Sommersturm (2004) Reviews

• Beautiful movie about growing up and the confusion of first love

  sho-pi2004-08-15

  Warning: contains small SPOILERS. While other countries have produced excellent coming-out movies such as 'Beautiful Thing', 'Krámpack' or 'Get Real', Germany always lacked a gay film that wasn't either totally hilarious or utterly problem-ridden. Then came director Marco Kreuzpaintner and he 'got real': The plot, the language the characters use, the way they behave are just very realistic and natural (for the most part anyway). Kreuzpaintner is able to capture the feelings of the protagonists in a very subtle and convincing way. Apart from some minor flaws - like the catholic girls-group from Saxony, which is a little overdone - the dialogues could very well have been taken out of today's Germany. It really makes you feel you're right there in the tent camp. This is no wonder, since the director, who is also co-author of the script, is himself only 27 and wove many of his personal experience into the story. As for the actors, I was equally impressed, especially by Robert Stadlober who plays the part of Tobi (the main role). Much more than in his previous roles ('Sonnenallee', 'Crazy') he is able to convincingly portray the insecurities that come with growing up. The 'sex-scene' for example, where Tobi loses his virginity with Leo (Marlon Kittel), is played in a very straightforward way. Unlike what you see in many other movies, it is not corny but quite down-to-earth with its suddenness and banality. The rest of the cast also did a great job and apparently put their hearts into the film. But it's not just about a boy coming to terms with his being gay. It's a movie about youth, about growing up, about respect, and about broadening your horizon. And it's dead funny, too! I have seen the movie twice in two separate preview screenings in southern Germany. The first time, the audience was almost exclusively gay, the second time almost completely straight. And the thing is: both times the crowd was equally thrilled, and the movie as well as the director got long ovations. So I guess 'Sommersturm' has the makings of an all-audiences film that is not only very entertaining but also heart warming and touching. It can help straight kids to better understand what it's like to grow up gay. And it can help gay kids to develop self-confidence and pride. Personally, I think teachers should take their classes to see this movie. And for everyone who doesn't go to school anymore, go see it anyway and enjoy! 10 out of 10

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• A mature, moving teen drama from Germany.

  Minkwan2005-07-18

  Sommersturm (Summer Storm) is about Tobi and Achim who have been best friends for years. As cox and oarsman, they have helped their team win several rowing cups in the past and are now looking forward to the big regatta in the countryside. But this trip is no summer camp, and the problems soon arise. As Achim's relationship with his girlfriend grows more serious, Tobi starts to realise that his feelings for Achim run deeper than he's willing to admit to himself. He feels confused, unsure of himself and increasingly left out. When the much-anticipated Berlin girls' team is being replaced by a team of athletic,young gay men, Tobi and his teammates are suddenly forced to grapple with their prejudices, fears and perhaps their hidden longings. As the tension grows, Tobi, Achim and the others head towards a confrontation as fierce and ultimately as liberating as the summer storm gathering over the lake... "Summer Storm" is an emotionally mature and honest film which deals with the issue of coming out with humour, sensitivity and understanding. The performances are excellent, with the actors and actresses tending to underplay emotions rather than hamfisting them home, which tends to happen in American teen dramas. The performance by the award winning Robert Stadlober (Best Leading Actor at the Montreal Film Festival, 2001) was particularly standout. All characters are identifiable and likable, and although some characters verge on the cliché, clichés are clichés because they originated in truth. Director, Marco Kreuzpaintner and cinematographer Daniel Gottschalk make the landscape lush, tranquil, yet with a strong sense of isolation, loneliness and foreboding. Visual metaphors are seamlessly woven into the films narrative without becoming too cliché or distracting. The film is un-hyperbolic in its treatment of the familiar themes of coming of age, the search for identity, friendship and sexuality (both homosexuality and heterosexuality). Sommersturm is a beautiful, moving and honest film.

