Wenders' story of Lisbon is not your average film portrait. It is a portrait of a city done in sound, through a soundman discovering one of Europe's most dazzling metropoles. Asked for help by his Lisbon-based director friend Monroe (Patrick Bauchau), German sound specialist Philipp Winter (Rüdiger Vogler) travels to Lisbon where he finds the flat of his friend deserted: Monroe has mysteriously vanished and left only his unfinished film behind him. Philipp takes on a unique excursion through the Poruguese capital, strolling aimlessly through Lisbon, capturing with his microphone a wide scale of city sound - Lisbon, the way you've never heard (or seen) it before.
After concentrating on the human eye and visual perception in his films, Until the End of the World (1990) and Faraway so Close (1991), German director Wim Wenders, formally one of the leading representatives of young German cinema of the 70s and a respected and influential filmmaker of the 80s and 90s, now centres on the world of sound: giving it song and noise, the melodies and voices which accompany the urban experience proving an unusual cinematic exposure.
Although Wenders, who won the Palme d'Or for Paris, Texas in 1984, and the Best Director award three years later in Cannes for Wings of Desire, confesses that Lisbon Story was shot without script, his portrayal of the city is dominated by characteristic Wender motives and themes as anxiety and alienation. Dedicated to the late Frederico Fellini, Lisbon Story can also be understood as a homage to the centenary of film: in its shots, which resemble the charmingly awkward style of movies from the pioneer days of filming, soundman Philpp's eccentric humour recalls the king of slapstick, Buster Keaton. Developing slowly and focussing more on images, emotions and thought than on action, Lisbon Story holds a special gimmick for Wender's film buffs: Monroe is a character from Wender's 1980 film State of Things.
As ever, the soundtrack for Wender's latest is distinctive: Lisbon Story features the popular Portuguese band, Madredeusa, a band which combines traditional folklore material with elements of modern music, created by using acoustic guitars, a cello accordion, keyboards and the clear voice of Teresa Salgueiro. The importance of this lively and breathtakingly melancholic music is underlined by the fact that only after Philipp Winter has fallen in love with the lead singer's voice does he then fall in love with Teresa Salgueiro, the band's lead singer. Silke Schütze
Prod co: Road Movies
Film production Prods: Ulrich Felsberg, Paulo Branco
Exec prod: João Canijo
Dir/Scr: Wim Wenders
Ph: Lisa Rinzler
Art dir: Zé Branco
Mus: Madredeus
Ed: Peter Prsygodda, Anne Schnee
Cast: Rüdiger Vogler, Vasco Sequeira, Patrick Bauchau, Richardo Colares
Running time: 100 minutes
Internaional sales: UGC
