Troca de Pele

Anyone who has seen 10 coming-of-age films in his life will have had at least 5 déjà-vus. Many stories are very similar and this TV production is also very didactic and problematizes pretty much everything that can be found and unfortunately dives deep into the cliché box. Milan, the main character, is not even particularly likeable, but who of the other characters is? The attempt to show a realistic picture of being gay in the provinces here may sound familiar to some, but the film was made in 2015, not 1985, so it seems a bit dated and might be good material to teach a school class, but for a grown gay man like me, it's something of a yawn. Have we really not moved on socially yet?

"Shed My Skin", or "Aus der Haut", is an excellent movie, number 2,799 in my personal digital library.

I give "Shed My Skin" an IMDb rating of 8.0.

However, after reading the reviews of "Shed My Skin" in IMDb, I must wonder if I viewed the same film as the two fellow reviewers currently listed as of this writing. So, being a reasonable fellow, I enlisted the attendance of two native Germans originally from Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, to sit with me in my second viewing in order to critique my critique and thereby keep me honest. Incidentally, both of these fellows graduated from Heidelberg University with multiple advanced graduate degrees, and both of these fellows are probably still employed by The Federal Intelligence Service or in German the Bundesnachrichtendienst ( BND), the foreign intelligence agency of Germany equivalent to the CIA, directly subordinated to the German Chancellor's Office in Berlin, and therefore I must assume that they are not idiots. But they are gay, and they have been a couple together from their gymnasium days in Saxony-Anhalt.

As a retired career U.S. Navy intelligence officer age 94, I never inquire too closely into the current employment status of former and or current intelligence officers from any country.

I asked this pair to view this film after determining that neither had seen or even knew about "Aus der Haut" before my invitation, but I suspected that the story contained within this movie mirrored their own personal history during their gymnasium studies, given that they are of the same age and I knew that they have been together since those tender years. As it turned out, I was right. In spades.

In a nutshell, both of my young visiting friends and the young movie protagonists had the same unequal social-economic status as adolescents, both had enlightened and ultimately supportive families consisting of one or two parents, both were bright and creative, and both of these completely decent and wholly honorable guys were then struggling with the problems attending their being gay and being in love. With each other. Although, as in the movie, both dealt with these matters in very different ways, indeed.

Over a long evening the three of us ended up viewing "Shed My Skin" twice, focusing on casting, script, action staging, directing, and the usual technical aspects of successful moving-making. At the end of which my friends wanted to assign an IMDb rating of 10 to the movie, but out of prudent moderation and my personal recognition that they were unduly enthused by seeing what they saw as a cinema-graphic retelling of their personal teenage lives, I demurred with an IMDb rating of 8.

Parenthetically, I am fluent in German, as well as in several other languages, and both of my guests are fluent in English, as well as in many other languages, so we all agreed that the downloaded subtitles were quite adequate. And the three of us all agreed that the other two IMDb reviewers needed to have their heads examined.

May I be permitted to respectfully recommend that you see "Shed My Skin" or "Aus der Haut"?

I'm so happy to see this kind of representation about discovering yourself and understanding what identifying as "gay" means. Throughout the whole movie I saw myself going through those same moments of rage, seeking acceptance in the arms of strangers and grieving for everything I cannot provide to my own family. Great movie, indeed! Oh, and the soundtrack! Superb! I wish more people would see this one. My only remark is that the ending is not as powerful as the whole movie, but that's okay because the movie is not about the ending but about Milan's self-discovery journey along with his family.

My only criticism of this fine film is that I would have liked it to be longer. And to my knowledge it has not been seen in the UK. If that is true I apologise for the country I live in. First the acting. Faultless, and sometimes blisteringly moving. I thought of ' Rebel Without A Cause ' and the conflicts between families and their children in that film. ' Aus der Haut ' holds the same balance of generational difference and hazardous reconciliations. Merlin Rose plays the troubled son, both ferocious and gentle as a 17 year old who realises he is gay. Expressing his desire for a school companion played beautifully by Leonard Proxouf,( the young actor who was so good in Michael Haneke's ' The White Ribbon ' ) he misjudges his timing to show his sexual need and his world becomes literally askew. He nearly loses his life in a suicidal accident and after that loses his respect for his emotional and sexual needs by going with an older man. The sexual scene between them is clearly more abusive than emotional, and is saddening to watch. Counterbalancing this aspect of the film is the relationship between his mother again excellently played by Claudia Michelsen and his father played by Johann von Bulow, and there is a scene where the father cries that somehow echoes his son's sensitivity. This emotional outcry of pain need not have been there, and was there due to perfect acting and perfect direction and scenario writing. No more spoilers but I would like to point out that this is not your usual coming out film, but an exploration of mainly four people torturing themselves and each other by misunderstandings, homophobia and their needs for a sexual and emotional life that can work in a semi-broken world around them. I had no idea that this was a television film, and I hope it was well received. For me it was a perfect film that deserved an award for its complexity, and the inner truths that are so hard to express whatever age you are.

EDIT 2 (23-06-2022): Even after six years, I still think this isn't a bad movie, of course not. But I've already seen a few ones doing it better (and also lots that made it worse). I'm collecting LGBTQ-related movies in an IMDb list and kindly ask other 8+ star voters to check if they've already watched the true juwels of that category.

EDIT 1 (20-09-2017): After I read another review of this film, which recommends to "let my head be examined" - because this film deserves at least an 8, if not a 10. I can not and will not leave that without a comment. The review I was reading told relatively little about the film and its plot - it was more about the real love story of two Germans. Perhaps this results in the difference. I tried to evaluate the film objectively. And based on my described below aspects of this film, it can not get any higher rating. Being an actor to play a gay person is not an easy task. And (pitily) the protagonist does not succeed at all. In many places in the film, the reactions of the actors are so incredibly irrational and exaggerated that I wonder what message the film should convey. Perhaps, with stupidities, one receives the necessary attention from his parents or lovers? Okay, it's a feature film. But that does not justify the omnipresent over-dramatization. The almost convulsive attempt to steer towards an escalation bothers me. There are many films that tell a similar story (but way better) - for example "Summer Storm", "Jongens", "North Sea Texas" and "Free Fall", just to name a few. Watch them and then we can talk again about the content quality of "Shed My Skin".

PS: You don't miss a lot if you don't watch this movie.

ORIGINAL REVIEW (18-03-2016): The film does not shrink against the offensive approach to the issue of homosexuality. Even at the present time it is still a taboo when it comes to processing in movies. Nevertheless, it largely dispenses with clichés. The video image is clear, the camera work is aimed fully at the "third-person-view".

Overall, the film is worth seeing, but some character traits appear attached and not logically concluding at scenes before and behind on. Mostly you get the feeling watching puppets acting. Coincidences are brought partly demanded, resulting chain reactions are not fully settled and the final leaves many questions unanswered. The intention of the filmmakers is recognizable, but they still seem to have not sufficiently dealt with the complex topic. The film adheres to long on trifles and loses himself slightly out of sight. Also background information are scattered only scarce.

Conclusion: A good strip which promotes tolerance, but cannot cope with the full range of "other" sexuality.