Lisbon Story

Director/Writer: Wim Wenders
Stars: Rüdiger Vogler, Patrick Bauchau and Vasco Sequeira
Music: Madredeus
Year: 1994 (Germany)
IMDB

My Rating: 10/10

How should I begin? Probably from the movie itself... It's a very enjoyable movie, even if you don't know Pessoa and Lisbon, don't know anything about films, and don't know anything about Wim Wenders. Let's put it this way, this is a human and humorous film that I believe most people would enjoy. I mean, just look at how the sounds were made back in those days without digital sound system is pretty awesome already.



Well, for me, this film is beyond awesome! Let me break it down bit by bit. Lisbon, the city of Pessoa. Who is Pessoa? He's the Portuguese poet/philosopher that the filmmaker Friedrich firmly believe in, and so do I. It's quite hard to describe Pessoa in few sentences; you don't get to know him unless you read his book. Basically, he believes that all human activities are futile efforts, the only thing for a wise man to do is to do nothing at all. I think Wim Wenders knows and loves Pessoa well enough to want to make a film about it. So, he created this Friedrich to follow the path Pessoa himself has done, abandon his project to make a film, but just simply record the simplest, purest images, for future generations to discover the truth of it, much like Pessoa has done with his life. However, the sound-man Phillip gives Friedrich a kick in the eye, telling him that even Pessoa tells us everything means nothing, he still left the pages that move people. Although literature and films are two different mediums, they both can tell us stories, move us, and tell the truths about our life. The film takes a lighter approach, this message still hit me pretty hard. I think I need to go Lisbon during my time in Europe, even though Pessoa tells me not to... After seeing this film, I'm more interested in Lisbon.

During the argument between Phillip and Friedrich, there's another question about film itself, referred to several important films including The Man With A Movie Camera, and Buster Keaton's The Cameraman. Friedrich argues that nowadays the simply joy of filming, making moving pictures have turned into the tools of profit-generating. The magic of films have broken its spell, now merely a selling product. Friedrich is probably right. Wim Wenders also tries to pay tributes to the films he had mentioned, like in the abandoned footage of Lisbon, and with body-language-styled comedy. Wim Wenders seems like a extremely nostalgic person. Me too, and I love Pessoa too. So, it's probably not a 10/10 for everyone, but certainly for me.