Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Sommersturm" or "Summer storm" is a German 90-minute (without credits) movie from over 10 years ago. It was written and directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner and is probably still his most known work. Either this or "Krabat". The lead actor here is Robert Stadlober and I remember he was pretty popular back then. However, class prevails and lack thereof as well as he isn't famous today anymore. And yet they made the impossible possible by finding a co-lead to him that is an even weaker actor than Stadlober. Man Kostja Ullmann is really unbearably bad. I swear he had the same face expression during the entire movie. By today's standards, the biggest star in here is probably Hanno Koffler who has emerged as one of the most lauded German actors from his age group in recent years.In reference to my title for this review, I would like to say that the genre of gay-themed movies is especially dominant in terms of short films, but occasionally you will also find one in terms of full features. And sadly, this one here is pretty disastrous. But maybe it's also their own fault. Many of these gay-themed films have rating that are ridiculously high. It seems that the inclusion of gay people or homosexuality as a topic is enough for many to appreciate a film like this. Talk about low expectations. And if they are like that, they actually deserve to be exposed to garbage like this movie here. On a more positive note, I believe some of the supporting actors are actually talented in here, but they were written so badly that it hurts, such as the coach of the rowing team. And how is almost everybody in that training camp gay apparently? At least, that was the impression I got and 50% of those who weren't actually were, but were still hiding in the closet. Very bizarre and unrealistic. Bachleda plays her part well and looks stunning. Probably the best performance from the bunch. She was almost the only that felt authentic. Not enough though to make this extremely flawed film work. Not recommended.

Hunky Stud I love to hear the loud thunders and smell the fresh air during and after the rain in the summertime. This picture captured the essence of a beautiful summer. The cinematography is excellent. A few scenes are like perfect still photos with the sound of the rain. Just by watching that movie makes me thinking about raining nights in the summer time.Hollywood can never make a movie about so many gay teenagers. It is OK to have one or two gay teenagers in a movie, but if Hollywood ever makes a big movie such as this one, i am sure that the movie studio will have tons of complains from all kinds of religious fanatics.There was only one scene that didn't seem to be possible. After Tobi had sex with another guy from the gay team, somehow his girlfriend was waiting for him in the bush right by the lake as if she knew that he will definitely walks pass by that area.Overall, this is a refreshing movie that many teenagers and grown-ups can relate to, the anxiety, the first time, the sex drive, fear of being rejected, etc. Since I have never seen those actors on screen before, that makes this movie even more authentic. Just like everything, there is always an end. I felt a little sad that this movie had to end, as if a part of their lives have became a part of my memory. I can only imagine what would happen to them after the summer was over.

jan70 Being German I really appreciate the authenticity of the movie. Given the fact that director Marco Kreuzpaintner was in his late 20s when he wrote the script and that it was nearly autobiographical, the story takes place in the early 1990s when he was 17-18 years old, and everything from the worn 1970s bus they use for their journey in the beginning to the lack of cell-phones (no way for a teenager to hide in the forest nowadays - just call him and the ringing will tell you which tree he sits on ;) !!) exactly fits into this period of time. It was also the early 1990 when more and more exclusively gay-lesbian sports-clubs occurred in the bigger cities over here (for soccer, scuba-diving, rowing, etc.), and they almost always use some kind of a pun for their names("Vorspiel" (foreplay), "Gaysha" (Karate)), to name a few), just like Queerschlag did, which exists in reality to this very day. On that background, my reception of the movie is that it is more about Tobi's love for Achim than about his coming out. Tobi has fallen in love with his best friend, and that is something that is happening to young gays all the time. It is a very painful process when you have to realize that your mate, who shared his time and feelings with you for years and years, other than yourself will not be able to turn that friendship into love and sexual tenderness. Tobi's coming out at the end is only the result of the fact that he learned that Achim will never be able to love him the way he does and that he has to accept this. So after all this movie is both about accepting heterosexual and homosexual love. By the way, as some of the posters here misunderstood, the "lake" were the story takes place is in fact a 100+ years old reservoir (thats why you see the sandy banks in summer), and it is not in Bavaria, but in an area called "Bergisches Land" a few hundred miles north of Bavaria (if you want to find it in Google Earth, search for "Wipperfürth").

nycritic Unrequited love has been a central theme for many stories, and in Marco Kreupaintner's movie SOMMERSTURM, it gets the gay treatment in the form of two life-long friends, Tobi and Achim, who are at that moment in young-adulthood when feelings and desires are being acknowledged and sexual identities are in full bloom. While both friends promise they will travel halfway across the world together, events conspire otherwise. First is Achim's girlfriend Sandra who is also a part of their rowing club and has inadvertently begun to drive a wedge between them. Then, the appearance of Anke, a pretty girl with her interest set in Tobi, who couldn't want to be less involved with her as he tries to salvage his increasingly disintegrating friendship. The addition of an all-gay rowing team serves as a catalyst for events to accelerate into a head: all the young men are out and proud and where one of them, Malte, has his sights set on humiliating a closet-case, another one, Leo, is quite taken with Tobi.Sounds complicated? It is... but it's very entertaining and sensitive all throughout. Much of the movie is a long set-up to the predictable confrontation scene between Achim and Tobi. The only drawback of SOMMERSTURM is, perhaps, the way both characters are not so much written as underwritten: where Tobi's plight can be understood (and Robert Stadlober's interpretation is very intense, honest, and at times confused -- typical of any young man going through the baggage he has to deal with), Achim as the object of desire can't be believed. The actor playing Achim is mousy, unattractive, and never quite gels as a real person... I sometimes got the feeling that maybe this was deliberate, because when compared to the near-perfect, tender sensuality of Marlo Kittel (Leo) or the alpha male aggressiveness of Hanno Koffler (Malte), Achim became less and less an relevant as a person anyone would long after, and more a burden for Tobi's development.Even so, SOMMERSTURM is a pretty decent flick, filled with some breathtaking imagery, subtle homo-eroticism, and sensitive performances from the entire cast of young German actors. Some of the more dramatic choices the story takes are a little too hokey -- a storm literally manifests itself late in the movie, leading to its climax -- but other than that, this is a smooth ride filled with plenty of eye-candy, but the type that doesn't overwhelm the final product, which is a good thing (in a market filled with junk catering to guys who could care less about an actual story as long as the men were "flawless"). One complaint: could the film-makers not have chosen such a bad rendition of "Go West?" Pet Shop Boys did it in 1993, and much better -- to a point that no one remembers the cheesy original.