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"What I had taken for a metaphor had, sort of miraculously, materialized. So I came to terms with the fact that the invisible was powerfully working in movies. I don't think you can consciously evoke that. At least, I didn't."

Similarly, Wenders offers a story of contrasting perspectives in 2004's Land of Plenty. Wenders' germ of an idea was crafted into a story by a friend, writer/director Scott Derrickson, the talented writer/director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

We can sense the strong Christian convictions of both artists in Land of Plenty, an exploration of life in post-9/11 America. But a land of plenty of what? Trouble or goodwill? Evil or grace?

A haunted Vietnam vet named Paul (John Diehl) is sent over the edge into paranoia by the events of 9/11. He appoints himself an agent for "homeland security," lurking about the backstreets of Los Angeles in search of terrorist activity. A young missionary woman, Lana (Michelle Williams), crosses Paul's path. Their eventful journey together winds up at Ground Zero in New York, where Wenders strikes chords of profound hope in the midst of haunting, horrible memories.

The two extremes represented in the film echo Wenders' personal history, growing up in a divided Germany and wandering in disillusionment from his church background until his faith was revitalized—a journey chronicled in Image journal.

Michelle Williams plays a missionary who brings grace to a 'Land of Plenty'

Wenders sought to bring a fresh vision of vital Christianity to the screen in Land of Plenty—a vision incarnated in Lana's character.

"I was so appalled, when we made the film in 2003, at how Christian ideas had been sort of hijacked and turned into their very opposite," he told us. "Compassion and social conscience had left politics; everything I subscribe to as a Christian had been strangely perverted. So I thought if ever I was going to create a character who was a Christian, she would live it and not talk about it or make a big deal about it. She would have a sort of childlike trust and belief. She was just going to live."

In the end, that childlike faith makes a difference in more lives than her own.

Wenders says he hopes his beliefs never come across in a heavy-handed fashion, that he isn't trying to "become a missionary" through his work. To that end, he notes that Lana's faith would not be effective if she was "preaching" to others in the film. "Her faith works strictly through the way she is acting."

Wenders, born in Dusseldorf in 1945, is known for stories that take place on the borderlands between territories, between men and women, between worldviews, and between generations. As a Christian, he finds glimmers of hope, reconciliation, and redemption in even the darkest places.

Until the End of the World (1991), a sci-fi love story, demonstrated that even the most promising technology can, in the hands of evil men, be twisted into unhealthy tools for self-indulgence. In Faraway, So Close!, 1993's sequel to Wings of Desire, another angel becomes a human, falls in with gun runners, despairs of his sin nature, and asks, "Why can't I be good? Why can't I act like a man?"

Mel Gibson in 'Million Dollar Hotel'

The End of Violence (1997) follows the fall of a narrow-minded moviemaker from his Hollywood successes into an awakening about true human experience. The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) features Mel Gibson as a troubled policeman who wanders into a bizarre society of misfits, where a suicidal young man falls in love with a mischievous girl and learns that even lives of hardship are full of available grace and wonder.

Wenders' work requires a vigilant audience. His films can seem slow moving for viewers accustomed to action flicks and slick Hollywood productions. The "action" in a Wenders film is often mysterious and sometimes subjective. His movies aren't for people who want things explained to them; they're for viewers who know the rewards of getting involved in the film, of considering a character's relationship with others, the landscape, history, and faith.

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