I first discovered Bruno Ganz from a tip-off as a younger man seeking out the best of what art-house cinema could offer, the film ponce that I was seeking to be and have since mastered to a certain extent. Say about that what you will.
The tip-off itself came from being told (obviously by an older gentleman trying to impress his eager student) of the ‘need to watch’ a certain black and white film where the famous US cop Columbo (Peter Faulk) plays himself as an actor, Nick Cave appears onstage, as himself, and two angels monitor the state of Berlin’s residents and their most personal private problems. The reality of the thing was indeed via the lens of a man called Wim Wenders who has made many more to be fawned over. Wings of Desire (‘Der Himmel über Berlin’ is the better original title) brought my attention to Swiss actor Bruno Ganz. In this movie, he played an angel who falls in love with a circus performer, to the extent he gives up his heavenly status to become one of us mortals.
Here, in an interview only recently unearthed online again, Ganz speaks about playing a role not angelic, certainly problematic, uncomfortably human: Adolf Hitler in the wonderful Downfall.
Bruno Ganz left an indelible mark on acting in 2019, dying from cancer at the age of 77.
