Lisbon Story (1994)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writer:

Wim Wenders (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1995 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

The director Friedrich Monroe has trouble with finishing a silent b&w movie about Lisbon. He calls his friend...

Plot Keywords:

Sound | Urination | Road Trip | Shoeshine Boy | Promotion

Cast

Rüdiger Vogler	...	Phillip Winter
Patrick Bauchau	...	Friedrich Monroe
Vasco Sequeira	...	Truck Driver
Canto e Castro	...	Barber
Viriato Jose da Silva	...	Shoemaker
João Canijo	...	Crook
Ricardo Colares	...	Ricardo
Joel Cunha Ferreira	...	Zé
Sofia Bénard da Costa	...	Sofia
Vera Cunha Rocha	...	Vera
Elisabete Cunha Rocha	...	Beta
Teresa Salgueiro	...	Herself (Madredeus)
Pedro Ayres Magalhães	...	Himself (Madredeus)
Rodrigo Leão	...	Himself (Madredeus)
Gabriel Gomes	...	Himself (Madredeus)

Also Known As:

Lisbonne Story
Viagem a Lisboa (Portugal)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language and brief smoking.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Germany | Portugal

Language:

English | Portuguese | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:6 (f) (w) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany

Company:

Madragoa Filmes

Trivia:

"Ah não ser eu toda a gente e toda a parte!". This phrase (roughly translated as "Would I be everybody and everywhere!"), written in one of the walls of the house where Winter's staying, is the last verse of "Ode Triunfal", a poem by Álvaro de Campos, one of the three main heteronyms of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.

Quotes:

Phillip Winter: Listen. You have to guess what this is.
[makes sound of horse running]
Beta: A horse! He's afraid!
Zé: Yeah, horse!
Vera: That's it!
Sofia: He's running very fast! He's galloping!
Phillip Winter: Right. And who is always on a horse?
Zé: A cowboy.
Phillip Winter: Right. And now...
[makes sound of lighting a match]
[...]

Movie Connections:

References The Cameraman (1928)

Soundtrack:

TEJO

Haunting and beautiful

This movie had the most tremendous impact on me when I first saw it - and now that I watch it again it does the same kind of magic to me. It gives impressions, but mostly it uses pictures, music, sounds to convey beauty.

The depth, what makes this more than commercial of Lisbon is the true question lying under about filmmakers wrestle with himself about the worth of making a film or any film and then again a really beautiful story about love which is drawn with only the needed lines to make you see it, but without spelling the feelings out.

The lead singer of Madredeus - Teresa Salgueiro does exceptional role without playing anyone particular - also the presence of other band members is strong - and takes the movie somewhere between real and unreal and gives the movie sleepy, dreamy like atmosphere. Wenders must have talent in casting since also the "local" people fit in perfectly and are so easy about being in front of camera.