''Summer Storm'' (german: Sommersturm) is a 2004 German

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Marco Kreuzpaintner Marco Johann Kreuzpaintner (born 11 March 1977) is a German film director, executive producer and screenwriter. Career In 1999, he began his career in the role of German dubbing assistant for the Stanley Kubrick film ''Eyes Wide Shut''. In t ...

, starring

Robert Stadlober Robert Stadlober (born 3 August 1982) is an Austrian actor and musician. His sister is Anja Stadlober, also an actress. Life and career Robert Stadlober was born on 3 August 1982 in Friesach in the Austrian province of Carinthia, and grew up in ...

Kostja Ullmann Kostja Ullmann (born May 30, 1984) is a German actor, best known for his leading role in the award-winning coming of age drama ''Sommersturm'' (''Summer Storm'') which gained a lot of praise throughout Europe. Life and career Ullmann was born i ...

Alicja Bachleda-Curuś Alicja Bachleda-Curuś (pron. ; born 12 May 1983) is a Mexican-born Polish actress and singer, who has appeared in films including ''Trade'', '' Ondine'' and ''Pan Tadeusz''. Early life Bachleda-Curuś was born in Tampico, Mexico. She is the ...

, and Miriam Morgenstern. The story is set to the background of a rowing

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

, which climaxes into a summer storm.

Plot

Teams from all across Germany descend on a quiet camping ground for a week of training leading up to a final rowing competition. The plot follows the members of the RSC rowing club from southern Germany as they train for the regatta. The boys are excited by the prospects of camping with a female rowing team from Berlin. However, by a stroke of fate, the Berlin girls' team cancels and is replaced by Queerschlag ("Queerstrokes"), a gay youth rowing team, and these boys are out, proud, and vocal about it. Amidst the occasionally tense interactions between the members of his team and those of Queerschlag, Tobi is himself forced to confront his long-time feelings for his close friend and teammate Achim, who is already romantically involved with his girlfriend Sandra. Spurned by Achim, Tobi is devastated, but is partly consoled by his new friendship with Queerschlag member Leo. The tension between the members of the two teams culminates in a scene set to the backdrop of a summer storm, during which Leo confronts Tobi about his homosexuality in front of his teammates. Tobi denies being

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, and, in an attempt to defend him, one of his teammates tells Tobi's girlfriend Anke to tell the rest of his teammates so. Anke, the only person to whom Tobi has confided his secret, remains silent. Ultimately, Tobi

comes out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

to his teammates and his rowing team, who seem to accept Tobi no matter what, and they go on to compete with Queerschlag in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

regatta.

Cast

as Tobi *

as Achim *

as Anke * Miriam Morgenstern as Sandra *

Jürgen Tonkel Jürgen Tonkel (born 23 August 1962) is a German actor. Filmography * 1985: ''Blam!'' - Bruno * 1988: ''Büro, Büro'' * 1990: ''Das einfache Glück'' - Frank * 1990: ''Sekt oder Selters'' * 1990: ''Werner – Beinhart!'' - Landadeliger * 1991 ...

as Hansi * Tristano Casanova as Georg *

Marlon Kittel Marlon Kittel (born December 11, 1983 in Essen) is a German actor. Life and work Marlon Kittel started working for the film industry as a stuntman for the German TV series ''Der Clown'' before he was discovered as an actor. Since 1999, he has h ...

as Leo *

Hanno Koffler Hanno Koffler (born March 25, 1980) is a German actor and musician. His most famous films include '' Summer Storm'', ''Krabat'' and ''Free Fall''. He also starred in the Oscar-nominated film, ''Never Look Away'' (2018), directed by Florian Henck ...

as Malte *

Ludwig Blochberger Ludwig Blochberger (born 3 December 1982) is a German actor. He is best known for his appearance in the coming of age movie '' Summer Storm'' dealing with issues around sexual orientation. He also appeared on German TV drama programmes including ...

as Oli *Alexa Maria Surholt as Susanne *Joseph M'Barek as Ferdinand "Ferdi"

