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Internationally acclaimed director Wim Wenders (PARIS, TEXAS, WINGS OF DESIRE) presents an affectionate portrait of Portugal's capital city in this engaging and beguiling drama. Rüdiger Vogler once again returns to the role of Phillip Winter (ALICE IN THE CITIES, KINGS OF THE ROAD), a sound recordist who travels to Lisbon to help a friend (Patrick Bauchau, THE STATE OF THINGS) on the making of his film, only to discover he has disappeared without a trace. As he continues his search, Winter finds himself fascinated by the sounds of everyday life, capturing the city and its people with his recording equipment. A sly homage to The Third Man, with a nod to Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', LISBON STORY is one of Wim Wenders' most entertaining and intriguing films. DVD special features include "The Making of Lisbon Story", interview with Pedro Ayres Magalhäes from the band Madredeus and stills gallery.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
When my father died I had the unenviable task of clearing out his flat. I had put it off for as long as I could but eventually the warden at the tower block where my father spent his final years, gently urged me to sort through his stuff before the local authority came in and did the job for me. Amongst his many CD's I came across the soundtrack for the film 'Lisbon Story', directed by Wim Wenders.The music became the soundtrack to my relationship with my father, our culture and Portugal. It's haunting melodies transported me to the land of my forefathers, my family and, I hoped, my future. Recently I decided I was ready to see the film.
Essentially, it is a film about film-makers. A foley artist receives a postcard from a friend, Friedrich, who is making a film in Lisbon, inviting him to record the soundtrack for the film. By the time the foley artist, Phil, gets to Lisbon from Germany, Friedrich is nowhere to be found. Phil gets on with the task of recording the sound effects whilst waiting for his friend to turn up. He is befriended by some children who purport to be helping Friedrich with the film, and it transpires that the house in which Friedrich had been installed and Phil was now staying, is owned by the beautiful Teresa, lead singer of the group Madredeus, who are providing the music to accompany the film. Phil falls in love; Friedrich turns up eventually, having had an epiphany; and the two friends finish making the film together. It is a charming and engaging film, full of wonderful little moments that play out in one's mind again and again. It's philosophy is light yet meaningful, without falling into the trap of trying to be too clever or high brow for the average viewer. I have since watched it several times and get something new from it on every occasion. I can now watch it without weeping, and instead I get a wonderful warm glow as I watch a film my father never saw but brought me to, about a city to which he never returned but always loved.
Essentially, it is a film about film-makers. A foley artist receives a postcard from a friend, Friedrich, who is making a film in Lisbon, inviting him to record the soundtrack for the film. By the time the foley artist, Phil, gets to Lisbon from Germany, Friedrich is nowhere to be found. Phil gets on with the task of recording the sound effects whilst waiting for his friend to turn up. He is befriended by some children who purport to be helping Friedrich with the film, and it transpires that the house in which Friedrich had been installed and Phil was now staying, is owned by the beautiful Teresa, lead singer of the group Madredeus, who are providing the music to accompany the film. Phil falls in love; Friedrich turns up eventually, having had an epiphany; and the two friends finish making the film together. It is a charming and engaging film, full of wonderful little moments that play out in one's mind again and again. It's philosophy is light yet meaningful, without falling into the trap of trying to be too clever or high brow for the average viewer. I have since watched it several times and get something new from it on every occasion. I can now watch it without weeping, and instead I get a wonderful warm glow as I watch a film my father never saw but brought me to, about a city to which he never returned but always loved.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a quiet and pensive view of Lisbon that shows many different aspects of the city and which gels perfectly with a heart stopping musical accompaniment from Madredeus. Yet again, Wenders hits the spot with a perfect blend of passion, culture and outstanding filmmaking that really seems to get right under the skin of this beautiful city. Highly recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Ok, let's be frank about this: this film is unlikely to figure on anyone's top twenty. Unless it's the top twenty of films made in or about Lisbon, of course.
That said, if you miss this then you'll be missing a treat. It's a quirky little film which is rather more about the oddness of being a European film maker, no, scratch that: it's about the oddness of being European and finding yourself unexpectedly in a city on the edge of Europe that you know nothing about and how you might come to terms with that situation when the ostensible reason for your being there is abruptly removed. Answer: you use what skills you have, your native wit and good-humour and get on with it.
There's a marvellous opening sequence in which a car drives down from Germany, through France and Spain with the car radio tuned to local stations. The motorways and service stations and traffic and even the cities all seem to resemble each other but the music is self-evidently local (it's entertaining to see how many of the tracks you recognise: I think I got the French ones and a couple of the Spanish...). Then it all halts, literally, at the Portuguese border and a very different woirld is entered into. (Remember that, at the time of the film, Portugal was very much the forgotten man of Europe.) Cue gentle comedy, strange encounters and a fascinating world that draws the central character wholly into it. And even, by the end, the central mystery (more of a McGuffin, really) is unravelled - and the marvel of film recalled!
It's a lovely film of the type that doesn't get made these days, with nothing to prove but its own capacity for wonder and to engender wonder in the spectator. In that sense, it's heart-warming. Heart-warming usually means sentimental: not here though. As one more of those films about film-making, this wears its genre very lightly; it lacks all pretention and just wends its episodic way through a Lisbon that you might recognise but will not see again.
That said, if you miss this then you'll be missing a treat. It's a quirky little film which is rather more about the oddness of being a European film maker, no, scratch that: it's about the oddness of being European and finding yourself unexpectedly in a city on the edge of Europe that you know nothing about and how you might come to terms with that situation when the ostensible reason for your being there is abruptly removed. Answer: you use what skills you have, your native wit and good-humour and get on with it.
There's a marvellous opening sequence in which a car drives down from Germany, through France and Spain with the car radio tuned to local stations. The motorways and service stations and traffic and even the cities all seem to resemble each other but the music is self-evidently local (it's entertaining to see how many of the tracks you recognise: I think I got the French ones and a couple of the Spanish...). Then it all halts, literally, at the Portuguese border and a very different woirld is entered into. (Remember that, at the time of the film, Portugal was very much the forgotten man of Europe.) Cue gentle comedy, strange encounters and a fascinating world that draws the central character wholly into it. And even, by the end, the central mystery (more of a McGuffin, really) is unravelled - and the marvel of film recalled!
It's a lovely film of the type that doesn't get made these days, with nothing to prove but its own capacity for wonder and to engender wonder in the spectator. In that sense, it's heart-warming. Heart-warming usually means sentimental: not here though. As one more of those films about film-making, this wears its genre very lightly; it lacks all pretention and just wends its episodic way through a Lisbon that you might recognise but will not see again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
a slow charmer
This is another of Wim Wenders' road movies. He seems to work with a movie equivalent of a rep company of frequent collaborators, allowing the location to inspire the script, and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by tallmanbaby
great film
A sweet and imaginative film about film making. Intellectual but light. Probably the last good film in Wender's career.. There is some wonderful poetry by F. Pessoa too!
Published on 2 Feb 2010 by Johni B.
No justice for Lisbon
We are told in the blurb that this film was financed by the City fathers and that they gave the Director complete freedom so long as the film was devoted to the City. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2010 by Art
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