Of course, people know Jim Carrey's "Man on the Moon", but also Tomi Ungerer's has become more known recently again. They made a full feature animated movie a while ago starring Katharina Thalbach and before that they made this half-hour live action film. And the cast here isn't bad either. Admittedly, the child actress has never been in any other film again, but Piet Klocke (love him, always funny) and Ralf Richter are certainly not unknown at all to German audiences. And also some of the other actors have pretty prolific filmographies, even if their names are not that much known. I also liked the way the "Mondmann" was depicted here. Looked very much like I imagined him. The writer and director is Friedrich Böhm and as he was only in his mid-20s when he shot this, he may still have a good career ahead of him.
I mentioned Tomi Ungerer earlier and he also plays the narrator here on a couple occasions, just like in the animated film. Another thing I liked was that this had no 100% happy ending really. The main antagonist is some sort of winner too as the press reports that he chased the intruder away successfully. And looking at the "Mondmann" in the end back on the moon, where he has so little space it seems and will probably soon be bored again is not exactly a delight either. But we probably have to see it from the perspective of what was said in the beginning that he just wanted to come to Earth one single time and that's what he did. It was not a delightful adventure in its entirety, but he made friends there. And that dancing sequence with the little girl was really great to watch nicely done. And after all, they say that he is smiling down on us at night, so he cannot be that unhappy right? Good short movie I would say, mostly for children, but also for those young at heart. Recommended.
I mentioned Tomi Ungerer earlier and he also plays the narrator here on a couple occasions, just like in the animated film. Another thing I liked was that this had no 100% happy ending really. The main antagonist is some sort of winner too as the press reports that he chased the intruder away successfully. And looking at the "Mondmann" in the end back on the moon, where he has so little space it seems and will probably soon be bored again is not exactly a delight either. But we probably have to see it from the perspective of what was said in the beginning that he just wanted to come to Earth one single time and that's what he did. It was not a delightful adventure in its entirety, but he made friends there. And that dancing sequence with the little girl was really great to watch nicely done. And after all, they say that he is smiling down on us at night, so he cannot be that unhappy right? Good short movie I would say, mostly for children, but also for those young at heart. Recommended.
