Mysteries of Lisbon

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Mysteries of Lisbon

2011

4h 26m

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

54 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A 19th-century Portuguese man recalls his youth in a church-run orphanage.

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Critics Consensus

Mysteries of Lisbon achieves an epic heft through an unhurried pace and lush photography, its beguiling episodes culminating in an impressive whole that justifies a lengthy runtime.

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Jonathan Romney

Sight & Sound

Jul 6, 2018

All these could be seen as gratuitous flourishes of auteur style, but they serve to undermine the naturalistic illusion, to remind us that everything we see is an effect of narration - and perhaps, more than that, of dream.

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Dec 9, 2011

3/5

If you have time, dip in.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Dec 8, 2011

3/5

[It reminds] us of Ruiz's gifts with light and colour, his ambitions with narrative, his sometimes interesting, sometimes frustrating remoteness, and his preoccupations with myth, the avant-garde and 19th-century classicism, all at once.

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Matthew Wilder

Nashville Scene

Oct 23, 2024

"A cascade of hidden personal backstories that you feel could extend out to all of humankind."

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

May 31, 2020

No space in the frame-indeed, no second in Mysteries of Lisbon's very long runtime-is wasted.

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Peter Sobczynski

eFilmCritic.com

May 29, 2020

An eminently binge-worthy saga filled with excitement, drama, humor, history, beautiful photography and good performance

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Tom F

@RT55173143 May 7, 2026

The episodes are watchable if slow moving, sort of a "slightly off Masterpiece Theater" vibe. Though I watched attentively, I know most of the interconnected bits winding through the series got by me.

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Scott R

@ScottR Nov 25, 2025

NYT 1000 list. Some impressive art, but a droll plot that confused and was tedious. I was glad when this bizarre story was over. Should have and could have been better told. Saw on tubi.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Oct 10, 2024

A gorgeous and intimate epic. The movie convinces you completely that every coincidence, revealed in near endless flashback, makes total sense.

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Dec 5, 2020

Genteel and epic in scope, barely holds on to interest despite beautiful cinematography

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Jun 22, 2017

Beautiful to watch with incredible attention to detail, Raoul Ruiz' masterfully crafted Mysteries of Lisbon is a triumph of modern cinema that justifies its intimidating run time with an ambitious narrative structure and thought-provoking meditations on storytelling and the trustworthiness of human recollection.

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Jun 4, 2016

Damn this movie is long..

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Raúl Ruiz

Director

João Arrais

João Child

Adriano Luz

Father Dinis

Maria João Bastos

Countess Ângela de Lima

Ricardo Pereira

Knife Eater

José Afonso Pimentel

João Adult

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19%

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Synopsis

A 19th-century Portuguese man recalls his youth in a church-run orphanage.

Director: Raúl Ruiz
Screenwriter: Carlos Saboga, Camilo Castelo Branco
Distributor: Music Box Films
Production Co: Arte
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: Portuguese
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 17, 2011, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Aug 5, 2011
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $110.5K
Runtime: 4h 26m

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