Mysteries of Lisbon and The Lost Art Of Storytelling

Last night as the clocks struck 04.00 A.M. and most of London slept soundly in their beds; I was trying to find my senses again after a whirlwind trip of 19th Century Portugal.

This trip; which took four and a half hours, was directed by a master of intrigue: a man who was so talented at adapting the original material I never felt the time pass.

Of course the trip in question is not real - it was a sensory trip on the wings of a beautiful new movie called 'Mysteries Of Lisbon' directed by Raoul Ruiz - a master director who has made over a countless number of films during his decades spanning career.

The book the film is based on is a classic of Portuguese literature - a dense tome akin to Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and just as captivating. Starting with the story of a young orphan boy and travelling through a maze of characters whose stories add a layer each to the story.

But then again Ruiz is no stranger to difficult adaptation: he was the man behind the largely successful Proust on the silver screen - the beautiful and almost-perfect 'Time Regained' from 1999 with Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich.

'Mysteries of Lisbon' was originally shot for television - in that format the whole thing runs at 6 hours. For the movie version the running time has been trimmed to 4 1/2 hours - for most people this will still seem long. However after watching the film, I feel most members of the audience will be compelled to seek out the even longer T.V. version once it screens during 2011.

The attraction with Ruiz's works does not come from lush landscapes and exhilarating action - no, here the star of the show is good, old-fashioned storytelling. As each character reveals more of themselves and thereby the central story, the world comes alive - each person is both black and white, the ruffians, the nobility, the holy men - each has a distinct angle to this strange world without whose aid the picture can never be considered complete.

After the film had ended and I had somehow made it into my warm bed, I thought about storytelling in general: as an audience member I'm easily excited and hooked - however I still firmly believe that a good story will always captivate , no matter who the audience are.

From the scheherazade in '1001 Nights' to the stories of 'Twilight Zone' our culture thrives upon the idea of storytelling - the skill lies in being able to choose the right story and the ability to tell it correctly.

I know 4 1/2 hours in the cinema will seem like an eternity to some people - the chances of 'Mysteries Of Lisbon' being a breakout hit are slim. As popular culture continues to push the idea of fast & furious to destroy our attention span, I was very pleased to spend a few hours in the company of someone who could prove that sometimes slow works best.

So although the plot might not at first grab you, do me a favor. Go see 'Lisbon' when it's released in the U.K. or wherever you may life. Turn off your blackberry, shut down your ipad , push the unnecessarily hectic pace of life aside for a moment and allow yourself to bask in the stories on the screen.

You might even find yourselves enjoying it.