In his 1988 review of Wings of Desire, directed by Wim Wenders, Roger Ebert wrote, “the film is like music or a landscape: It clears a space in my mind, and in that space I can consider questions.” Indeed, Wings of Desire is not easily classified. Yet upon its release, most agreed that Wenders had created something different—possibly a masterpiece. The movie follows the silent angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) as they observe the inhabitants of West Berlin. The pair cannot interact directly with their surroundings, and only children and a former angel (Peter Falk) can see them. Damiel falls in love with a local trapeze artist and longs for a human existence, but if he is to enter the world of the living he must sacrifice his immortality. The relationship between heavenly beings and the physical world is the subject of “Divine Intervention,” a series at the Metrograph. Along with Wings of Desire, the program includes The Ballad of Narayama (1958), The Sacrifice (1986), The Milky Way (1969), and Black God, White Devil (1964). —Jack Sullivan