Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons) is a teacher in Bern, Switzerland. He saves a young woman from jumping off a bridge. She disappears leaving behind her red coat. The coat leads to a book and a train ticket. Hoping to find the woman at the train station, he abandons his class. When she doesn't show up, he decides to use the train ticket to Lisbon. There he finds the book's late author Amadeu do Prado's sister (Charlotte Rampling). He follows the story of Amadeu's rebellion against his father and society during the revolutionary 70's.
Granted, there are great veteran actors in this movie. Most of whom are in the present day story but most of the drama happens in the past. This dichotomy leaves a hollowness to the story telling. It's hard to understand Raimund's motives. He doesn't seem to care about the young woman from the bridge or at least, he rarely mentions her until she literally tracks him down. Quite frankly, the character doesn't really understand himself. The movie is better off abandoning all the flashbacks and simply go back to the 70's to tell Amadeu's story. This is structurally flawed. His search should be as much about the girl as it is about a long dead author.
Granted, there are great veteran actors in this movie. Most of whom are in the present day story but most of the drama happens in the past. This dichotomy leaves a hollowness to the story telling. It's hard to understand Raimund's motives. He doesn't seem to care about the young woman from the bridge or at least, he rarely mentions her until she literally tracks him down. Quite frankly, the character doesn't really understand himself. The movie is better off abandoning all the flashbacks and simply go back to the 70's to tell Amadeu's story. This is structurally flawed. His search should be as much about the girl as it is about a long dead author.