Coming Out

Rating:
Summary: One Worthwhile Aspect: Dirk Kummer's performance
Review: "Coming Out" certainly had a worthwhile aspect: Dirk Kummer, as the sensitive Matthias, gave an excellent performance, especially that scene where Matthias finds out that Phillip is married and that single tear rolls down his devastated face. I had a couple of problems with the film, however. The scene in which the skinheads were taunting the black guy and the scene in which those three subways [un-smart] were beating up the [non-straight] guy seemed inauthentic. The viewer could tell that the actors weren't actually striking the victims; the punches and blows looked fake. Another problem: the film score was awful. It sounded like something you'd hear on a episode of the origial Twilight Zone, a disagreeable, atonal string quartet clash; very unsuitable music. A better score would have moved the film up one star for me. Also, there was a scene in which Phillip's (Matthia Freihof) girlfriend embraced him and passionately kissed him in front of his childhood friend, Yakob. It seemed as if she were trying to prove a point, possibly that Phillip was straight. But she knew nothing of Phillip and Yakob's former relationship, so the gesture made absolutely no sense. Finally, the movie ended with unanswered questions. Did Phillip lose his wife forever? What happened to Matthias? I wish those pivotal questions would have been tied up overtly, instead of implicitly. Nevertheless, I especially enjoyed Dirk Kummer's performance. Actually his performance was the only this that made this film worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, penetrating view of gay life in Berlin
Review: Advertised as the first significant gay drama to come out of Berlin, the film premiered to wide acclaim on the same night of the falling of the Berlin Wall. It is a surprisingly well done story of a closeted school teacher who becomes romantically involved with a female co-worker but then suppressed desires from his past begin to resurface when he meets a young man (Matthias) in a concert ticket line. He visits an underground gay bar and eventually becomes involved with Matthias but is torn by his true feelings and how his society will view him.

The film has a haunting quality yet remains starkly realistic (the opening scene which depicts Matthias having his stomach pumped after a suicide attempt is quite graphic and disturbing). Most of the scenes are filmed on location in Berlin's gay bars, subways, streets, classrooms and houses. The sex scenes are not explicit yet very erotic and very well done. Overall, the film boasts excellent production values and performances and the dvd picture is sharp and colors are good. The scenes in Berlin's gay bars are particularly fascinating (apparently drag queens are really popular there.)

Rating:
Summary: Sexuality, romance and politics in superb East German drama
Review: Demonstrating that love can blossom unexpectedly even under the most adverse social conditions, the late Heiner Carow's award-winning and hugely impressive "Coming Out" (1989) was filmed in communist East Berlin whilst homosexuality was still a criminal offence on that side of the Wall. Matthias Freihof plays a bright, attractive schoolteacher whose affair with a female colleague (Dagmar Manzel) is interrupted when Freihof falls in love with a beautiful young man (Dirk Kummer) whom he meets after stumbling into an illicit gay bar. Given that most gay teachers aren't exactly welcomed in even the most 'open' societies, it's inevitable that the enforced suppression of Freihof's true nature should result in the cruel deceit which he practices on the two people he loves most, with equally inevitable consequences if the truth should ever come out. In the end, it's left to an elderly patron of the gay bar (Werner Dissell) to put Freihof's problems into perspective by reminding him of a time in Germany fifty years earlier when things were much, MUCH worse for gay people...

Carow was a veteran writer-director whose career stretched back to the 1950s, but this was his first attempt to tackle the problems faced by gay people under his homeland's oppressive regime. Forsaking shrill melodrama for coolly understated realism, he simply points the camera at a superb cast of talented actors and allows them to develop their characters on the foundations of Wolfram Witt's excellent script: Freihof carries the picture as an essentially decent man whose fears of legal redress provides the linchpin of the entire narrative; Kummer is the romantic teenager whose tragic past sends him in search of true love (watch him carefully in the scene directly after his lovemaking with Freihof, when he asks if they will meet again - there is such hope and longing in his beautiful face); and Manzel is dignified in the thankless role of Freihof's uncomprehending girlfriend, the one with most to lose as a result of her lover's deceit.

