Night Train to Lisbon

Night Train to Lisbon is a 2013 internationally co-produced English-language drama film directed by Bille August and starring Jeremy Irons. Based on the 2004 novel Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier and written by Greg Latter and Ulrich Herrmann, the film is about a Swiss teacher who saves the life of a woman and then abandons his teaching career and reserved life. The film premiered out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. Plot Walking over a bridge on the way to his school in Bern, Raimund Gregorius, a Swiss professor of philosophy, notices a young woman in a red coat standing on the railing, about to leap. Dropping his briefcase, he runs and pulls her down. She helps him gather the papers that have spilled from his briefcase and accompanies him to the school where he teaches. But instead of waiting to talk, she leaves during the middle of his class, without her coat. Concerned, Raimund grabs the coat and runs after her, but in vain. He checks her pockets for identification. All he finds is a small Portuguese book, a memoir of sorts, by Amadeu de Prado. It is stamped with the address of the bookstore where he happens to be a regular customer and he goes there. The bookseller remembers the girl's purchasing this obscure book and, as Raimund leafs through it, a train ticket to Lisbon falls out. The train is leaving in 15 minutes. Confused and doubtful, Raimund rushes to the station, but the woman is nowhere in sight. At the last moment he decides to use the ticket himself and jumps on the train. During the journey he reads the book. Amadeu de Prado lived in Lisbon, so Raimund searches for him, hoping that this will lead to the woman. He finds Amadeu's home, where the writer's sister, Adriana, welcomes Raimund; she gives him the impression her brother still lives there. Raimund learns that Amadeu was a doctor, and that only 100 copies of his book were printed after his death. When Raimund asks what happened to their father, Adriana's reaction is hostile. As Raimund is leaving, the maid informs him that he can find Amadeu in the town's cemetery. Raimund finds the tomb: Amadeu had died in 1974.