Blue Moon (USA, 2025)
Original title: Blue Moon
Director: Richard Linklater
Screenplay: Robert Kaplow
Main cast: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott, Simon Delaney, John Doran, Patrick Kennedy and Jonah Lees
Running time: 100 minutos
You never know exactly what to expect from a new Richard Linklater film. Known for his Before trilogy as well as works such as Dazed and Confused (1993), Boyhood (2004) and The Accidental Killer (2023), he has already demonstrated success in directing almost any type of film. And then he has in his hands a project that references the history of American culture to the same extent that it deals with a man in mental and physical decline. The obvious conclusion is that this mixture creates an excellent film.
The entire story takes place in a restaurant in New York, during the premiere of the musical Oklahoma! in 1943. We follow Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) going through all the stages of hatred and jealousy towards his former songwriting partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), who signs the composition of this musical with a new partner, Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney), during the musical and the party that follows it. Between drinks, music and references to Casablanca, we enter the mind of this man who understands that his peak has passed, but tries to hold on to the time that slips through his fingers for just one more minute.
The film comes from an excellently researched script that has the ability to demonstrate in small acts the situation of both Hart as a person and the USA as a country. While we have an alcoholic Hart seeking small pieces of affection between strangers and a girl much younger than him (Margaret Qualley), we also have a country already involved in a war that would cost the lives of many citizens, represented by the young pianist who follows the unfolding of the story in uniform, waiting to be sent to war.
With the choice to film the entire work only in that environment and always focusing on Hawke’s character, two issues become essential: the first is the acting, which is astonishing when you think about the physical transformation necessary for the actor to resemble the composer, and which manages to convey the feelings of defeat even to someone who has no idea what the film is about; the second is the construction of the dialogues, which are sharp and even humorous, with the speeches filling most of the work.
Bringing an air of gloomy nostalgia, all the costumes, locations, and gestures are designed for this past that no one wants to return to. At the same time, it also focuses on explaining the importance of that moment for what would become a new trend in American musicals, with so much influence that Oklahoma! continues to have recent successful productions around the world.
If there’s a director who could transform an already very good script into a work that manages to entertain while causing a reflection on the entire artistic system of a country, it’s Richard Linklater. If, in the opening scene, we already have the contrasting view of Hart as an extremely funny and at the same time extremely unhappy person, the director takes this to its maximum consequences, portraying a complex moment through a classic and functional form.
Translation by: Renata Torres
