"Dreiviertelmond" or "Three Quarter Moon" is a German 95-minute movie from 2011, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. The director is Christian Zübert and he also worked on the script together with his wife Ipek. And this is actually very fitting as this movie here is also about a duo of a German man and Turkish girl, so the people who made this bring the same multi-cultural background as their characters here. This award-winning film is the story of Hartmut Mackowiak, a taxi driver from Southern Germany, and what happens when he is forced to take care of a little Turkish girl after her grandmother falls in a coma. So now you know the basics. If you take a deeper look at the characters, you will see that Mackowiak may be slightly xenophobic, at least early on, and that he also struggles with his personal life, the relationship to his wife and his daughter are both far from satisfying and then such a new challenge waits for him, namely the one I described earlier.
There are some Turkish parts in here, but not too many, so it will certainly help of you have subtitles. I almost wished I had subtitles for Wepper's parts as well as his character is a bit of a mumbler here, which fits the grumpy personality, and the dialect is not too easy to understand either for a German native even. However, other than that, Wepper really shines here and after seeing this film and other stuff from his body of work, there can be no denying that he is by far the more talented Wepper. He brings a quiet subtlety to the character and role that elevates the material a lot. A weak lead performance could really have had a bad impact on the overall product because after the first minutes he is in basically every scene and it is fun to watch how he gets rid of his prejudice the longer the movie goes. As for his co-lead Mercan-Fatima Türköglu, who has never acted in a film before of afterward, she does what she has to do and is decent as well, but it still baffles me how she received awards attention and Wepper did not. Not a single recognition for him on any occasion apparently. Disappointing. In my opinion, he gives one of the best 10 performances of the year for sure and I am not just talking German movies here, but all movies.
The film with its background and the current refugee situation here in Germany also has great contemporary value with its subject. I quite liked that Zübert not only showed how Germans disapproved of immigrants, but also the other way around on one occasion or two. The film does not try to make a political statement, but instead tells things the way they are while also delivering some nice stuff in terms of heart and emotion. It is a success without a doubt, maybe because it is all about telling the stories of two humans and not really intentionally putting too much focus on where they come from. This is an aspect that many filmmakers have failed in other recent movies, mostly comedy such as the Hartmanns or the three Turks with a baby and there are many other examples. It is a challenge for sure and Zübert succeeded here. Overall, I would say that this is not my favorite film by Zübert (maybe "Hin und weg"), but also not my least favorite ("Lammbock"). It's somewhere in-between, but he has made some stuff I like and I am surely curious about upcoming projects. He's still relatively young and may have 30 more years of filmmaking ahead of him. I hope his upcoming works turn out as well as this one here. i recommend "Dreiviertelmond" (maybe not the best title). Go check it out if you get a chance.
There are some Turkish parts in here, but not too many, so it will certainly help of you have subtitles. I almost wished I had subtitles for Wepper's parts as well as his character is a bit of a mumbler here, which fits the grumpy personality, and the dialect is not too easy to understand either for a German native even. However, other than that, Wepper really shines here and after seeing this film and other stuff from his body of work, there can be no denying that he is by far the more talented Wepper. He brings a quiet subtlety to the character and role that elevates the material a lot. A weak lead performance could really have had a bad impact on the overall product because after the first minutes he is in basically every scene and it is fun to watch how he gets rid of his prejudice the longer the movie goes. As for his co-lead Mercan-Fatima Türköglu, who has never acted in a film before of afterward, she does what she has to do and is decent as well, but it still baffles me how she received awards attention and Wepper did not. Not a single recognition for him on any occasion apparently. Disappointing. In my opinion, he gives one of the best 10 performances of the year for sure and I am not just talking German movies here, but all movies.
The film with its background and the current refugee situation here in Germany also has great contemporary value with its subject. I quite liked that Zübert not only showed how Germans disapproved of immigrants, but also the other way around on one occasion or two. The film does not try to make a political statement, but instead tells things the way they are while also delivering some nice stuff in terms of heart and emotion. It is a success without a doubt, maybe because it is all about telling the stories of two humans and not really intentionally putting too much focus on where they come from. This is an aspect that many filmmakers have failed in other recent movies, mostly comedy such as the Hartmanns or the three Turks with a baby and there are many other examples. It is a challenge for sure and Zübert succeeded here. Overall, I would say that this is not my favorite film by Zübert (maybe "Hin und weg"), but also not my least favorite ("Lammbock"). It's somewhere in-between, but he has made some stuff I like and I am surely curious about upcoming projects. He's still relatively young and may have 30 more years of filmmaking ahead of him. I hope his upcoming works turn out as well as this one here. i recommend "Dreiviertelmond" (maybe not the best title). Go check it out if you get a chance.
