beautiful landscapes, inspired music, good acting. and a touching story about friendship and self definition. the great virtue of film is the fine delicacy in exploration of a sensitive subject . to define the small details, the powerful emotions, the need to understand, the refuse to accept and the air of competition. a teenage story presented in a manner who defines its specificity. because it is not exactly a gay film. it has the gift to propose a more large perspective about relations and gestures and feelings of an age who is only essential step to self definition as person. and that does it real beautiful. a form of grace. a form of geography of refuges. and the freedom . so, a beautiful film. about a story of summer. and about the nuances of friendship.

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?

I never wanted to watch this movie. In the year when it came out, the trailer was playing constantly for at least 5 months and it really looked bad. The trailer made this movie look like it was soaked with clichés.I finally watched this movie today and I am truly impressed. Sure, the main storyline is the coming-out story, but it is really well done and also there is so much more to this movie.Most of the characters are well rounded, they all have their flaws and strengths. The gay guys aren't presented as saints and the heterosexuals are no ignorant gay-bashing crowd. It would have been so easy to make this movie play like a gay vs. straight story in which the straight team bullies the gays and the gays gain confidence (in fact, this is what the trailer made the film look like). But that's not the story here. On a group-level, it is a story of heterosexuals overcoming their insecurity with homosexuals and gays taking a look behind their own stereotypes.The coming-out-storyline is pretty common stuff. There is nothing really new here but it is still well done. What made this movie really hit me hard and bring me to tears was the coming-of-age story that goes along with it. Rarely ever have I seen a movie that captures so well how beautiful it is to be young and how much it hurts when your best friendship is torn apart by growing up and falling in love. The scene in which Toby is close to panic because he knows that his friend Achim split from the group in order to have sex with his girlfriend made me remember my own youth and how jealous I got when a good friend of mine suddenly had a girlfriend. I believe that the most painful aspect of this scene is not only that he is in love with Achim himself, but that there is a feeling of loss.Sure, you know you are being selfish and jealous by not wanting your friend to have sex. You know, you wouldn't act any differently. But knowing that right there and then it might all change and you might lose him to another person and experiencing this fear.... I really know and understand this feeling. And when Toby goes looking for them even though he knows he shouldn't and watches them the scene almost broke my heart.The great thing about this movie is that you cannot only appreciate it on a homosexual level, but also on a plain friendship-level. I am pretty sure that while watching this movie, everybody will remember his youth sentimentally, the innocence, what it was like at the time when we realized that we soon would be free to do whatever we wanted and plans we made. And then... that dreadful experience just a little while later when we had to understand that the prize for this freedom was the loss of our innocence and the end of the carefree days.This movie understands youth and treats it seriously. It is warm, funny, sentimental, sad, romantic, sexy and truly beautiful. I really hope that the gay element does not turn too many people off before watching it, because as I said, there is a lot more to it and these people will miss a perfect gem.

Summer Storm sets itself up to be, in a sense, a mindless teenage movie about sexual angst, frustration, and the desire to be 'understood'. Or at least, this is what I thought it would be seeing after viewing the trailer and hearing several reviews. However, this myth on my behalf was quickly shattered upon viewing the film. The film takes into account more than simply a throw away story, but assesses the characters feelings, and mirrors in the films pacing as what can truly be referred to as a storm.The most compelling thing about the film is undoubtedly the story. In many teenage based movies (American, at least) the plot revolves around a relationship that seems improbable. Now, while either these movies let this relationship occur, or they don't, they are still acknowledging the possibility that this could happen (i.e. Jim with Nadia in American Pie),Summer Storm breaks this trend to show the sheer impossibility of Tobi's (Robert Stradlober) situation. Achim's (Kostja Ullman) heterosexuality doesn't diminish Tobi's chances of having a relationship with him, but they completely destroy them. Contrarily, there is absolutely no hope that Anke (Alicja Bachleda-Curus) will ever be able to have a relationship with Tobi due to his homosexuality. Unlike almost every other teen-film that comes to mind, this film doesn't focus on the characters' attempts to have this impossible relationship, but rather, focuses on their realizations that this relationship will never occur. This heavy plot gives the theme and overall tone of the film a relatively depressing one. To alleviate much of this despondency, the director (Marco Kreuzpaintner) utilizes both filming techniques, as well as side plots to create a unique blend of highs and lows that represent very well, the tumultuous twists and turns of a storm.To combat the often depressing nature of the film there are many scenes of comedic relief spread throughout the film. In fact, Tobi, at the beginning, shows an exorbitant amount of exuberance and humor. This fades, however as the movie progresses into a much darker realm. The appearance of the "Queerstrokes" also adds a lot of humor to the otherwise seriousness of Tobi's rowing crew.The film also parallels the motions of a storm in the actions and feelings of the characters. Tobi and Achim start out as well adjusted best friends who do everything together, and are looking forward to an exciting time at rowing camp. The apex lies in the middle of the film in the forest and is definitely noticeable as the climax of the film. Immediately following is, in a sense, the eye of the storm. The denuma is extraordinarily long, but serves as aftermath to the storm or conflict that preceded it. The film ends on a happy note with a sense of possibility, and in my opinion parallels that of the film Get Real (1998).Summer Storm is unique because it doesn't focus on the "Coming Out" aspect that many gay teen films focus on. It acknowledges that the character is already out on his own terms, and the friction lies over his feelings about his best friend. This tension and how it plays out over the film, combined with aspects of comedic relief and pacing of the film let the audience become immersed in the story and think in terms of the characters and their struggles.