Blue Moon: Hart-break | TIFF 50

Now tell me - were they queening out, or flirting?

I have been awaiting what this film actually is for quite some time now - like any good trailer, I was not given much to go on. I was concerned it would fall back into revisionist history of the past - concern itself with how we like to see the past, instead of how it was.

Ultimately though I was not afraid as I ventured into that dark theatre - because if anyone’s got me, Richard Linklater’s got me.

This film is about the poetry of yearning - the love of love, the appreciation of appreciation. It’s an homage to a legend - while also being a real understanding of him amongst his circle. It decides not to be a plot movie - Linklater ftw - but instead follow the contours, all the different ways a heart can break, all the different ways.

There is a phenomenon in history where we apply modern understandings of sexuality onto the past, even though that’s not always fitting. On the contrary, it seems, in a really needed way right now, Blue Moon does the opposite - though even in his time he’s not understood, Lorenz Hart re-presents (and represents) a mode of man that society really doesn’t like to acknowledge.

Sentimental, flamboyant, out and proud — in love with any gender. To be a man is to be slit across the edge - never allowed to flow in the middle. Our Hart has a lot of things to unpack - but his love, his passion, is not one of them. His heart breaks for many many reasons, but foremost is his lush escape into love and yearning, only to find he had fallen for a girl who — knew more than she let on — but simply wanted a ’Gay Best Friend’.

Every performance was stunning, but Ethan Hawke was a Ferrari going 90 on a rainy racetrack, free on the wind, no brakes all glory. Oh my god — I could not love the man more. For Ethan to fall in love with him with such detail like this, and see him also exactly as he is - what a skill. You can tell he’s having the time of his life - I doubt he truly understands how magnificent his instrument is.

Everyone else is great - but they are Extras. The script glitters and sends the most subtle blink-and-miss references to the audience. Musical theatre fans will adore this one — but so will the lovers.

I’ve never been loved that much.