Abstract
Ambiguity is sometimes an uncomfortable place. But, as George MacDonald’s words above suggest, sometimes a divine interaction makes an imprint on the heart, where the mind ceases to recognise the meaning. At times, film achieves the same ambiguity: while there may be no set interpretation of the message, the image itself makes an imprint on the soul. In this essay I will argue that in the films of Wim Wenders, what we see reveals the truth, even more than what we understand. Wenders asks his viewers to look, to see things as they really are, and thereby to find the truth. As his friend and collaborator Scott Derrickson explains, ‘He won’t tell you what to feel, so when you watch his films, you have to think about what you are seeing [. . . ] you have to interact with the film. Hollywood movies manipulate your emotions, but his films give you freedom to respond without coaxing’.2 And it is this power to respond that allows Wenders’ images to be aesthetic achievements while at the same time moving beyond the immediacy of Kierkegaardian aesthetics. As Wenders explains:
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