Coming Out (1989/I)

Director:

Heiner Carow

Writer:

Wolfram Witt (writer)

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (East Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Reportedly the first film to come out of East Germany to deal openly with gay issues. Philipp, a closeted...

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Love | Teacher | Gay Bar | Friend

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Matthias Freihof	...	Philipp
Dagmar Manzel	...	Tanja
Dirk Kummer	...	Matthias
Michael Gwisdek	...	Achim
Werner Dissel	...	älterer Herr
Gudrun Ritter	...	Frau Moellemann
Walfriede Schmitt	...	Philipp's mother
Axel Wandtke	...	Jakob
Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss	...	Araber (as Pierre Bliss)
René Schmidt
Thomas Gumpert
Ursula Staack
Robert Hummel	...	Lutz
Horst Ziethen
Gertraud Kreissig

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

East Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bebelplatz, Staatsoper, Mitte, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Trivia:

The first East German film on homosexuality, it was shot on location in several gay bars and cruising areas in East Berlin.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Schau mir in die Augen, Kleiner (2007)

Soundtrack:

Wie ein Stern

East German Angst

This is a very interesting and stylish movie, unlike any other gay themed movie I know. It's East German, made just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The paranoia, seriousness and drabness of East Berlin is a palpable atmosphere, and the illicit illegality of homosexuality there at the time. There are echoes of an expressionistic Berlin cabaret tradition: the exaggeration in the dance club scenes, and the song in the experimental theater/concert scene. The angst rings true. The atonality of some of the music in the soundtrack adds to the angst. The director obviously sees something "atonal" about these young men in love, but maybe it reflects the cultural context rather than disapproval? The quiet conversation scenes without scoring seem a little like Bergman in style.

I think it would be a mistake to view the self-loathing of the gay men in this movie, or the main character's mother's sad disappointment over her son's sexuality, with American eyes of the 21st Century, or those of the much freer Europe of current times. And even today there are still plenty of paranoid, secretive young gay men around, even in progressive countries.