feature film, 2013
After the novel of the same name by Pascal Mercier
Director:
Bille August
Production:
Kerstin Ramcke
Gunther Russ
Peter Reichenbach
Awards:
2013: three Sophia Awards (national film awards of Portugal), among others in the category Best Art Direction
2014: Nomination for the Sophia Award in the category Best Film
Jeremy Irons plays Professor Raimund Gregorius, who has been stuck in his daily and lonely routine for years now. But one morning changes everything: On his way to work Gregorius saves a young woman from jumping from a bridge. As it is raining heavily and she has gotten all wet, he takes her to class with him, but once they get there, she is leaving and forgets her jacket. In order to get a hint of her identity, Gregorius searches her pockets and finds a ticket for a train to Lisbon, and a book. The train is leaving only little time later, so Gregorius is hurrying to the station to meet the young woman there and hand her over her things. But at the station, she is not there and Gregorius gets on the train himself, in order to find out about the mysterious book. All of a sudden, he finds himself on a journey back in time, into the era of the Portuguese dictatorship …
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkIJ0f-IXLM