Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
The third and final entry from
David Lynch is his most maligned film outside of Dune. Being both a prequel and a sequel to his cult TV series, it divided fans and casual viewers alike upon release, although it has since been rehabilitated. In amongst its typically surreal examination of dreams, murder and the nature of evil, the film concludes with an extraordinary sequence in the Red Room, in which Laura Palmers soul is met by a shimmering angel and she bursts into tears, knowing that the hideous psychopath Bob can no longer hurt her.
Whistle Down The Wind (1961)
Criminally underrated British director
Bryan Forbes never bettered his first feature, a poignant and profound coming-of-age tale set on the Lancashire moors.
Hayley Mills plays the eldest of three children who discover an escaped convict (
Alan Bates) hiding on their farm, and come to believe that he is the second coming of Christ. What follows is a fascinating examination of faith, religion and childlike innocence, with an ending which sees the latter of these completely shattered by the intervention of the cruel adults whose hearts have turned to stone.
Wings of Desire (1987) AND Faraway, So Close! (1993)
We finish on a par of films from German arthouse maestro
Wim Wenders, both of which explore the notion of angels living on earth and wanting to be human.
Wings of Desire, the superior of the two, blends Christianity and humanism together, arguing that while being a celestial being has its advantages, there are unique mysteries to humanity which they can only hope to understand.
Bruno Ganz is brilliant as the angel Damiel who becomes human and experiences temporal love to rival the love of his maker.