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• Young, funny, sexy and mature - this is Sommersturm .

  ttroia2004-10-14

  I had the opportunity to watch SOMMERSTURM at the Rio Movie Festival two weeks ago - with the presence of director Marco Kreuzpaintner - and everyone just loved the movie! It was a big, big success here in Rio, not only for the gay crowd but specially for the straight crowd ! It's a very funny, sexy, artistic and young (but still mature) movie, that perfectly shows the process of discovery of sexuality, with all the good and bad aspects of it. It portraits gay and straight boys and girls naturally, just as they are and the interesting (and incredibly funny) interaction between them. Robert Stadlober is in great shape acting, as well as the whole of the cast. And the soundtrack couldn't be better, both in the happy times and the sad ones! SOMMERSTURM is the kind of movie that everyone - and I mean everyone (except for small children) - should watch, not only because it's a wonderful movie and great fun, but specially because it treats the subject of homosexuality in a natural, sensible and incredibly mature manner. For those who still have some prejudice towards different sexual orientations, it's a soft learning lesson... Congratulations to the film team!

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• A rare and touching film

  Heppners2006-02-14

  Summer Storm is a remarkably sensitive and entertaining film, a drama about sexual orientation with stellar acting, plenty of comic relief, and the touching moments that make this movie worth a second or third visit. Within minutes, I was captivated by the main characters, reliving my own doubts in those beautiful days between high school and reality. Those looking for an erotic homosexual expose of yet another ''coming out'' will probably be disappointed. The interaction of the sexes is both subtle and natural, damn normal, as it should be. Few films let you forget your own sexual orientation and draw you into the scene through the sheer power of love and affection. The tears, joys and pain of youth are vividly painted on a backdrop of beautifully photographed scenes that are both authentically modern and nostalgically overpowering. These are the friends you want to meet on your next canoe trip or wished you had met at summer camp 40 years ago. Summer Storm is perhaps the best German film in decades, a quiet film that steals your heart. American audiences have had to wait a bit longer to finally see it. In Germany, the film was rated PG-12. The US version is rated R. That says something about the progress (or lack of) in dealing with films that address sexuality. US audiences can deal with ''Sex and the City'' and ''Six Feet Under'' but don't dare let our kids see a movie that might help them find their sexual identity. Personally, I can't think of a better film as an introduction to sex education, in grade school. I highly recommend watching the film with your teen-aged son or daughter. They can explain the parts you didn't quite catch.

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• At Last! A Real "Camp" Movie Comes Out...And So Does Its Hero.

  cchase2005-06-03

  First of all, it's incredible that a movie about a summer camp would come out that has a group of teenagers acting like REAL teens, not the idiots you see either in gross-out summer comedies based solely on bathroom and bodily-fluid humor, or with a dozen or more skeevy slackers getting high, getting laid and then getting hacked to bits by some guy in a mask bought from Chammps Sporting Goods. Viewed at the same Gay Pride Film Festival here in D.C., it was a good opportunity to compare this--a little more serious coming-of-age drama, to the light and fluffy French sex romp "Cote d'Azure." Too bad something like SUMMER STORM isn't made more often here in the States. It's summer time, and Tobi (the engaging Robert Stadlober) is in a seething state of sexual confusion. He wants to have sex with a girl, but his strongest feelings are reserved for his best bud Achim, (Kostja Ullmann), who in turn is having a hot-and-heavy romance with girlfriend Sandra (Miriam Morgenstern). Meantime, carrying the torch for Tobi is the heartbreakingly beautiful Anke (Alicja Batchleda-Curus), who has absolutely no idea where her intended's head is at. At least, not at first. The four teens are all on rowing teams, and their coach takes them all to camp, to bond and train for the seasonal rowing trials. Among the rival teams is an all-gay team, the "Queerstrokers," who will soon prove instrumental in the awakening of Tobi, helping him realize who he is and eventually to reconcile the lopsided love triangle he is involved in, which can only produce consequences destined to bring about an unhappy ending. Not to make the film sound too serious, but it deals with the themes of sexual confusion, exploration and discovery in a natural and non-judgmental way that is so lacking in most American features of this genre. The casting of the actors is just about perfect, as they all look, sound and perform like you would imagine German teens would, who are not that much different from any other young people their age anywhere in the world. Even if the audience of SUMMER STORM isn't gay, it deals effectively with the kind of emotions and situations that all adults can relate to, back when they were younger, and kids who are the same age as the film's characters can identify with now. A well-made coming-of-age tale for everyone (except for conservative prudes and pre-teens), definitely worth your time.

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