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Lisbon Story

PG 1994 1h 45m Comedy Drama List
Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Summoned to Portugal by a filmmaker friend (Patrick Bauchau), a sound engineer (Rudiger Vogler) travels the city and falls in love with a singer.

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 4/5 Aug 3, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews One thing becomes apparent, Wenders has very little feel for comedy as all his efforts to evoke Buster Keaton type comedic skits fall flat. Rated: C- Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Bryant Frazer Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus Rated: B Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (98) audience reviews
witold r The plot of the film consists of a journey of a sound engineer from Germany to the capital of Portugal (slapstick adventures while driving a car vividly resemble the events of a comedian's films) and his travels around Lisbon in search of a friend, a director who makes a film there and needs a professional to sound it . During his walks around the city, he meets various residents and visitors: a group of children visiting his friend's apartment with cameras in his hands, a hairdresser, a clean shoe, a fado team, and finally the director Friedrich himself (Patrick Bauchau). Conversations, events, reflections on the state of art, and cinematography in particular, form the basis of a gently moving picture. Wim Wenders (The Salt of the Earth /Le sel de la terre, 2014; Paris, Texas, 1984; Wings of Desire /Der Himmel über Berlin, 1987; Buena Vista Social Club, 1999; and others) in a poetic walk around Lisbon ( as Fellini once traveled around Rome) in search of the essence of cinema as art, along with lots of quotations and associations taken from cinematography [the cover of the magazine with the image of Fellini, the name of the director Friedrich Monroe as the name of the famous actress, the appearance of the actor Patrick Bauchau (Jerzy Skolimowski in the bath)] and culture in general (mention of the titles of Beatles songs woven into the poetic text - Fool On the Hill and With the Little Help From My Friends). Delight over architecture, music (Madredeus), sounds of the city and beautiful women (Teresa Salgueiro). One does not lock the door of his house to Teresa Salgueiro! Movie Paradise! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review johann m 🇩🇪🇵🇹 This movie was the result of a documentary attempt about the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It follows a sound engineer who obtains a mysterious postcard of a friend who is currently shooting a film in Lisbon saying that he should visit, and ends up capturing the essence of the city and its people while looking for his friend all around. It is a bit funny at the beginning but it loses its touch, when it comes to the rest of the plot. But the interesting and curious bits are the ones that present the culture of Lisbon: the landscapes, the music, the sounds and even the yellow trams all convey a beauty that is just so unique. Lovely music from Madredeus! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm speaking from the perspective of a Portuguese national so my POV is a bit biased but this is an absolutely must-see. Wim Wenders absolutely captures the soul of the city and Rüdiger Vogler plays an amazing role. Although I am not very much acquainted with the work of Wim Wenders, the film reminds me a lot of »Wings of desire« (Der Himmel über Berlin) with very long shots and long, philosophical monologues, concentrating on capturing the soul of the moment - which Wim Wenders achieves masterfuly. He also introduces briefly and almost unnoticeably the character of Fernando Pessoa near the end of the movie (I only noticed him at the third time I saw the movie), who curiously always floated throughout the whole film through several quotations. If you want to visit Lisbon or if you visited Lisbon, you cannot miss this film. An absolute masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member 4.2/5 When a film examines so many aspects of its genre as well as film itself, you know you have encountered a beautiful, funny and thrilling treat. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member A gently funny and uplifting meditation on the power of celluloid film as opposed to video. (Little did Wim Wenders know how CGI would come along and murder the life and soul out of cinema.) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Surprisingly ambitious and quite simple at the same time, A Lisbon Story is great as show the endeavor of the artist, but it's fell short to the big ambitions with a slow style from the director, and some shots that appears to be improvised with unnecessary scenes and unnecessary characters. The ending is sweet but is too boring to satisfy Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Lisbon Story

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Summoned to Portugal by a filmmaker friend (Patrick Bauchau), a sound engineer (Rudiger Vogler) travels the city and falls in love with a singer.
Director
Wim Wenders
Producer
Paulo Branco, Ulrich Felsberg, Wim Wenders
Production Co
Madragoa Filmes, Wim Wenders Productions, Road Movies Filmproduktion [de]
Rating
PG (Brief Smoking|Some Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Nov 20, 2007
Runtime
1h 45m
Sound Mix
Surround