Cult film of German cinema and prize for directing at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987, Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders takes off again in the form of an opera, the first created by the Co[opéra]tive. This association of six French stages, committed to producing and broadcasting its productions far from metropolises, has placed an order with a young Franco-Tunisian composer. Othman Louati, 34, signs his first opera associated with the world of Johanny Bert’s puppets.
Two angels perched on the roofs of Berlin collect the inner thoughts of humans, in search of meaning and beauty. Until one cuts his wings and renounces heaven for love of a trapeze artist. This allegorical tale Wings of Desire, a masterpiece of German cinema filmed only two years before the fall of the wall, delivers the dream material for an opera. Here, Berliners are represented by puppets of moving and fragile humanity with open, glittering, golden skulls.
To recreate the magic on stage, Grégory Voillemet illustrates Berlin in the 80s with transparent curtains in a refined setting, all in light and shadow: “ Wim Wenders’ film is a two-hour long film. It is first of all a symbol; there is a documentary side of Berlin and it is these contemplative films which help us to go further towards thought. There is the poet’s view of the world, there is also a philosophical view. So the opera begins with this blank page and it becomes the heaven of angels. »
A political work
The main angel is played by a woman, the divine and carnal voice of the Guyanese soprano Marie-Laure Garnier: “ Angels do not have genders and that is also the beauty of this rehabilitation. Damielle is the angel who sees the world with eyes of wonder and in vocality, we witness throughout the opera her evolution between heaven and earth; so it goes from bass to treble and from treble to bass very quickly. It’s music that calls for a certain lightness and at the same time, you really need to be anchored in your body to be able to find elasticity, to sing all these extremely lyrical and sometimes whispered tunes. There is a mix between lyrical, pop, rock and we feel this humanity. »
These Wings of Desire lyrical takes on an even more poetic flight thanks to the music of the Franco-Tunisian Outhman Louati. Barely born when the wall fell in ’89, he was fully aware of the political dimension of the work: ” In the midst of the resurgence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, talking about the Shoah is not neutral and then there are walls everywhere today: in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Korea, in Mexico, it is a terrible border which is as old as humanity. The evil is separation. And the angels are there to go above the walls. »
With music subtly nourished by electronic and circus touches that gives you wings: “ It’s praise, it sings of existence. It is a cry of love, but a cry of love towards humanity; we need it today. »
► Wings of Desire, world creation of the Co[opéra]tivecontinues its route through France until May 24, 2024, from Dunkirk to Tourcoing via Besançon on January 17 and 18, then Compiègne, Nantes and Rennes.