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An Exercise In Nonsense

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This review contains spoilers.I watched this film years ago and just a couple days ago. While I agree with much of the glowing reviews (the photography, the natural, generally undramatic realistic interaction between characters, budding romances etc.) there is a mean streak in here, as well as several instances where some are being extremely inconsiderate. I'm not exactly sure how old these people are supposed to be, but they seem like very late high school or early college? Tobi, the rejected Gay lover, just doesn't get it that Achim is straight. Achim talks about girls, about having a problem if a Gay guy liked him, on and on and still almost to the end, Tobi doesn't get it. Meanwhile, Leo likes him, and is very tender with him several times, Tobi injures Leo's arm (unintentionally) still Leo can't participate in the competition, something they presumably train their whole lives for. Tobi doesn't even apologize! Come on! This is the perfect, tender romance of the century movie? What about the part where Tobi tells Sandra to not withhold sex because of her small bosom (something boyfriend Achim told Tobi in confidence) Yes, "kids" and adults are mean, but I'm not the one saying this is such a gentle love story. It is downright harsh in places. To say What he did to Sandra, Tobi is a selfish little twit. (And stupid too, if he thought Achim wouldn't be furious about it or that Achim would stop loving Sandra? Even if Tobi is naive about homosexuality, he must know that male/female is the majority). Oh, and I know that Tobi was fixated on Achim so Leo was probably just a diversion. It is easy to get the impression I hated this movie, I didn't. I just wrote this review as a counterbalance to the excessive number of reviews purporting this movie to be perfect. I'm aware that people can be mean, and there are plenty of immature adults around. But I think for some of the dumb sh*t Tobi pulled, he needed his a** kicked. As a Gay man myself, I can understand how difficult it is to come out but this never is an excuse to be cruel and inconsiderate to others.

Rowing partners Tobi and Achim enjoy a typical young straight men's friendship: working out together followed by group mastubation. Stop me if you've heard this one before. "We're going to have quite a time at rowing camp" they giggle, referring to the presence of the Berlin Women's team. More camp than women as it transpires, in this fun coming-of-ager from Germany. As in every teen movie, there's a group of cool outsiders who throw everything into chaos: here, it's a bunch of outrageous gay rowers calling themselves The Queerstrokes... and Tobi is wondering why he's suddenly finding Achim so fit. It's a shame the female characters are merely ciphers, and subtle it ain't, with Frankie on the soundtrack. But then, gay or straight, whoever said the average teen romance was subtle?

There have been many very positive adjectives used to described this film, and truly, I cannot disagree with any of them -- except words like "moving." I never FELT much, except for the feeling that I was sitting in school and being lectured to by a movie rather than a real live instructor. For me it was something of a "docu-drama" that put me in the position of a somewhat detached observer of an academic exercise illustrating -- with little or no excitement, the problems surrounding growing up gay.I watch movies hoping to get emotionally involved in an interesting story. I could not get to that point with this movie.

Some kids growing up find that attachments to their buddies of the same sex, so much stronger and deeper than their emerging interest in the opposite sex. Talking to each other about the taboo subjects of sexual exploration, sometimes sharing some form of mutual sex, masturbation, in subtitles, this film, translates the German to the slang English term "choking the chicken", for the clinical term. Getting laid, referred to as "doing it". The rowing teams in competition all camp out at a lake somewhere in Germany, with a group of competitors from different parts of the country. The all girl Berliner team cannot come, and a gay group "Queerstrokes" comes instead and spoils some plans of the co-ed Baverian team which the camera comes with, focusing on a young pair of boys, best of friends, and their girl friends. And the tragedies of unrequited love, the desire to win, the summer storm descends and fates are sealed in a great mix up of teams and emotions. Some comedy, and some pained heart-aches, some homo-erotic healing and some hetero- healing... some crazy mix-ups and misunderstandings... A lot of things turned upside down with a few delicious ironies on the way... life will be different for a lot of these youngsters after this summer storm....I found it very satisfying, and nicely done, more in the takes of the young cast.... each scene well performed, the camera ads comments of its own, seemingly, leading the story onward. Original editing and pretty photography helped. 7 or 8 stars