The Blue Hour (1992) User Reviews

Floats along, but never gets interesting

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 4 May 2015]

"The Blue Hour" is a 90-minute drama movie about a German hustler (and all the people he meets from over 20 years ago. Even if the film is from 1992, it looks still older than that. very amateurish production. I am not sure, if this was intended to make it seem as if it has an indie look, but actually it looks just unappealing. The film's writer and director is Marcel Gisler. He was roughly 30 back then and still makes films today, not too prolific though. His two co-writers play crucial parts in the movie, one of them is the central character. But they are completely unknown. I don't know if that's also the case for the early 1990s, but none of the cast is a familiar name in Germany right now.

The film also has lots of French talk, so subtitles won't hurt, even if this is not listed in languages here on IMDb. Actually, there is much more French than Swiss German. The main character also seems to have a bit of bisexual tendencies as he seems to have an interest into his female neighbor. One of the core conflicts of the movie is about the ways in which it is possibly to have a normal relationship and still work as a male hustler. Another would be life as a hustler in general and the question of cheating and if it really is cheating if it is an affair with a woman. Anyway, all in all I was really underwhelmed by this movie. It was just never truly interesting, in terms of characters and story. To me, it looks like a very poor attempt at a Rainer Werner Fassbinder movie. Not recommended.

A Well-made "docu-drama"

[harry-76 · 9/10 · 6 March 1999]

"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.

Small, rewarding character study

[KMR · 8/10 · 14 November 1999]

A nicely-done character study of a beautiful twenty-something male call boy, and his friendship with his next door neighbor, an older woman in an unhappy relationship with a would-be writer. How they come together for a brief time is believable and oddly touching. The two leads are excellent. 8/10

Once again American films look paltry

[fubar-2 · 9/10 · 25 February 1999]

It's obvious from this and many others that the Europeans far outshine Americans in their honest portrayal of gay life. This film is so far superior to such trash as 'Johns' on the same subject matter, I feel guilty even mentioning them in the same sentence. The latest pathetic trend seems to be the gay sitcom syndrome (i.e. 'In and Out' and 'Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss'). Anyway, see this movie. The acting, direction and writing are all superb.

Not all Hustlers are Aggressive

[larapha · 8/10 · 27 November 2015]

After seeing a bunch of films where hustlers are posed as very aggressive people, it's a relief to see one where kindness is much more part of the personality of Theo (Andreas Herder) the main character in the movie. What doesn't mean that the world is kind to him. In fact, his clients are very distasteful people, using him as some dis-chargeable thing, where no connection is possible beyond sex. And that's what he finds in his neighbor, a much suffering lady in her late thirties with a husband no one should deserve. They become friends, and even go to bed together. But some predictable twists are still to happen. All in all, it's a film I would recommend for a day when you're so well with yourself that seeing a sad film won't make you depressive, just feel empathy for a class of workers so badly threaten by life, which deserve respect. After all, they do have their social function.