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Sommersturm (2004)

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69 out of 81 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the very rare perfect German films!, 3 September 2004

Author: netchamp_Fabian from London

A wonderful movie, being gay myself I really saw myself in the protagonist. It's been a long time that I have seen a German film, that is so authentic and honest, really it was nearly like a documentary, you really feel like being there as well.

It's one of the rare film in which everything fits together, the acting, the music, the dramatic art, the fun, the dialogs.

The acting is outstanding. Robert Stadlober is so convincing. You really can feel it when he's desperate or angry.

The music was touching and moving, there are wonderful scenes when the camera floats over the lake while it rains and this wonderful sad classical music is played. So beautiful...

I think the director did a wonderful job, he - being gay and young himself - of course also knew what it's like growing up and discovering your homosexuality as Tobi does.

Clichés and stereotypes are discussed by the actors themselves. :-)

For gay people it's a must as everyone surely can partly see oneself in Tobi and for straight people it's a great chance to broaden their horizons as they can learn about the difficulty of growing up while being "different".

It's a real honest film.

Go and see it! It's 10/10 from me!

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61 out of 66 people found the following comment useful :-
Young, funny, sexy and mature - this is Sommersturm ., 14 October 2004

Author: ttroia (ttroia@yahoo.com) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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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38 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
A mature, moving teen drama from Germany., 18 July 2005

Author: Luke from Newcastle, Australia

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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36 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
Beautiful movie about growing up and the confusion of first love, 15 August 2004

Author: sho-pi from München, Germany

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

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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33 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
At Last! A Real "Camp" Movie Comes Out...And So Does Its Hero., 3 June 2005

Author: Christopher T. Chase (cchase@onebox.com) from Arlington, VA.

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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35 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
Incredibly great, 24 March 2005

Author: smoothhoney1265 from Germany

I have seen many German films already, but this one beats them all! It's beautiful, it's sad, it's funny, it's tragic, it's warm, sunny and lovely. Just wonderful and a pleasure to watch.

The plot can be told very quickly: Tobi and Achim live in a Bavarian village, are the best of friends and also together in a rowing team. But Tobi has a secret: He is in love with Achim, doesn't dare to tell him of course and is jealous of Sandra, Achim's girlfriend. When Tobi, Achim and their team travel to a competition (which at the same time is a camp) and meet a gay rowing team there, the emotions boil over and soon Tobi has to face the truth and find out who he is.

To sum it up: This film is a masterpiece and in my opinion should be officially one of the best films of all times. It is filmed in a very quiet way, with calm shots of nature, of teenagers, their dreams, fears and emotions, but also their conflicts. It takes teenagers seriously without being too serious and deals with homosexuality, coming out and coming of age without drowning in clichés. Plus it has some hilarious comic situations and great one liners in it. One could say: The movie shows pure life, for life is sometimes fun, sometimes tragic, sometimes beautiful and sometimes hard. Also everyone, from the protagonists to minor characters is casted perfectly and you have some of the most talented young German actors of our time here: Robert Stadlober, Marlon Kittel, and Hanno Koffler. "Sommersturm" – a terrific piece of art that you can't help falling in love with.

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25 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
A rare and touching film, 14 February 2006

Author: Heppners from Germany

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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26 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
one of the best German movies..., 4 March 2005

Author: proximus1986 from Germany

today "sommersturm" is coming out on DVD in Germany, i already ordered it on amazon.de and have been in cinema two times. the movie is about a 18year-old boy who begins to feel for his best friend, who is already having a relationship to a girl. they are all in a boat team and go for a championship (the filming locations are in my town so its cool to see). in the camp the feelings of the actors are "coming out". before seeing it i could not imagine that this movie would feel so real an touch so much. but it is the working of the great actors, a beautiful soundtrack, very good camera and s strong story. the camera work supports the story in so many ways, the picture you see tells so much. but the movie is not only touching, its also extremely funny, but not in the way that its make fun of gay people, its understanding so its still touching. i cant wait to see this movie again. sad that only a few saw it, believe me, its one of the funniest, most touching and best filmed German movies. nothing else than 10/10

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25 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
Bittsweet road to self-discovery and identity, 22 May 2005

Author: zephyr24-1 from Singapore

Nevermind that this is a movie about same-sex adulation. The bittersweet movie features a stellar performance by its lead Robert Stadlober as Tobi and explores his road to self-discovery and identity through his long-standing secret admiration and love for his best pal, Achim. The dilemma that Tobi faced in trying to come to terms with his own sexuality is well-handled by Stadlober.

Set against a rowing competition camp trip, the movie isn't always hardhearted but offers some comedy along the way. Some moviegoers might have complained about the stereotypical gay characters in the movie, but actually, it's quite the opposite. There is a good mix of gay characters and contrast is definitely showcased. The cinematography is also splendid.

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29 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Summer Stormy Self-Discovery, 9 September 2004

Author: Alexnader from Stuttgart, Germany

Tobi, a teenager in a rowing team, is about to discover his latent homosexuality and his love for his close friend Achim, during a rowing contest, under the catalytic presence of a gay rowing group from Berlin.

Although the film borrows many plot elements from movies like "Was nutzt die Liebe in Gedanken" and "Krampack" (i.e. boy loves boy who loves girls) it copes with creating an exceptional coming-out film composition. The admixtures of German eastern and southern dialects and accents, the comic characters like the coach, the simple humorous stereotypes resulting from clueless-Oberbayern meeting Gay-Berlin and finally the summer storm of sexual consciousness forcing Tobi and the groups of teenagers to seek new balances, create a unique and simple German version of these topics.

As remarks could be mentioned that too much of accents is not as funny for us foreigners, the end is relatively open and the main character depicts sometimes too selfish and ignorant.

Film is Excellent - 10 of 10.

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