Night Train to Lisbon

Dir: Bille August

2013

***

Bille August's adaptation of Pascal Mercier's 2004 international best-seller Night Train to Lisbon has a certain fluidity about it that the original doesn't have but the development of our protagonist and what it all means just doesn't come across as well and remains firmly between the pages of the novel. The book is both historical and philosophical, looking at a part of history now at the vantage point of hindsight and how such discoveries can affect us individually. It keeps many aspects of the story from the reader, inviting them to fill in the gaps, leaving much to interpretation and giving the same experience to them as the story's protagonist to some extent. None of this comes across in the film. However, Jeremy Irons (the film's protagonist) carries the film rather successfully. Instead of saving a suicidal women on a bridge and simply going to a library and stumbling on the book that would lead to his adventure, he finds the book in the woman's coat and she becomes connected with the story. It had to be done really to give context to our protagonist's journey, which was already stretched beyond believability. The original story's escapism through truth is brushed past but unfortunately avoided, unintentionally too it seems. The adaptation's introduction remains just as misleading as the original's but lose-ends are tied up quite nicely towards the end, although I did find the conclusion a little too cheerful for my tastes. It's a great little mystery, it just doesn't know how to start or finish particularly well. I don't think August's direction worked either, it never found the right pace or mood, switching between average television drama to looking like a mock/spoof trailer for a third-rate mystery/thriller. It has some big names including Tom Courtenay, Charlotte Rampling, Bruno Ganz and Christopher Lee but none of them are given a lot to work with. They all give great performances considering what they've been given to work with, but their glaring talent makes the rest of the film's production look bad. The actors fit into stereotypical roles that don't match their talents, so they become more of a distraction and something of style over content. They are wasted performances really and the younger, lesser-known cast are far more impressive but maybe that is how it should be. The film switches between the past and present with confidence but the various modern day meetings never feel like they weren't filmed at the same time, there is no sense of passing time in the present day and far too much time is spent on the past, when really it should have been more balanced with the present. The character development is somewhat misleading, certain characters are built up just to be knocked down and rebuilt. It's never that convincing and it soon becomes a drama-by-numbers drama. The initial momentum is slowed right down once Lisbon is reached, this isn't necessarily unwelcome at first but the story never really seems to go anywhere, nor does it reach much of a conclusion. The book will make you think but I'm afraid the film is more likely to make you sleep. However, for all its faults, it does have its moments and Irons does keep the film moving - enough for me to consider it a three star film, rather than just a two star disappointment.