The Blue Hour (1992)
DVDRip | AVI | 400 x 272 | XviD @ 963 Kbps | 90 min | 735 Mb
Audio: German MP3 @ 128 Kbps | Subs: English hardcoded
Genre: Drama
DVDRip | AVI | 400 x 272 | XviD @ 963 Kbps | 90 min | 735 Mb
Audio: German MP3 @ 128 Kbps | Subs: English hardcoded
Genre: Drama
Theo, an attractive German call boy, markets himself to other men in the personal ads of Berlin papers and leads an otherwise quiet life across the hall from Marie. Marie and Paul share an apartment that Marie pays for by working at a record store. A would-be writer, Paul spends his days sleeping or staring at the blank sheet of paper in his typewriter. After Paul leaves Marie for what he calls her "grotesque mediocrity," the protracted silence from across the hallway concerns Theo. Finally, on returning home one day, he observes that Marie's door is half open and ventures into her apartment to see if she is okay. Marie is devastated by Paul's departure and Theo takes it upon himself to coax her back to life. Strangely enough, he finds that she also awakens in him a desire for life that he had lost or given away to the countless men with whom he shares his body. When the two become intimate, Theo feels – perhaps for the first time in a very long time – that he is loved. Paul's untimely return signals the end of Theo's relationship with Marie and his life becomes once again a contrast of furtive rendezvous and bleak isolation.
"Die Blaue Stunde" is a staple in my video collection, and one to which I return agein and again to enjoy. With each viewing I find myself engrossed in the subject matter, the work of the actors, and the deliberately sparse, clean style of the director. The film is small, intimate, and modest; happily, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It is honest, straight-forward, and has an authentic feel throughout. Andreas Herder as Theo and Dina Leipzig as Marie are very touching in depicting the lonliness and lack of direction in lives as they reach out in vain for fulfillment. Their characters emerge as universal, crossing language barriers to move us, regardless of our particular cultural environment. Even the music, often a sole piano playing sparse notes in the upper register, points up the intimate nature of the drama, well shot in semi-documentary style.
(click to enlarge)
My Blog - Check it ;)