Angels in the Metroplex: Hegel, the Apocrypha, and Intertextuality in Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire)

Semiologist Julia Kristeva defines intertextuality as the interaction of texts. "Any text builds itself as a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of another." Kristeva and other critics who analyze the interweaving of texts assume, as Plottel and Charney put it, that "Every text echoes another text unto infinity, weaving the fabric of culture itself." Intertextual criticism offers interesting insights into Wim Wenders' ironic portrayal of the traditional religious perspective on desire as opposed to Hegelian desire in Der Himmel uber Berlin (American title Wings of Desire).