Jugu Abraham I like the films of Bille August but this is not his best work. Where the film works is the content of the novel written by Pascal Mercier (a.k.a. Peter Bieri). August needs to be credited with the casting of Charlotte Rampling, Lena Olin, Tom Courtenay, Bruno Ganz, Christopher Lee, Martina Gedeck, Jeremy Irons, and Melanie Laurent (in that order) with a critical flaw--Olin and Laurent don't look the same, especially when Laurent has so many visible moles and Olin doesn't and they are playing the same person, with only age as a difference. Their capabilities as actresses are not in question but they just do not look alike. The chess game at the beginning was again interesting but to what purpose? Even the philosophy of the novel holds your interest at the start but that unfortunately gets diluted as the film progresses. The film will be remembered for the creditable cast ensemble, each attempting to give their best in this film. And many do, indeed!

slicky-407-174807 You stop being genuinely interested in what's going on on the screen after 5 minutes. The plot is nonexistent, the dialogues are just so artificial you wonder how on Earth anyone from the cast could even bother to take part in this.... And why all the characters had to speak that broken English? You literally struggle to understand the muttering and when you do, you wish you didn't. Why secret police officers wear black leather jackets all the time? What's the point of making such a movie? Did they want to show Lisbon? Talk about dictator regime? Earn some retirement money for Mr. Irons? I'd never know.... It's hard to even right 10 lines for a review after seeing this. But I had to make it to save other's time.

jcbinok This movie involves twin plot lines: Jeremy Irons' character sloughing off his boring his life in Bern, and his making connections among people that lived through a traumatic era of Portugaul's history; facilitating some healing and understanding among them.I thought Irons' journey of self-discovery was by far the more effective story line, though it probably took up less screen time. The historical flashback scenes and interactions with those characters in present time were interesting but felt forced. In essence, Irons unravels an entire web of intrigue by innocently nosing around an author's old haunts; doors open up to him and a long series of events/coincidences allow him to keep sleuthing. I suspect the book does a much better job at unfolding this part of the story.Nevertheless, the performances are strong across the board. There is real chemistry between Irons and his special optometrist friend, Martina Gedeck. I just wish that relationship would have been the major rather than minor theme. And, I really liked how the ending was left as an unanswered question/invitation...roll credits.

bandw The title of this leads you to think it might be a film noir, but in fact it is about a man's search for meaning later in life. That man is Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons), a Latin teacher in Bern, Switzerland. As the movie opens the time is contemporary (2013). In a unique way Gregorius comes by a book of poetry that has a great effect on him. This book was written by one Amadeu de Almeida Prado, a Portuguese poet, medical doctor, and philosopher who lived in Lisbon from the early 1930s to 1974. Outside the fact that Amadeu's story plays out against the historical facts of the dictatorial regime in Portugal during his lifetime, all else is fiction, including the existence of Amadeu himself.Gregorius is so taken with what he reads in Amadeu's book that he feels compelled to meet the author and drops everything and goes to Lisbon to see if he can find him. Once he arrives in Lisbon the main thrust of the story follows his detective work in trying to piece together Amadeu's short life that came to an end on April 25, 1974, the day the dictatorship fell. The story alternates between Gregorius' life in Lisbon and Amadeu's life during the 1970s. We get to know a lot about Amadeu and his friends; most of what Gregorius finds out comes from talking with people still living, mainly from two of Amadeu's friends and his sister (all obviously much older by 2013).The main insight into Amadeu's character comes from his writings. During the course of the movie Irons reads over a half dozen selections from Amadeu's book. He does a wonderful job in these readings using an expressive emotional tone. The readings are cleverly made to apply to what Gregorius is experiencing at the time of his reading them. I can see why Gregorius was so taken with Amadeu's book--the readings presented are quite elegant and I re-watched the movie so I could better appreciate them. For example, here is one:"In youth we live as if we were immortal. Knowledge of mortality dances around us like a brittle paper ribbon that barely touches our skin. When in life does that change? When does the ribbon tighten ... until finally it strangles us?"I felt that there was ambiguity in how Amadeu met his end, based on the comment Jorge made to Estefania at Amadeu's funeral, "You didn't really think I would do it did you?"Irons is perfect for this role. All the actors appearing in both time periods are well cast in this well-acted, complex, captivating movie.