Critical reception

''Summer Storm'' received mixed reviews, currently holding a 48% rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 31 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a 51/100 rating, signifying "mixed or average reviews". According to Dennis Harvey of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', the film have "…psychologically sharp writing and performances". Michael Wilmington of ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' said that "''Summer Storm'' is a contemporary teen summer romance with a modern sexual twist" and "believable characters". Steve Murray of ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' "''Summer Storm'' nicely captures the awkward confusion of first-time sexual encounters (gay or straight) and the collateral wounds caused by deceiving others and oneself". German website ''Kabeleins'' praised the film for being "beautifully produced" and actors as "very authentically played". London-based branch of ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' wrote that "...the story's main strength lies in its characters..."

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

's Alexander Ryll called the film "An observant and sensitively played drama about adolescent sexuality, unrequited love and heartbreak", while Kevin Thomas of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' said that "Kreuzpaintner displays a natural gift with actors and a clarity in storytelling that result in a fresh take on what otherwise might have been a familiar coming-of-age story." Ella Taylor of ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' also commented on the film, calling it "A lovely wallow in the sweaty pains and joys of mostly gay adolescent love".

Accolades

*''Summer Storm'' received the audience award of the

Filmfest München The Munich International Film Festival (german: Filmfest München) is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late-June/earl ...

2004. *Director (Marco Kreuzpaintner), New Faces Award, Germany, 2005 *Best Young Actor – Film (Robert Stadlober)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains the smash hit "Willkommen" from the album ''

Herz Herz is the German word for ''heart''. It may refer to: * Herz (surname) * Herz Bergner (1907–1970), Polish-born Australian novelist * Herz Cerfbeer of Medelsheim (1730–1793), French Jewish philanthropist * Herz., author abbreviation of Germa ...

'' by the German duo

Rosenstolz Rosenstolz () was a German pop duo from Berlin that was active between 1991 and 2012 and had chart hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The duo consisted of singer AnNa R. and musician Peter Plate, who occasionally provided vocals. R ...

; the single made the German Top 10 charts in September 2004. #"Blonde on Blonde" by

Nada Surf Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). History 199 ...

#"Shake the Foundation" by Radio 4 #"Willkommen" by

#"Los, Wixen" by

Niki Reiser Niki Reiser (born 12 May 1958) is a Swiss film score composer and flautist. He is considered one of the most outstanding film composers of the German-speaking countries, winning the German Film Award five times. His debut was in 1986 the score for ...

#"Auf ins Bergische" by Niki Reiser #"We'll Never Know" by Roman Fischer #"Maltes Kuss" by Niki Reiser #"Flames" by

VAST Vast or VAST may refer to: * ''Vast'' (novel), a 1998 science fiction novel by Linda Nagata * ''Vast'' (2011 film), a Dutch film, winner of the 2011 Golden Calf for Best Television Drama * Vast Broadband, an American cable and internet company ...

#"Verwirrt" by Niki Reiser #"Achim" by Niki Reiser #"Getaway" by Roman Fischer #"Jim's Theme" by Niki Reiser #"

Coming Out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

" by

#"Catch Me" by Kerosin #"We Oh We" by

The Hidden Cameras The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music". Their live performances have been elaborate ...

#"Crooked Lines" by

The Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout it ...

For Lovers "For Lovers" is the debut single by Peter Wolfe (musician), Wolfman featuring Pete Doherty. The single reached No. 7 in the UK singles chart. Rumours that the pair received relatively little money, having already sold the publishing rights for a sm ...

" by

Wolfman In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropy, therianthropic mythological hybr ...

Pete Doherty Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer, and artist. He is best known for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie b ...

#" The Power of Love" by

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guit ...

#"Sommersturm" by Niki Reiser #"The Summer We Had" by

Nova International Nova International is a Czech television station intended for broadcasting abroad. The channel is focused on TV Nova's own programs that have broadcasting rights in Slovakia, e.g. Ulice, Ordinace v růžové zahradě, Gympl s (r)učením omezen� ...

#"Go West" by Nova International

References

External links