Synopsis

Seth, an angel who watches over Los Angeles, becomes fascinated by Maggie, a surgeon whose dedication to her patients exposes him to the intensity of human emotion. As their connection deepens, Seth considers surrendering immortality so he can experience love, touch, and an ordinary life with her. His choice brings joy and discovery, but also forces him to confront the vulnerability and limitations of being human.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is a loose American remake of Wim Wenders' 1987 German film Wings of Desire, relocating the story from Berlin to Los Angeles.

• Producer Dawn Steel initiated the adaptation project in 1989. The film was dedicated to her after her death from a brain tumor on December 20, 1997, several months before its release.

• Although Los Angeles supplies most of the setting, the library sequences were filmed at the San Francisco Public Library's Main Branch.

• Filming took place in California between April 19 and July 28, 1997. Locations included Grand Central Market, Johnie's Coffee Shop, Terminal Annex, Malibu Beach, Dodger Stadium, and Big Bear Lake.

• The beach scenes required a visual-effects adjustment: the angels briefly leave footprints in the sand, and those marks were digitally erased afterward so the characters would remain effectively invisible.

• The mirror shot in which Seth does not appear in Maggie's reflection was created with motion-control photography. Separate passes with and without the character were combined, with additional digital cleanup around the actress' hair.

• A man smoking beside Seth in a bar is director Michael Mann, appearing in a brief cameo.

• Gabriel Yared's score uses recurring three-note musical ideas to suggest ascent and to accompany several of the angels' observations.

• The soundtrack became one of the film's most enduring legacies. It included the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" and Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited," and the album eventually reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

• "Iris" was written specifically for the film before being included on the Goo Goo Dolls' album Dizzy Up the Girl. Its success helped make the soundtrack a major commercial hit.

• The film earned nearly $199 million worldwide against an estimated $55 million budget, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.