Lisbon Story (1994)

The director Friedrich Monroe has trouble with finishing a silent b&w movie about Lisbon. He calls his friend, the sound engineer Phillip Winter, for help. As Winter arrives Lisbon weeks ... See full summary »

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writer:

Wim Wenders

Stars:

Rüdiger Vogler, Patrick Bauchau, Vasco Sequeira

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

The director Friedrich Monroe has trouble with finishing a silent b&w movie about Lisbon. He calls his friend, the sound engineer Phillip Winter, for help. As Winter arrives Lisbon weeks later, Monroe is disappeared but has left the unfinished film. Winter decides to stay, because he is fascinated of the city and the Portuguese singer Teresa, and he starts to record the sound of the film. At the same time Monroe cruises through the city with a camcorder and tries to catch unseen pictures. Later they meet and Winter convinces Monroe of finishing the film.

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Plot Keywords:

foley artist | sound | sound effect | lisbon portugal | road trip | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some language and brief smoking

Details

Country:

Germany Portugal

Language:

English Portuguese German

Release Date:

12 May 1995 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Lisbonne Story

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Madragoa Filmes, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Wim Wenders Stiftung

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

In Lisbon, Mr. Winter reads a loving air mail post card received from Teresa, touring with her musical group, Madredeus in Brazil [at around 1:09:29]. The card shows Rio and Sugarloaf Mountain. However the card is postmarked May (possibly June) 7, 1994 in Portugal.

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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]
[...]

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Connections

References The Cameraman (1928)

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Soundtracks

O MIRADOURO DE SANTA CATARINA
Music by Rodrigo Leao
Performed by Madredeus

User Reviews

Captures The Essence Of Lisbon

As an eighteen year old in 1983, I ended up in Lisbon on a fairly aimless wander around the Iberian peninsula on the railway network, and simply fell in love with it. I stayed for a while to explore the city and surroundings and ended up with a rich mental image of the sights and sounds of this beautiful city.

When I came across a reference to this movie, I simply had to buy the DVD. Interestingly, I see that the intention of the movie was to capture the spirit of the city, and thankfully it does not do so from a touristic point of view.

It captures Lisbon at an interesting time for the country, some 20 years after the revolution and 8 years after Portugal joined the European Union. And also at a time where it was modernising fast. A few years prior to the shooting of this movie, there were very old buses and the old trams (Eléctricos) ran just about everywhere and up impossibly narrow and steep roads where you could reach out and touch the houses. Now, there are just a couple of heritage routes, and these are the eléctricos featured in the movie out of necessity. Today, the transport system is completely modernised and I can see the point of the movie in trying to capture the spirit of a city before it changes out of recognition.

The use of the group Madredeus to provide the music is, I think, quite inspired. To make a movie about Lisbon could have turned into a 'yawn' if it had used a cliché of Fado. Thankfully it didn't and used something more contemporary. And what a group! The music is haunting, so much so that I have now gone off and sought out their CDs! Teresa Salgueiro reminds me of those Portuguese girls I met as a youth, she is just perfect for the part.

As has been mentioned by another reviewer, the movie is a bit self-indulgent in an 'arty' type of way, but it IS entertaining.

Finally, I prefer the movie with the subtitles turned off. The movie has a pan-European flavour with various languages popping up and intertwining. I suppose I benefit that I can grasp the gist of Portuguese when it is being spoken, and the German in the movie is basic enough that most of us will have absorbed some of it from movies and TV. Teresa Salgueiro's voice is very clear to understand when singing to those who are trying to understand the language, and is a real pleasure to listen to. To someone who may never have visited Portugal, the use of children who are fluent in English might seem odd, but in general, the Portuguese (well, in Lisbon, especially so) have always been good English speakers and I find it entirely natural to find Portuguese schoolchildren who speak English as well as Portuguese.