La conséquence

This film certainly deserves to be better known. I think with gay cinema evaluations have to be made in the context of the era in which they were made. The simplicity, honesty, brutality, and directness of this story is exceptional for the time.

It's a slender story, familiar yet different. Familiar insofar as the difficulty of maintaining a same sex relationship, especially when there is a significant age difference. But different in that it deals with a harsh (and somewhat incomprehensible) penal system. Nevertheless, American gay men will be able to relate, and translating 1970s Switzerland/Germany to a similar present-day experience will not be difficult at all. Unfortunately for us, this is a story I'm sure is happening every day all around the world.

It's fascinating to see a younger Jurgen Prochnow. The other lead, the beautiful young man, was and is unknown to me, but his performance is exactly right. All the performances are spot on, in fact.

If there is an amateurish aspect to this film, it's the uneven (sometimes) grainy photography. Perhaps it was shot on 16mm and blown up. The subtitles (on the Netflix version I saw) are white, and impossible to read whenever they fall on a white background. That happens a lot, unfortunately. This is a movie that deserves better.

Definitely worth seeing.

The funny thing about "Die Konsequenz" is that it was very controversial at the time of release and it would be also very controversial if released today, but for different reasons.

At the time of release it was controversial because it openly portrayed an homosexual love affair.

Now it would be controlversial for two reasons. In the first place because we are forgotten that only 45 years ago it was widely believed that homosexuality was "curable" ("make a real man out of you"). In the second place because the film takes very lightly the fact that an adult has a sexual relation with a minor. A fact that is seen as much more problematic today.

After his German breakthrough "Das Boot" (1981) and his Hollywood breakthrough "The neverending story" (1984) director Wolfgang Petersen made mainly action oriented films like "In the line of fire" (1993), "Outbreak" (1995) and "The perfect storm" (2000). Watching "Die Konsequenz" nuances this action oriented view of his oeuvre a little bit.

Last but not least I would like to mention the beautiful black and white photography of Jorg Michael Baldenius.

Beautiful black and white cinematography is the main pillar this modest and distressing coming-out drama rests. The script is intelligent without being intellectual, and has some amazing and surprising scenes. Main cast members Prochnow and Hannawald are excellent; Wolfgang Petersen handles the laymen cast very well.

I do not think that (20 years after date) this film has lost any actuality. Besides, this film is honest, unsentimental and without sensationalism, something that can not be said of the average mainstream coming-out film of the 80' and 90's.

Jürgen Prochnow gives a beautifully shaded performance as a man entering prison, charged with pedophilia. While there, he joins a theater group that puts on another prisoner's play. One of the guard's teenage joins the cast. He and Prochnow quickly become involved and the boy finds a way to hide in the prisoner's cell. There are many further developments, No Spoilers here. This is a very well-made film, with very capable actors, intelligent writing, and top-drawer b&w cinematography. Made 5 years before director Wolfgang Petersen's breakthrough with DAS BOOT (also starring Prochnow), this excellent film deserves to be better known.

An unusual work in Wolfgang Petersen's filmography, "Die Konsequenz" ("The Consequence") is a heartbreaking and unconventional love story, a movie that makes us look at Petersen in a different way, far from the optic we used to know from the director of blockbusters such as "Air Force One" and "In the Line of Fire". Without the speed and the colors of his notorious films, he has plenty of time to develop his story and create a brilliant piece that echoes life, giving his most natural and realistic work along with "Das Boot". His posterior enterprises might have stronger energies, action and bigger castings but doesn't have the patience and beautiful elements this has.

A saddening tale on the recklessness of youth in its pursuit for love, "The Consequence" deals on the obstacles two lovers have to face while trying to be together. Not the ordinary love story, quite the opposite. This one involves Martin (Jürgen Prochnow, in his best performance) an actor imprisoned for seducing a minor, and the young Thomas Manzoni (Ernst Hannawald), son of the prison's warden. Both were approached due to a play performed in the jail - unimaginable setting for such encounter to happen but believable in certain contexts. They share some good moments, always in secrecy, but the challenge comes after Martin's release. They meet again, already sure that what they shared was love and they're ready to live with each other, but Thomas parents are against their relation and even more opponent to their son's homosexuality, and these new facts causes the role changes in the story: this time the younger one will be arrested - in a juvenile facility though, after some arrangements made by his father - while the other will try anything to be near his lover or to release him if possible.

Not the cup of tea of many viewers out there who can't handle sad stories but the moral and warnings we get from this tale are truly valuable, very honest to us. It's cruel but it has a point. More than just a love story, it's a painful piece on the consequences of immaturity, right in that drastic point between youth and adulthood, already showing that choices have ultimate and heavy consequences that'll affect everyone's lives in one way or another. Thomas apparent brave act of showing to his family that he loves Martin and he wants to live with him only proves to be disastrous to himself. Their union faces bumps after bumps, and a great part of those happen because of the younger guy, not smart or not experienced to know the ways of life. If only he kept this a secret, just run away with his partner, things would might turn out to be OK for him and Martin.

Enthusiastic admirers of great acting will be delighted with the magnificent performances of the main stars. Prochnow, usually best suited in villain roles, is amazing in this sort of heroic role, not a perfect guy but a committed, passionate and kind, completely caught off guard and head over heels for this boy and always making his best to help him, even when he realizes that it's no longer possible. He express plenty with just few words. Hannawald's angelical face little by little becoming the face of sadness and misery is certainly the most unforgettable in the movie along with some of his lines ("I think it's really rotten of them to lock you up like this for making love to a boy") innocently referring on Martin's condemnation. He gives the performance of a lifetime in here.

Times are different, there's more openness and acceptance when it comes to sexuality issues but things aren't so bright and positive, which makes this film even more relevant today than like it was in the 1970's. Desperately needs more audience. 10/10