The Blue Hour (2007)

Several strangers in Los Angeles weave their stories of loss and hope, not knowing that their lives have brushed up against each others in small but sometimes profound ways.

Director:

Eric Nazarian

Writer:

Eric Nazarian

Stars:

Ellen Albertini Dow, Eric Burdon, Paul Dillon

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ellen Albertini Dow	...	Anabella
Eric Burdon	...	Bar Singer
Paul Dillon	...	Sal
Catherine Garedakis	...	Pharmacist
Sarah Jones	...	Young Ethel
Karen Kondazian	...	Tello
Sophia Malki	...	Heidi
Austin Marques	...	Neto
Vanessa McCaffrey	...	Punk Armenian Girl
Joel McKinnon Miller	...	Jimmy
Alyssa Milano	...	Allegra
Rachel Miner	...	Julie
Derrick O'Connor	...	Humphrey
Lyne Odums	...	Ridley's Mom
Larry Wang Parrish	...	Chinese store owner

Storyline

Four stories that examine the everyday lives of ordinary Los Angelenos: "ISLAND IN THE RIVER" introduces Happy, a withdrawn teenage girl with a passion for spray paint and Hip Hop. On the concrete banks of the Los Angeles river, her graffiti masterpiece is being created, a vision of Payasa, the weeping clown. At home, her mom and mom's boyfriend fight over money. At school, she is chased home by boys who hate her otherness. But in the river, there is yet another "other", Sal Marino homeless and so disconnected from normal life that she can not hear him while she paints her private vision. That is, until it is too late. "A WARM PLACE" introduces Avo and his wife Allegra who lived with their daughter across the river on the East Bank. "Lived" because their daughter recently drowned in the river, and with it the very spark that made their married life possible. Together, they must find a way back to "a warm place." "THE HEALER" introduces Ridley who is called home to Los Angeles to ...

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Plot Keywords:

river | lunch | clown | graffiti | hope | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Armenian Korean Persian

Release Date:

13 July 2008 (Armenia)

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orange Bird Productions, Silver Blue Pictures, Fresco Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is very little dialog in this movie. The first lines, (other than indistinct background sounds), come in minute 15, when a radio announcer reports news about an incident that Happy has just witnessed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Radio Announcer: A homeless man was killed yesterday in a hit and run incident, which took place in the 600 block of Hollydale, near the Los Angeles River. The man has been identified as Salvatore Marino. Marino was an astronomy professor at Cal Tech, and had been missing for several years. He died at the scene.

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Connections

Referenced in Allemaal film: De amerikaanse droom (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Light"
Written by Hope Sandoval and David Roback
Performed by Mazzy Star
Published by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under License from
EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

A true film about Los Angeles and how we don't know our neighbors.

This is a very moving film. I really enjoyed it. All the actors were excellent! I especially liked the music and the story between the Armenian parents. The images of the Los Angeles river were really beautiful set against the freeway. I've never seen a film like this with so little dialog yet I hardly noticed. I hear it will screen again in Los Angeles on November 3rd. I definitely would like to see it again because it's the kind of film that you want to watch more than once to really understand it. I thought it was much more original than Crash. I see others that haven't seen it compare it to Crash. I can tell you after seeing it there is very little comparison. This is really a story about the people that live in east- side of Los Angeles. Crash focused more on the west side of the city.