Starring: Yorick Van Wageningen, Alyssa
Milano, Emily Rios, Paul Dillon, Josefina Lopez
Produced by: Jay Hernandez (II), Joe Ballarini (II), Lynnette Ramirez
Production Status: Released
Genres: Drama
Running Time: 1 hr. 33 min.
Production Co.: Blue Hour
Produced in: United States
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. A multi-ethnic ensemble drama, the film
explores the connections between a Mexican graffiti muralist, an Armenian camera
repairman, an African- American Blues guitarist and an English pensioner living
near the Los Angeles River.
Happy is a talented teenage graffiti muralist with a passion for spray paint and
Hip Hop. Her playground is the concrete banks of the Los Angeles River. While
painting a mural of her trademark Payasa, a sad-faced Lady Clown, she encounters
Sal, a mentally challenged homeless man who attempts to make contact with her.
Unable to communicate with Happy, Sal then crosses paths with Avo, a vintage
camera repairman living with his wife Allegra on the East Bank of the river.
Their apartment overlooks Happy’s Payasa mural near the area where their 4-year
old daughter Heidi recently drowned. Since Heidi’s death, Avo and Allegra have
not spoken. As Happy toils on the Payasa, Avo attempts to reconcile with his
wife in the wake of the family tragedy.
A block away from Avo’s apartment, Ridley is a struggling blues guitarist
staying in an old hotel by the river. He has returned temporarily to Los Angeles
to care for his mother. One night, Ridley hears an enigmatic voice coming from
somewhere inside the hotel. Haunted by its mysterious presence, Ridley sets out
to discover the source of the voice, running into Sal in the wake of a
hit-and-run accident.
Humphrey is an aging pensioner living in an apartment overlooking the ‘islands’
in the river. One morning he wakes up to the sound of Sal screaming on the
sidewalk. Having recently lost his wife Ethel, Humphrey spends his days eating
lunch by her grave, a few feet from Heidi’s resting place where he sees Allegra.
Unsure when his time will come, Humphrey readjusts to everyday life, crossing
paths with Happy as he wanders the riverside neighborhood.
Connecting each character peripherally through the Los Angeles River, The Blue
Hour explores the delicate ties and common humanity among strangers in a
seemingly disconnected landscape.
Reception
" ...Largely dialogue-free, the pic shuns histrionics,
instead generating its gathering emotional force via carefully crafted images
and sharp editing… a strong calling card for debutante Eric Nazarian.” –Variety
“Nazarian demonstrates an uncanny affinity for the language of cinema. …this is
clearly another filmmaker to watch out for in the coming years. ..like the late
Cassavetes, Nazarian demonstrates an uncanny ability to compose the most
striking images and memorable performances on a shoe string budget.” -Turin Film
Festival, 2007
“Eric Nazarian’s work is a film of the senses. The film speaks almost without
words, replacing them with a colorful cinematic language well adapted to the
four different stories told which form a unity in a very natural way.” –European
Network of Young Cinema