there is a striking scene early in ” city of angels , ” where all the angels who live unseen in our midst , gather at the beach to watch the sun rise .
the camera moves above them , showing the endless rows of ethereal men and women , all garbed in black .
then the camera moves in on the face of seth , an angel played by nicolas cage , and as the sun rises , he smiles and his entire face lights up .
you see , the angels can hear music in sunrises and sunsets , but they cannot feel a human touch .
it is an important scene for several reasons .
first of all , it is one of many instances in the film that make angels seem thoroughly plausible .
the film presents these fantastic beings as normal-looking people who drift amongst the inhabitants of earth , watching what goes on with little interference .
there are none of the standard , hokey angel references used in recent films like ” angels in the outfield ” ( 1994 ) or ” michael ” ( 1996 ) .
the angels here are stark and believable .
this early scene on the beach is also an important scene of juxtaposition , for its shows how god’s angels can enjoy aspects of the earth that human cannot , and yet they are denied so many simple human pleasures , like feeling the sand on their feet or the waves lapping at their legs , or the smell of the salt in the air .
there is an inherent tragedy in being an angel , although there is much beauty in it as well .
they eternally walk the earth , listening to our thoughts , touching us in our pain , and leading the dying to heaven .
like human existence , being an angel is often confused and unsure .
” city of angels ” is essentially a love story , between seth and a human , a beautiful but sad heart surgeon named maggie ( meg ryan ) .
he first sees her when he is in her operating room , waiting to lead the soul of her dying patient to heaven .
maggie is distraught , doing everything in her power to stop the man from dying on her table , and seth is moved by her efforts and , more importantly , her overwhelming sadness when the patient dies .
angels have the limited power to soothe humans in time of misery and pain , and seth does what he can with his invisible touch , but it’s not enough .
he wants to be with her and share her pain , not just stand back at a distance .
he learns that the only way to fulfill his desire for human love and touch is for him to ” fall ” and become human .
he learns this from another fallen angel , played by dennis franz ( ” n . y . p . d .
blue ” ) in a touching and humorous performance .
sitting at a diner together , franz tells cage’s character about how wonderful it is to be human – to be able to taste food , feel another person’s skin , smell the air , and most importantly , have a loving wife and children .
of course , there is pain to go along with all this , but for seth , it will be worth it .
” city of angels ” is something of a reinterpretation of wim wender’s haunting 1988 film ” wings of desire . ”
wenders’ film was more like a poem – it was the feeling , the emotion that truly mattered over what actually happened .
the americanized version moves the location from divided berlin to broken los angeles , and the emphasis shifts onto the relationship between the immortal angel and the mortal human .
and , unlike most foreign films that are re-made into hollywood fare , it doesn’t suffer extensive damage .
this may be because director brad silberling ( ” casper ” ) and screenwriter dana stevens ( ” blink ” ) wanted to make ” city of angels ” its own movie – inspired by ” wings of desire , ” but not an attempt to copy it .
and yet , ” city of angels ” is not a typical hollywood movie .
it is beautifully filmed in lush colors by cinematographer john seale ( ” the english patient ” ) , whose sweeping aerial shots and golden lighting make los angeles into an almost unrecognizable new world .
seale creates many striking visuals : in addition to the beach scene , there is a wonderful sequence in a circular library where all the angels appear at banisters all around , looking down at seth as he watches maggie walk by .
while the film travels along a charted plot , it takes time to develop its characters and situations ; it sheds light on the boundaries between what is earthly and what is heavenly , and shows just how thin those boundaries are .
both cage and ryan give soulful , soft-spoken performances .
ryan , who is usually so bouncy and energetic , truly embodies a sadness that can only be alleviated by a heavenly touch .
cage projects all his desire and longing to be human in simple , heartfelt gazes , and speaks with the comforting , knowing voice that only an angel could have .
what is most striking about ” city of angels ” is that stevens has added a new ending to the screenplay , which is both unexpected and challenging .
it’s not a formulaic hollywood ending , because it is both sad and uplifting at the same time .
it doesn’t give the audience what it thinks it wants at the end of a romance .
instead , it offers something much better , something that speaks to the depths of what it means to be human and alive .
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an eclectic collection of film reviews by james kendrick http : //www . bigfoot . com/~jimkendrick
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