SnoopyStyle Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons) is a teacher in Bern, Switzerland. He saves a young woman from jumping off a bridge. She disappears leaving behind her red coat. The coat leads to a book and a train ticket. Hoping to find the woman at the train station, he abandons his class. When she doesn't show up, he decides to use the train ticket to Lisbon. There he finds the book's late author Amadeu do Prado's sister (Charlotte Rampling). He follows the story of Amadeu's rebellion against his father and society during the revolutionary 70's.Granted, there are great veteran actors in this movie. Most of whom are in the present day story but most of the drama happens in the past. This dichotomy leaves a hollowness to the story telling. It's hard to understand Raimund's motives. He doesn't seem to care about the young woman from the bridge or at least, he rarely mentions her until she literally tracks him down. Quite frankly, the character doesn't really understand himself. The movie is better off abandoning all the flashbacks and simply go back to the 70's to tell Amadeu's story. This is structurally flawed. His search should be as much about the girl as it is about a long dead author.

Kirpianuscus 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.

Leofwine_draca I'm not really a fan of modern day literary stuff, as I find it all very pretentious, overrated, and more than a little arty farty. This is very much a highbrow literary thriller about an aged professor who takes a trip to Portugal to uncover a story about one man's fight against that country's historical dictatorship.I wasn't expecting to like this one very much and indeed it doesn't do much to thrill. It's a very self-conscious production that goes out of its way to feel like an "actor's movie", but the problem is that it's so slow and long winded that it doesn't hold the attention. I like Jeremy Irons as an actor, but his character here is dull and his modern-day scenes don't deserve to occupy more than half the running time as they feel irrelevant.The historical story is better, as it has some fine actors in crucial parts, not least the continually underrated Jack Huston (BOARDWALK EMPIRE). There are also superior roles for August Diehl (so memorable in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) and Bruno Ganz (NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE) playing younger and older versions of the same character. However, the most welcome part is a small one from an entirely professional Christopher Lee in one of his last screen appearances, and indeed his presence is the reason I tuned in.

blanche-2 The above statement goes against the philosophy of "Night Train to Lisbon," but that's because I don't agree with the philosophy. My opinion does not take away from this beautiful film because of course, events can be viewed in many different ways.Jeremy Irons plays Raimund Gregorius, a Swiss Professor. One gets the impression that he leads a well-ordered and probably boring life. On his way to work one morning, he sees a woman about to jump off of a bridge, and he tackles her to the ground. She asks if she can walk with him, which she does, and sits in his schoolroom for a while. Then he notices her leaving. He runs from his classroom and follows her. In her coat, which she has left behind, he finds a train ticket to Lisbon and a book by Amadeu Prado. The train leaves in fifteen minutes. Raimund races to the station, but the girl is nowhere in sight. He boards the train.Raimund becomes enchanted by Amadeu's writings and wants to find out more about him and meet him. He registers at a hotel, buys some clothes, and starts asking questions and looking for Amadeu.What he finds is a fascinating story that took place during the Portuguese resistance to the dictator Salazar, It concerns some young people, Amadeu (Jack Huston), his best friend Joao (played as an adult by Tom Courtenay), Jorge (August Diehl/Bruno Ganz), and Estefania (Melanie Laurent/Lena Olin), and their lives then and now. With the help of his eye doctor Mariana (Martina Gedeck), a priest (Christopher Lee), and others, Raimund puts the pieces of their story together. In doing so, he begins to question his own life and choices. As he tells Mariana, "They lived." He asks himself, has he? The beauty of Portugal is ever-present in this film, underlying the emotional and suspenseful scenes as Raimund learns the different threads of the story. Jack Huston, so mysterious and sad as the wounded war vet in "Boardwalk Empire," is a completely different character here. He's physically beautiful, gentle, and idealistic. The acting is marvelous, as is Bille August's direction.This is not a bombastic, blow-up, CGI movie. It moves at a steady pace, not a breakneck one as it explores these people's lives and the writings of Amadeu, and as Raimund talks about randomness and chance. His involvement does indeed seem random, but I was left with a feeling that he was where he was supposed to be, learning what he needed to learn in order to live a fuller life. Whether life is random or not is something none of us know. I do know this is a wonderful, atmospheric film.