Filmed in and around some of the illegal gay bars which proliferated in East Berlin at the time, Carow charts the burgeoning romance between Freihof and Kummer with a tenderness that almost completely eludes the 'pretend' relationship with Manzel. But while the film is defiantly romantic at heart, it's also unflinchingly honest in its depiction of political repression at even the most basic level (in class, Freihof teaches individualism and freedom of thought, whilst concealing his sexual identity for fear of reprisals). As such, the film's conclusion may seem a little abrupt, even arbitrary, to some viewers, but it actually represents the true dawning of a whole new chapter for the central characters. In fact, Freihof's closing declaration - a single word, with countless implications - must have seemed especially liberating to those who caught the film's theatrical premiere in Germany on the same day the Berlin Wall came down, ending years of repression at a stroke. Long after the political tyrants of our world are gone, movies like this one will stand like stone, bearing witness to unkind history. A must-see.

First Run Features' region-free DVD was derived from a PAL master at 25fps and runs 107m 47s (112m 16s at 24fps). A generous number of extras have been provided, including a trailer and an excellent potted history of Carow's invaluable contribution to East German cinema, along with a DVD-Rom guide to the 'Best of Queer Berlin' which promises "many special features...including printer-friendly screens and useful Internet links". Well, either I was clicking in the wrong places, or the DVD-Rom section doesn't actually provide anything more than what you can access through an ordinary DVD player! Elsewhere, sound and picture quality are fine, but the disc simply replicates the drab color schemes of Martin Schlesinger's low budget cinematography, so the disc provides an accurate representation of the filmmakers' intentions. Thankfully, it's letterboxed at the original 1.66:1 ratio, but viewers with widescreen TVs will either have to display the film as a windowboxed image in the center of their screens, or blow the picture up to 16:9 dimensions and scroll it upwards (shaving a fair bit off the top) to accommodate the optional English subtitles which are situated low on the screen - an anamorphic print would have solved this annoying problem. That small niggle aside, First Run are to be commended for releasing this landmark movie on disc, where it will hopefully find an entirely new and appreciative audience.

NB. Some interesting trivia: Firstly, though often cited as the first and only gay film from communist East Germany, "Coming Out" was actually preceded by Wieland Speck's "Westler" (1985), a desperately awkward West German drama concerning a love affair between two young men living on opposite sides of the Wall, which utilized clandestine footage secretly recorded in East Berlin. And secondly, the medical staff in the opening sequence of "Coming Out" are genuine, and poor Dirk Kummer appears to be having his stomach pumped FOR REAL! Talk about dedication to your craft...!!

Rating:
Summary: Dreadful movie!!
Review: I consider the Video movie, "Coming Out", to be probably the WORST one I have even seen!

It appeared that the editor had pick up filmed segments and spliced them together in any way he felt like it! The so-called
'plot' made no sense what so ever! And it had no ending...it simply stopped!

The only reason I watched it to the end, I had bought it; I wanted to see if it was ever pulled together. The anwser was a resounding NO!!

Rating:
Summary: slow. poor. only deeeeep feelings
Review: i don't know why this film got any awards. i might skip the firt part of the movie, it was about nothing. the most important things happens on the second part.

"Straight" gay guy fall in love to gay guy. When gay guy find that his friend married, he left him. "Straight" gay guy understands his nature, but its too late...

Thats all. No ideas, no things that I can think about after movie... It's just a slow file with deep feelings sometime. No humor.

Rating:
Summary: Deep
Review: I first saw this film back in 1989, and fell in love with it.

A sensitive, moving and ultimately tragic story, this is the first and only feature film about gay life ever produced in communist East Germany. Ironically, I find it more open, real and honest than most Western films on the topic.

Also ironic - and symbolic - is the fact that it premiered on the very night the Berlin Wall came down. It is the story of Philipp (Matthias Freihol), a schoolteacher who has repressed his homosexuality in order to fit into the norm. Philipp meets a shy girl who falls for him, yet he cannot deny his burning desire for the sweet Matthias (Dirk Kummer).

It's a moving and passionate story, honestly told - without the shmultz so common in Western movies of the same genre. And Dirk Kummer is a beautiful man who gives a sensitive performance.

I recommend it very highly.

Rating:
Summary: Torn between two worlds
Review: I found this movie be a surprisingly sensitive treatment of what is still a difficult subject, especially for those involved. The acting seemed realistic and life-like, not staged. I was disappointed that the audio was poorly done. Most of the time the words were barely audible and, when they were, they were so slurred and mumbled as to be barely intelligible (and I'm no stranger to the language).
I wish there were more movies like this and, some day, perhpas someone will give us a slightly happier ending. Maybe?

Rating:
Summary: One Worthwhile Aspect: Dirk Kummer's performance
Review: Maybe it's the fact that it's an "indie" film and it's supposed to be "trendy." Or maybe it's that it's foreign. But what's with films that just *end* before you get anywhere?

