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Three Quarter Moon

Three Quarter Moon (Dreiviertelmond)

Movie · 2011 · 4 people

Made by Christian Zübert in 2011, the German tragicomedy Dreiviertelmond is known internationally as Three Quarter Moon. The film of about 95 minutes grew out of an idea that Zübert developed together with his wife İpek, and he wrote the script. It was made by die film gmbh in co-production with Bayerischer Rundfunk and arte. After its world premiere at Filmfest Hamburg, it played in German cinemas from October 13, 2011, through the distributor Majestic.

At its centre is Hartmut Mackowiak, a notoriously grumpy taxi driver in Nuremberg, played by Elmar Wepper. After a family tragedy he has to look after six-year-old Turkish girl Hayat for a while, a role taken by Mercan Türkoğlu. Despite the gap in language and age, this forced companionship slowly softens the hard man. The cast also features Ivan Anderson, Özay Fecht, Katja Rupé and Marie Leuenberger.

Shooting took place in October and November 2010 in Nuremberg, the Fränkische Schweiz region and Istanbul. Critics received the film mostly positively and singled out the acting of Wepper and Türkoğlu. In 2011 Zübert won the Bavarian Film Prize for his screenplay, and Türkoğlu was awarded a Bambi for her performance.

DirectorChristian Zübert
Production companydie film gmbh

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Özay Fecht Özay Fecht Actor · 72 years old Elmar Wepper Katja Rupé Marie Leuenberger

Through different eyes

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Three Quarter Moon deals with the Turkish presence in Germany not through big social issues but through the forced companionship of a taxi driver and a six-year-old girl. The gap in language and age works as a small, everyday model of the distance between two cultures. In my view the film's worth lies in showing migration not as a subject for drama but as two lonely people slowly getting used to each other. Having been shot between Nuremberg and Istanbul visually supports how intertwined these two worlds are. That the idea grew out of a joint effort by Zübert and his wife İpek seems to explain why the story tries to look from both sides.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

A grumpy man softened by a child is one of cinema's most used templates, and Three Quarter Moon does not stray far from it; it is not hard to guess where the story is heading. What saves the film from the ordinary is Zübert's ability to keep the tragicomic tone balanced: the family tragedy and the humour sit side by side without crushing each other. The screenplay, which won the Bavarian Film Prize, manages to build emotional scenes without overplaying them. Critics were right to single out Elmar Wepper and Mercan Türkoğlu; the film rests almost entirely on the chemistry between the two, and Türkoğlu's Bambi confirms it. It is not original, but it is a formula handled with skill.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

At the centre of the story are a little girl and a grumpy older man; the way the two slowly bond is a warm theme for families. But everything starts with a family tragedy, so the subject can be sad in places for very young children. As a German production, if you watch it with subtitles it is easier with children old enough to read them. It is a film about people from different cultures getting used to each other, with affection at its heart.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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