Summer Storm
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DVD details
Actor: Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Jürgen Tonkel, Kostja Ullmann, Miriam Morgenstern, Robert StadloberBrand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: German (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-05
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 79545
Studio: Liberation Ent
DVD Reviews of Summer Storm
DVD Review: The storms of summer
Summary: 5 Stars
Coming of age movies are a dime a dozen; but well told, well scripted, well directed, and well acted coming of age movies are rare. This falls into the latter group. The rare one. This was excellent.
Truly, I expected stereotypes galore. The cover of the DVD itself screams, "I'm A Gay Movie". In the opening credits, Tobi (Robert Stadlober) and Achim (Kostja Ullmann) were jumping and twisting in the air for no apparent reason, and the camera centered mostly on their crotches, showing their t-shirts as they rose above the elastic of their shorts to reveal well toned stomach muscles and hints of underwear. I thought, perhaps that's why they're jumping - to titillate. But I judged too hastily.
The film reveals its true purpose immediately: to tell a story. And we get the impression that all the skin we've seen, are seeing, and are about to see is not gratuitous, but rather that it represents the hormonal surges that the young men themselves were feeling.
We witness is Tobi and Achim in the locker rooms (boat house?) wrestling and goofing around - boys will be boys. It's noted that Tobi is aroused, and they masturbate together. Achim speaks lustily of girls, but Tobi's eyes speak only of Achim. This might be confusing to some American audiences, who would immediately assume that Achim is gay because he's doing this with another guy. Well, one of the worst kept secrets between teenage guys is that this sort of thing is not uncommon, even when both - or, indeed, all - members are straight. I say worst kept secret because straight guys never grow up and tell their wives, but gay guys grow up and tell *everybody*.
Achim has a girlfriend, who he obviously adores. Tobi, as well, has some interest in Anke, and the filmmakers leave no question about his attraction when we first meet her. Tobi is struck nearly dumb at the sight of her in a shirt that displays her, um, "figure" off quite well. Tobi has difficulty keeping his eyes above her chest. Confused he might be, but let's give Tobi this: he has great taste. Achim and Anke are both beautiful.
They are all on the same rowing team, and they are preparing to go to summer camp, where they will compete for the Cup. Tobi is excited about spending time with Achim, and your heart breaks because you can see that Achim is excited about spending time with Sandra (I think that was her name...). Stadlober plays Tobi with so much understated emotion; I never once saw him act. He was the emotional center of the film - he had to be - and he succeeded brilliantly. Achim as well was strikingly believable. Ullmann needed to show more than just affection, he needed to show love for Tobi, and yet it needed to be friendly love. He did it. Without his spot-on portrayal, the film would have been weaker.
When they arrive at camp, another team, Queerstroke, a gay rowing team, is there and Tobi's emotions, once reserved only for Achim, which, perhaps, made it OK for him to rationalize, are brought to the surface. Queerstroke has its stereotypes: a macho "straight wrangler", and a feminine guy that dices up veggies well, but they laugh at and question these, which gives us a rare look at gay men (boys, really) intelligently discussing the stereotypes in front of them, some of which are of their own making. At first there is tension when the guys from Tobi's team realize that Queer means Gay, but they all fall into a comfortable familiarity, with a few exceptions that are fun to watch play out.
But that comfort can't last long. Not when Queerstroke's "straight wrangler" is making the moves on one of Tobi's teammates, Schorsi, who abhors the thought, and Tobi's feelings, bolstered perhaps by the confident acceptance that Queerstroke displays for their sexuality, are bubbling to the surface.
The discord between the two, perhaps, serves as a metaphor for the struggle that is going on within Tobi himself. It comes to head during a storm - a summer storm. On that night, the two teams come to blows, and Tobi makes powerful realizations. While he sits under a tree, sobbing as the rain pounds his back, Achim is at the same time making love to Sandra. The camera takes us back and forth between the two scenes, and their juxtaposition is poetic.
Everything has to go right in a coming of age movie to make it work, if only because there are so many coming of age movies out there. Here we're lucky to see everything running on all cylinders. It's a gorgeous film, and even those who rented it only to see good-looking young men running about without their shirts will be surprised when they find themselves deeply moved.
Description of Summer Storm
For tobi whos secretly in love with achim this trip will be quite complicated. For one thing achims girlfriend is along for the ride. And 2nd their competitors are an all-gay rowing team called the queerstrokes. Tobi is torn between his straight crush & a kind out gay boy. Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 06/17/2008 Run time: 94 minutes Rating: RBestsellers in DVD
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