An act of kindness aroused a strong curiosity about the experiences of others, which made the university professor who lived a turbulent life go beyond the track that was not necessarily loved but already solidified, and embarked on the night train to Lisbon, revealing a wonderful life.
When I first saw the film, I felt that this process of peeping at the ups and downs of others that we only have when reading books and watching movies can be visualized as a visiting journey that is said to go away. This narration method is quite innovative. After watching it, I recalled that it turned out to be the shadow of Orsen Welles' "Citizen Kane", whether it was the character trajectories pieced together by several visits, the subjective shots of different friends telling the same experience separately, or the love of smoking/cigars in a nursing home. like-minded friends, servants who penetrate key information, and even the lack of applause to show the unsupported detail of the story's protagonist...
However, the performance of Bille August's film seems to want to learn the way of telling "Citizen Kane", but it is desperately adding various political disputes, religious confusion, triangular relationships, father-son conflicts, marital difficulties, workplace burnout, etc. Complicated sideline plots are used to hide people's eyes and ears, and finally give people a feeling of chaotic stew that the main dish is not enough to make up for others. It is far less pure than the early "Pell the Conqueror" and "The Island of Bird Street", which simply tells a story, or "The Betrayal of Good Will" is extended and detailed, and it is wonderful.
But what makes "Night Train to Lisbon" better than "Citizen Kane" is that it focuses on professors who want to break away from ordinary life, rather than elites with legendary experiences, so there is an extra layer The civilian perspective, which is closer to us as the audience, will not stop at "I watched a wonderful legendary story" after watching the movie, but will at least stir up a ripple in our increasingly numb hearts:
"If it were me, would you want to try another life?"
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