Blue Moon

Just over a decade after Richard Linklater last appeared at Berlinale and won the Silver Bear for Best Director with Boyhood, the Texan auteur returns to the festival with his latest work in the hope of securing another award to boost the film’s general release this spring.

Blue Moon is a taut chamber piece unfolding in real time within the single setting of Sardi’s restaurant, where the opening night after-party for Broadway’s Oklahoma! takes place in 1943. Struggling to resist the temptations of alcohol, lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) bends the barkeeper’s (Bobby Cannavale) ear about a young woman he has fallen madly in love with (Margaret Qualley). However, the obsession with his new protégé appears to be merely a distraction from the greater heartbreak of the evening: his creative partner, Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), has teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein II to form the legendary musical duo that will make history.

Like a song in itself, Robert Kaplow’s engrossing screenplay has a rhythm and melody to its spoken word, with recurring motifs and poetry that reflect Hart’s love for language. Beyond delivering these potent lines with brilliance, Hawke fully commits to the role, enduring the crimes committed against his naturally piercing blue eyes and strong hairline in order to faithfully embody Hart’s appearance. In defiance of the constant rejection Larry faces during the brief time the audience spends by his side, Hawke never allows him to become too tragic a figure, nor does he play his dejection for laughs. And while the somewhat comical height difference between him and other characters may stand out, Lorenz Hart himself stands tall amid the adversities life throws his way

With its targeted focus on script and performance, cinephiles may be left wanting grand visuals or spectacle. Yet, in reality, Blue Moon could very well end up gracing the Broadway stage one day. Linklater not only offers an indelible glimpse behind the scenes of theatre history, but the perspective of the least likely candidate to herald the success story of Rodgers & Hammerstein will strike a chord with any viewer who has ever experienced the excruciating death of a friendship.

Selina Sondermann

Blue Moon does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.