Set in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall, the movie starts off with Mathias getting his stomach pumped, and we eventually learn that he's attempted suicide because he's gay. That's the last we see of Mathias for a bit, and instead we start focusing on Philipp, a high school teacher.

Philipp, however, clearly has issues with his sexuality. He gets himself a girlfriend to present to the world his heterosexuality, but, having been led into an underground gay bar, his latent tendencies erupt and become irrepressible. He eventually meets Mathias, who quickly becomes the object not just of his lust, but his genuine affection as well.

The story is a compelling one, and not just because it takes place in East Berlin - I know plenty of people here in the States who have problems with their own homosexuality and end up doing what Philipp does. The characters transcend national borders. They're people.

The acting is impressive. Philipp clearly is tormented, and the viewer can feel the pull and pressures of his life grating on him. Repression is a terrible thing.

Where the movie loses it for me is its substantial lack of focus and drive. So many loose ends that aren't adequately explained. Words to ponder after the movie has run its course: What happens to: Marriage? Baby? Job? Mother? Mathias? Philipp? With no apparent answer to any of these apparent questions, I was left a little empty. Show me an ending! Any ending!

Moreover, the philosophizing becomes a bit much. Between a former -- trick? boyfriend? -- and the old man at the bar, the message came across a bit too heavy-handed. Perhaps it's because, in the States now, we're more steeped in the rhetoric and (in some places) can be contentedly and confidently "out." It was relevant back then, I'm sure, but now, it got a bit tiring.

All in all, this movie was a decent effort, and entertaining for what it's worth. I just really wish they would have inserted a more definitive ending.

Rating:
Summary: Universal themes, excellent backdrop
Review: Maybe it's the fact that it's an "indie" film and it's supposed to be "trendy." Or maybe it's that it's foreign. But what's with films that just *end* before you get anywhere?

Set in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall, the movie starts off with Mathias getting his stomach pumped, and we eventually learn that he's attempted suicide because he's gay. That's the last we see of Mathias for a bit, and instead we start focusing on Philipp, a high school teacher.

Philipp, however, clearly has issues with his sexuality. He gets himself a girlfriend to present to the world his heterosexuality, but, having been led into an underground gay bar, his latent tendencies erupt and become irrepressible. He eventually meets Mathias, who quickly becomes the object not just of his lust, but his genuine affection as well.

The story is a compelling one, and not just because it takes place in East Berlin - I know plenty of people here in the States who have problems with their own homosexuality and end up doing what Philipp does. The characters transcend national borders. They're people.

The acting is impressive. Philipp clearly is tormented, and the viewer can feel the pull and pressures of his life grating on him. Repression is a terrible thing.

Where the movie loses it for me is its substantial lack of focus and drive. So many loose ends that aren't adequately explained. Words to ponder after the movie has run its course: What happens to: Marriage? Baby? Job? Mother? Mathias? Philipp? With no apparent answer to any of these apparent questions, I was left a little empty. Show me an ending! Any ending!

Moreover, the philosophizing becomes a bit much. Between a former -- trick? boyfriend? -- and the old man at the bar, the message came across a bit too heavy-handed. Perhaps it's because, in the States now, we're more steeped in the rhetoric and (in some places) can be contentedly and confidently "out." It was relevant back then, I'm sure, but now, it got a bit tiring.

All in all, this movie was a decent effort, and entertaining for what it's worth. I just really wish they would have inserted a more definitive ending.

Rating:
Summary: Love behinde the Wall
Review: One of the most facinating aspects of this movie is that is was filmed in East Germany before the fall of communism yet is more frank about the gay aspect than many gay films made in the west today. though interesting, the location of the movie took a backseat to the storyling.
the main character is a handsome teacher working in a highschool in East Berlin, he becomes reaquainted with a woman he knew in college and starts to date her. Later in the movie, he has a shock when one of her friends turns out to be a childhood pal of his, and somebody that he used to have strong feelings for. this encounter reawakens these feelings as well as his nervousness about them. he takes the step of going to a gay bar. this seems to be the end of it until later in the city he bumps into a young man who recognized him from the bar, there is a chemestry between them which them becomes complicated because of his relationship with his girlfriend. the striking thing about the movie is that it didn't dwell overly much on the tragic aspects although it pointed out the wrongheadedness of not being honest with the people in your life. In the end it gave you the feeling that the man was going to land on his feet and is a film I would recomend. Again the side-plot of the everyday aspects of life in East germany before the fall of communism was a facinating addition to this very good film.