Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Night Train to Lisbon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 21, 2015

Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, Danish director Bille August's "Night Train to Lisbon" (2013) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors Eagle Pictures. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer and teaser for the film. In English, with optional Italian and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

On the streets of Lisbon

On a cold and rainy day in Bern, Professor Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons, And Now Ladies & Gentlemen) sees a beautiful young girl who is about to jump off a bridge. He saves her and she reluctantly follows him back to his classroom. Then, before he can ask her for her name, she disappears without a trace.

The girl leaves behind a red coat and a small book with a train ticket to Lisbon. Without hesitating, Gregorius jumps on the train and a day later rents a room in a tiny hotel in the Portuguese capital. There he begins tracing the troubled past of the book’s author, Amadeu (Jack Huston, American Hustle), and searching for its owner.

Gregorius quickly discovers Amadeu’s sister (Charlotte Rampling, The Night Porter), who reveals to him that he was in the Resistance and that the characters in his book are real. He then befriends a local optometrist (Martina Gedeck, The Lives of Others), who is related to Amadeu’s former associate, Joao (Tom Courtenay, Doctor Zhivago), and eventually meets his best friend, an aging pharmacist named Jorge (Bruno Ganz, Wings of Desire). While learning about Amadeu and his past, Gregorius discovers that a beautiful woman might have broken a great friendship.

Based on Pascal Mercier‘s best-selling novel, Bille August's Night Train to Lisbon is a beautiful romantic film that tells two different stories. The first is about the aging professor from Bern who makes an impulsive decision that profoundly changes his life. He embarks on a fascinating journey across old Europe and rather surprisingly falls madly in love. (The professor’s journey begins much like that of Daniel Auteuil’s knife thrower in Patrice Leconte’s Girl on the Bridge, but his transformation is indeed quite different).

The second story is a lot more complicated. It begins in the past but ends in the present and follows closely four different characters: Amadeu, whose book inspires Gregorius to travel to Lisbon, Estefania (Mélanie Laurent, Enemy), a beautiful woman with a photographic memory, Jorge (August Diehl, The Counterfeiters), a passionate idealist, and Joao (Marco D'Almeida, Mysteries of Lisbon), a talented pianist. Fate brings them together and eventually love separates them.

Past and present constantly overlap, but the two stories are incredibly easy to follow. In fact, they complement each other and give the viewer the opportunity to reexamine the seemingly obvious choices of their characters from a number of different angles.

The large international cast is terrific. It takes a bit of time to get used to the accents, but they are quite convincing because different conflicts have brought together people with different backgrounds.

Filip Zumbrunn’s cinematography is astonishing. There are endless panoramic shots from Lisbon that will likely inspire many international viewers to visit this truly remarkably beautiful European city. The film is also complimented by light and very gentle score courtesy of Annette Focks (City of War: The Story of John Rabe).

Night Train to Lisbon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bille August's Night Train to Lisbon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors Eagle Pictures.

Shot digitally, the film has the appropriate clean, crisp and vibrant appearance. Contrast may appear slightly toned down during a few of the flashbacks, but depth is always terrific. The footage from present-day Lisbon looks fantastic. In fact, many of the wider panoramic shots boast such impressive clarity that they frequently look like new digital photographs (see screencaptures #6 and 18). Colors are exceptionally rich, stable and healthy. Overall image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no encoding or compression anomalies to report in this review. All in all, this is a fantastic presentation of Night Train to Lisbon which will undoubtedly please its fans as well as viewers who are going to experience the film for the first time on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Night Train to Lisbon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Eagle Pictures have provided optional Italian and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature.

This film has an incredibly beautiful sound design. Annette Focks' score creates quite the atmosphere and effectively opens up the film during a number of different sequences (the melodies used during the flashbacks and the footage from present-day Lisbon, however, are quite different). The dialog is crisp and stable, but this is the type of film that deserves to have optional English subtitles as some of the actors have rather thick accents. Nevertheless, the dialog is very easy to follow. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.

Night Train to Lisbon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Night Train to Lisbon, dubbed in Italian. (2 min).

• Teaser - original teaser for Night Train to Lisbon. Music only. (1 min).

Night Train to Lisbon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is very unfortunate that this stunningly beautiful film from Danish director Bille August did not get a Blu-ray release in North America. As far as I am concerned, a DVD release cannot possibly provide the same type of experience the Blu-ray release does (the visuals and the soundtrack are that lush). If you have been planning to get some discs from Italy, consider adding Night Train to Lisbon to your next order. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.