Three-Quarter Moon - DVD

Film: Hartmut Mackowiak (Elmar Wepper), a taxi driver in Nuremberg, is not really a cheerful contemporary. He constantly finds a reason to scold his fellow men and he makes no secret of his sometimes quite antiquated prejudices. His wife (Katja Rupé) also has to put up with her husband's grumpy manner day after day. But after 30 years she has had enough. She leaves Hartmut for another man. And suddenly the taxi driver is forced to completely rearrange his life. Just at this moment, the 6-year-old Turkish girl Hayat (Mercan Türkoglu) lands in Hartmut's taxi. With her mother away on business and her grandmother in hospital, the girl, who doesn't speak a word of German, is all alone and in need of help. And that help is supposed to come from Hartmut, the curmudgeon of all people. Of course, he first tries to get rid of the girl - without success. And so Hartmut decides to go in search of Hayat's mother, not suspecting that this time will change his life forever.

Three-Quarter Moon could quite easily have drowned in clichés and degenerated into a flat tearjerker. But thankfully, that is not the case. Director and screenwriter Christian Zübert has created a wonderfully warm-hearted and likeable tragicomedy that always takes the right path until the convincing finale, while not always living up to the audience's expectations here and there. Sure, there are no really big surprises. But in small and very important nuances, Zübert succeeds brilliantly in avoiding dramaturgical cliffs and not indulging in the most obvious clichés. This gives the film a pleasant freshness and originality that adds enormously to its entertainment value.

The whole thing is of course carried by the actors, first and foremost Elmar Wepper. As a grumpy Franconian taxi driver, the actor is once again in absolute top form after Kirschblüten - Hanami. He embodies grandiosely a man who has entrenched himself in his own world to such an extent that other people have no place there. The transformation he undergoes in the course of the film is not only believable thanks to Wepper's wonderful performance, but simply heartwarming. Little Mercan Türkoglu, who was chosen from hundreds of children in a casting for the role of Hayat, is incredibly cute, but comes across as pleasantly natural. Christian Zübert's team has really done a great job here. Because where many other film children come across as either too overly cute or precocious, Mercan Türkoglu is able to win the hearts of the audience with simple naturalness.

The way the film resolves the plot around Hartmut and his wife is just as accomplished as the finale, which could have retroactively damaged the film's positive impact with a little extra scene. But Zübert ends the story at exactly the right moment, a feat that truly cannot be taken for granted. So Dreiviertelmond is simply pure feel-good cinema that scores with wonderful actors, beautiful shots of Nuremberg and an enchanting story. For lovers of somewhat quieter comedies from Germany, this work is therefore also: absolutely recommended!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD is clean, the overall sharpness is on a good level, but seems a little washed out in some places and could be just in the darker scenes a little better in the representation of smaller details turn out. The audio is restrained and dominated by the dialogue. It's not particularly spectacular, but it's absolutely adequate for a film like this. Therefore, there is also an absolutely satisfied: good!

Extras: The bonus material starts with a charming as well as informative audio commentary by director Christian Zübert and his leading actor Elmar Wepper. The two chat in a relaxed atmosphere about the shooting and give some interesting anecdotes to the best. In addition, the DVD has a Making of (approx. 21 min.) worth seeing as well as some footage from the casting for the role of little Hayat. This footage can be watched with the original film soundtrack as well as with an audio commentary by the director.

A few promo interviews, footage from the premiere in Hamburg, a short KinoKino special about the Nuremberg premiere, the trailer for the film and a photo gallery are also on the program. Finally, there is also an excerpt from Christian Zübert's successful film LAMMBOCK, in which he worked together with Elmar Wepper for the first time. This excerpt can also be viewed with a commentary by Zübert and Wepper. A good bonus offering overall!

Conclusion: Three Quarter Moon is a likeable mix of comedy and drama that scores with an endearing story and great actors. The DVD is technically well realized and also has quite extensive bonus material on offer. All this makes this DVD release then: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp