Night Train to Lisbon (2013)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Excellent, a Must See

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Blistering performances.

This won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's a philosophical (or, perhaps, more accurately, a pseudo-philosophical) journey by a professor who searches for the truth behind events many years ago and the people involved. Some says it's a more general everyman journey. And it may well be but don't get hung up on that.Although it's essentially slow-paced, the pace is perfect. And it does have lots of drama in the 'past events' scenes and the professor goes through a fair bit of drama and soul-searchin of his own.It has a top notch cast, great scenery and high production values.If you want a real story populated by real characters and are not averse to a little philosophical input, you'll love it.

His knack is to tell fascinating and important stories by subtle understatements. He has done it again and again. Here a solitary and somewhat aging teacher in Bern, Switzerland, finds himself suddenly in an awkward situation, when a girl obviously intends to jump off the bridge he is passing. He saves her life with consequences. She disappears as a perfect enigma but leaves behind a book containing poetry written by some Portuguese. The last class the teacher Jeremy Irons held in Bern was about Marcus Aurelius and his philosophy, and the book left behind is very much in the mood of the philosophic emperor, so much that Jeremy Irons gets obsessed by it and goes to Lisbon just to continue delving into more matter for the story he obviously has stumbled upon by accident.The film is throughout held at a very low key and pace but at the same time remains inescapaby intense, as a very complicated love story in the shadow of the revolution in Portugal 1974 unravels. Bille August is expert at poignant story telling, and this might be his best film so far. All the actors are wonderful and compliment each other marvellously, only Jeremy Irons always remaining the same, and Jack Huston as the poet, while all the others also are played by parallel actors 40 years earlier. The drama is told with perfect constraint all the way, nothing is dramatised, which only enhances the effect of a very human and naturally tragic drama of intricate relationships. Charlotte Rampling makes a strong appearance as the poet-doctor's sister, and also Christopher Lee, Tom Courtenay and Bruno Ganz show up to finally bring it all to a proper and very satisfactory conclusion with the irresistible Lena Olin. All the young actors are also perfect.In brief, this is a typical Bille August masterpiece to remember and see again once in a while, because it's a story you shouldn't forget, and it is told with totally convincing pregnancy.

to define it as a provocative film is the first temptation. because it is one of films proposing more than a story. it is a trip across the recent history. it is exploration of roots of the evil and sacrifice. it is answer to delicate questions about contemporary world as result of the pressure of past. it is a love story with strange and impressive result. and, not the last, it is new occasion for Jeremy Irons to give an admirable role. at the first sigh, it is all. but , in fact, it is a personal experience. like the book. so, for each of his viewers, the answers , the verdict are inside of him.

This is one terrific movie, I liked it so much, I will buy the DVD. Jeremy Irons is an excellent actor and does not disappoint in this very cerebral film. The philosophy quotes from the small book supposedly written by Amadeus are spellbinding, makes me want to get the book! Irons appears as an absent minded professor, in what he describes later as his 'boring' life as a professor of history and language. As a teacher he does not have to relate to others deeply, as each year the students changed, but when he saves the girl from jumping off the bridge, takes her to his class during which she disappears, leaving her coat behind. Irons then tries to find her and to trace a book that he finds in her coat pocket, this spurs him to find the girl and the author, Amadeus. Charlotte Rampling as always gives just the most perfect performance in her role as the grieving sister of Amadeus. I love the way the questions Irons asks to each of the players in this drama goes into the past, to their younger selves trying to explain their role as rebels in the war. Irons persistence gets the whole story. I love British actors and this movie is a testament to their excellence the story, worthy of them. I hope to see more of this in the future.😃🎓