43d4a6a19d5006e03053d50b37753d)
7. [In weiter Ferne, so nah!, Dieter Wunderlich review and synopsis](https://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Wenders-weiter-ferne-nah.htm)
8. [Kevin Thomas, "'Faraway, So Close': Wim Wenders' Spiritual Odyssey", Los Angeles Times, 21 December 1993](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-ca-3999-story.html)
9. [David Sterritt, "Director Wim Wenders's Angels", Christian Science Monitor, 16 December 1993](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/1216/16152.html)
10. [In weiter Ferne, so nah!, cinema.de](https://www.cinema.de/film/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah%2C1317778.html)
11. [Faraway, So Close review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/faraway-so-close)
12. [Duncan Shepherd review, San Diego Reader](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/movies/faraway-so-close/)
13. [In weiter Ferne, so nah! awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/de/title/tt0107209/awards/)
14. [In weiter Ferne, so nah!, Filmdienst review](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/52366/in-weiter-ferne-so-nah)
15. [In weiter Ferne, so nah, wissen.de lexicon](https://www.wissen.de/lexikon/weiter-ferne-so-nah)
16. [Wim Wenders screening schedule, MoMA press](https://press.moma.org/wp-content/files_mf/wimwenders_screeningschedule.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 1990s › Released 1990 to 1995*
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