''Blue Moon'' is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

written and directed by

Andrea Maria Dusl Andrea Maria Dusl (born 12 August 1961), is an Austrian/Swedish film director, author and illustrator. She was born in Vienna, the daughter of Austrian architect Erwin H. Dusl and Swedish captain's family Pettersson's descendant Monica Jülli ...

in 2002. The

road movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

is Dusl's first as a director.

Plot

In a month with two full moons,

n petty criminal Johnny Pichler is hired to carry a bag of cash to the

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

n border and deliver it to a gangster. Johnny arrives late in a battered taxi. He is forced into the car behind the gangster's beautiful but unhappy escort. Shirley, who is no bimbo, squirts the gangster with an incapacitating spray, kicks him out of the car and races away with Johnny and the cash. The pair makes a series of unsuccessful attempts to sell the obviously stolen car. In a Slovak hotel Johnny offers to buy Shirley's share of the car with his share of the cash. She refuses but when he returns from the bar, she is gone. Lonely Johnny teams up with Ignaz Springer, an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

con man who is having trouble adapting to post-Communist Europe, but claims to have business interests in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

: shoe import-export. Springer introduces Johnny to a couple of Slovak waitresses and then disappears after selling the car without Johnny's knowledge. Johnny hitchhikes to

looking for Shirley with only the town

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

stamped on a strip of photographs as a guide. In Lviv he meets a taxi driver who differs from Shirley only in her hair colour. Jana reveals that she is Shirley's twin sister and they soon become lovers. Jana tells him that Shirley's real name is Dana and that she had left Lviv some months ago after a bout of craziness. Johnny soon discovers that Jana is not being entirely honest with him. And the city is hardly welcoming: a gang force him to buy an ordinary brick from them with all the money that he has. He follows Jana to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

and finally to Odessa on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, where he is also reunited with Springer. The movie ends on a ferry as the blue moon rises and the final scene explains the enigmatic opening scene on the Odessa Steps (made famous by ''

The Battleship Potemkin '' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...

''). Dusl sees the love that develops between Johnny and Jana as a metaphor for the relationship between the east and the west. More inspiration for the film may have come from a transatlantic romantic entanglement with an American whom she visited before going into production.Chiari, Valeria. 'Interview with Andrea Maria Dusl', ''Cineuropa'' (October 14, 2002)
Retrieved July 23, 2005.

Cast

Josef Hader Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

(Johnny Pichler) *

Detlev Buck Detlev Buck (; born 1 December 1962 in Bad Segeberg) is a German film director, actor, film producer, producer and screenwriter. Life and work From his first short film at the age of 21 in 1982, ', he has remained one of the most important film ...

(Ignaz Springer) * (Shirley/Dana/Jana) * Ivan Laca (Mafioso Kovacic) *Peter Aczel (Car Dealer) *

Andrea Karnasová Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

(Vlasta, Waitress) * Emöke Vinczeová (Ludmila, Waitress) *

Orest Ohorodnyk Orest is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Orest Banach (born 1948), German-American former soccer goalkeeper * Orest Budyuk (born 1995), Ukrainian footballer * Orest Grechka (born 1975), Ukrainian-American former soccer player * Ores ...

(Jewgenij Pazukin) *

Serhiy Romaniuk Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and h ...

(Ukrainian Truck Driver) *

Alla Maslenikova Alla may refer to: * Ara Gaya, also called Alla (안라), a city-state kingdom in the part of Gaya confederacy, in modern-day Haman County of Korea Music * "Alla" (song) a song by Swedish singer Sofia * Allá, a rock band from Chicago * '' At.L ...

(Teacher) *

Katya Volkova Katya is a feminine given name. It is a very popular name in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It is a Russian diminutive form of Yekaterina, which is a Russian form of Katherine.This name is also can be spelled Katia.MFnames ...

(Teacher's Daughter Nastja) *

Borys Heorhiyevsky Borys is a name of Bulgarian origin, equivalent to the Bulgarian-derived spelling Boris. It may refer to: * Borys Baranets (born 1986), professional Ukrainian football midfielder who plays for FC Lviv in the Ukrainian Premier League * Borys Burya ...

(Militia Officer)

Production

*Written and Directed by

*Cinematography Wolfgang Thaler *Music composed by

Christian Fennesz Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated sample ...

Peter Dusl Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, Yuriy Naumov, Camille Saint-Saëns, Dmitriy Shostakovich, Richard Rodgers (Blue Moon) *Editors Karina Ressler, Andrea Wagner *Line Producer Max Linder *First Assistant Director and Casting Klaus Pridnig *Producer Erich Lackner, Klaus Pridnig Shot in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and Slovak, the movie is available with English subtitles.

References

Elley, Derek. 'Blue Moon', ''Variety'', (August 5, 2002)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Moon (2002 Film) 2002 films 2000s road comedy-drama films 2002 romantic comedy-drama films Austrian romantic comedy films 2000s German-language films Ukrainian-language films 2002 comedy films 2002 drama films