Sommersturm

Strange film grace of his original beauty. The essence is self-discover of a teenager but, not his obsessive love for his friend, the ambiguity of feelings, the moral end or the fight with himself, the contact with the "others" are important . The essence is the splendid art to tell, in honest way, with delicate images and ordinary scenes the evolution of a crisis, the gestures of a age, the love as miracle, the fixation and desire of an outsider for who his self-image and the opinion of friends is the fundamental punishment.

To be yourself like horrible sin.

It is not a original story but this film is great for the subtle science to discover, without pity, compassion or masks a real slice of existence.

The love for an Achim or the desire for be normal in a homophobic society are not only artistic themes and the message of film is, in fact, to be a model to self definition, a subject to meditation, a point to search of truth against others, against yourself.

Only, the commercial happy-end. The shadows are not a so short life. But, the intentions , the honesty of work, the game with lights and the good interpretation are more important.

Two best friends go on a summer-camp. One of them, Tobi is in love with his friend and cannot stand him having a girlfriend. When a gay rowing-team arrives, the storm begins...

The movie is very touching, but a bit predictable. It does succeed in showing all the factors that come in to play, when someone 'comes out'. Moreover, the characters are mostly very likable.

It's a good movie that shows you gay boys, straight boys and girls, the prejudices about gayness, and just a feel good movie in the end. A must for young people and their parents as an educational movie.

p.s. The curly boy was nice as well.

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.

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

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.