Lisbon Story (1994)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writer:

Wim Wenders (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1995 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The director Friedrich Monroe has trouble with finishing a silent b&w movie about Lisbon. He calls his friend...

Plot Keywords:

Portugal | Road Trip | Sound Effects | Microphone | Filmmaker

Cast

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)
José Peixoto	...	Himself (Madredeus)
Francisco Ribeiro	...	Himself (Madredeus)
Manoel de Oliveira	...	Himself

Directed by
Wim Wenders

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Wim Wenders		writer

Produced by
Paulo Branco	....	producer
João Canijo	....	line producer
Ulrich Felsberg	....	producer
Wim Wenders	....	producer

Original Music by
Jürgen Knieper
Madredeus

Cinematography by
Lisa Rinzler

Film Editing by
Peter Przygodda
Anne Schnee

Art Direction by
Zé Branco

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Isabel Aboim	....	trainee assistant director
José Maria Vaz da Silva	....	assistant director

Art Department
Fernando Assunção	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
André Bendocchi-Alves	....	sound editor
Hartmut Eichgrün	....	sound mixing engineer
Claudia Froehlich	....	foley editor
Hans-Walter Kramski	....	foley artist (as Hans W. Kramski)
Pedro Melo	....	boom operator
Vasco Pimentel	....	sound recording engineer
Evelyn Schmidt	....	adr editor

Special Effects by
Jaime Brito	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Morten McAdams	....	optical effects
Frank Schlegel	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
João 'Musga' Carlos Aguiar	....	gaffer
Mário Castanheira	....	head gaffer
Andreas Giesecke	....	assistant camera
Andreas Giesecke	....	camera operator: second unit
João Guerra	....	assistant camera
Paulo Miranda	....	key grip

Editorial Department
Oli Weiss	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Paulo Barbosa	....	runner
Yael Bitton	....	continuity
Fernanda Costa	....	accountant
Catherine Coste	....	production coordinator
Andrea Gebert	....	accountant
Steffi Hiller	....	production administrator
Marco Martins	....	production assistant
João Montalverne	....	location manager
Luísa Perestrello	....	production administrator
Daniele Pfennigs	....	assistant to producer
Jörn Poetzl	....	footsteps
Paula Ribas	....	production secretary
Donata Wenders	....	story editor

Production Companies

• Madragoa Filmes
• Road Movies Filmproduktion

Distributors

• Cine Company S.A. (1996) (Spain) (theatrical)
• CinemArt (1996) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Prime Time Entertainment (1997) (Netherlands) (VHS) (rental)
• Filmfreak Distributie (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS) (retail)
• Fox Lorber (1999) (USA) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Dolmen Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Lisbonne Story
Viagem a Lisboa (Portugal)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language and brief smoking.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Germany | Portugal

Language:

English | Portuguese | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:6 (w) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt/Main, Hesse, Germany

Company:

Madragoa Filmes

Trivia:

Originally intended to be a pure promotional documentary about Lisbon comissioned by the city. Director Wim Wenders added some fictional components to the film and created a story with a thin and simple plot line.

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]
[...]

Movie Connections:

References The Cameraman (1928)

Soundtrack:

O MILAGRE

Subtle simplicity, a treat for the ears as well as the eyes...

This film is Wim Wenders' own anti-Wenders movie, a self-commentary on (even great) overblown moviemaking. After years of making increasingly larger and more grandiose (though excellent) films, with Lisbon Story, Wenders has made a film as much about quiet and reflection as about image.

It's a refreshing exception to most of film as a media, which is driven almost entirely by image, and sometimes leaves our other senses by the wayside.

Seen through the eyes (or more rather heard through the ears) of the main character (a sound and sound effects engineer) we hear, see, and feel Lisbon.

And we see that Wim Wenders can make a small and intimate movie as well as Until the End of the World. This film is slow by Hollywood standards, but slow like a long soak in a hot tub, not something you would want to go any faster.