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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Music and Cinematography and a story with heart, August 4, 2000
This review is from: Lisbon Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)
There are several aspects of this film which make me recommend it highly. There is the beautiful music of Madredeus which other reviewers have already pointed out. There is also the amazing Cinematography. I had the fortune to see this film at the AFI on a big screen several times, and was amazed by the beautiful and thoughtful camera work and the vibrant colors which capture Lisbon in a very realistic way. It is no coincidence that Philip Winter plays the Soundman, because the sounds as the visuals seems to be emphasised in this film. It's wonderful to hear and see this without any special effects. It seems that to Wenders realism is a special effect on its own. The story line in this film, as others by Wim Wenders, tends to be dismissed. I urge the viewer to pay careful attention however to the dialog, because the message is one of hope and an exhuberance of being alive, a rarity in films these days. That is where the music, the sounds and the amazing visuals come together. Subtle, yet powerful. A film for those who enjoy to gaze carefully.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Visually important sounds, October 31, 2000
This review is from: Lisbon Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The plot - Philip Winter(Rudiger Vogler), a sound engineer arrives in Lisbon to record for Friedrich Munro(Patrick Bachau) who is making a b/w film. Only he arrives to find Friedrich missing. Philip runs through some of the unfinished footage and starts to absorb the film, the smells and the LIFE of Lisbon. And in search of the missing Friedrich. The rich colours of this work by Wim Wenders fill your senses. As Philip goes about recording the sounds, we are blasted with more than our senses can handle. A wonderful achievement in itself. The truck driver, the barber, the shoe-maker etc...help us along with this great journey. Along this journey, we find that Friedrich is alive and filming with a hand-held. The strains and beautiful voice of Madredeus complete us in this enigmatic search. Search for..... ?? Watch this and let Wim and the cast take you....and remember to listen. A fantastic piece of Cinema and commentary.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sequel to THE STATE OF THINGS, October 21, 2000
This review is from: Lisbon Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Just for the record, for you Wenders fans out there, since other people are ignoring the fact, I feel I should tell you that this film is, both in the sense of plot and the sense of theme, Wenders' follow up to the rather cynical, but great, film he made as a commentary on his early experiences trying to make movies in America -- THE STATE OF THINGS. If you recall, in the earlier film, Patrick Bauchau -- I hope I'm spelling that right -- is forced to abandon the set of the SF movie he is making in Lisbon to travel to Hollywood to figure out why the film's backers suddenly have disappeared with the money to complete the project. Bauchau's character is clearly a Wenders alter-ego, and the film a commentary on the brutal indifference of Hollywood to anything other than money. In THIS film, Rudiger Vogler, playing Philip Winter, the more long-standing Wenders alter-ego (who dates back to ALICE IN THE CITIES, but pops up in UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD and FARAWAY SO CLOSE), plays a soundman who travels to Lisbon to figure out what happened to his friend, the Bauchau character. The movie is gentle, reflective, and constantly speaking to Wenders' long-standing thematic obsessions; but the fact that Winter is a SOUNDMAN in this movie is significant, too. Pay attention, as you watch it, to how much more important HEARING is than seeing to the film's development; Wenders is paying tribute to a generally neglected aspect of cinema, pushing his self-conscious, self-reflective focus in a new direction. It's a likable little film, and one that might appeal to fans of pre-WINGS OF DESIRE Wenders, more than people who know his later work better.
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