and it ends

I had been disappointed by the film the day before, but I already had the ticket for the last one.  It wouldn't be the first time the last film redeems the week.  Coming Out was also part of the Berlin scene selection, special in that is it the only film from the old DDR.  It was actually released the same day the wall came down, so probably didn't get the attention it deserved.

(Spoilers!)  We begin with a teenager in an emergency room after trying to commit suicide.  The doctor asks him why he had done it and he says, crying, that he's gay.  Then we cut to a teacher biking to class and later accidentally giving a colleague a bloody nose by walking into her in the hall.  Like so many romantic movies, this means they end up together, and she tells him they even went to school together, although in different classes and he doesn't remember at all.  They carry on a regular relationship with him moving in, and then one day she brings an old friend and neighbor to meet him.  It turns out this old neighbor was a classmate of Philipp's (the male teacher), who had had some kind of romantic relationship with him when they were younger.  Neither of them mention any of that to the girlfriend, but the old boyfriend does criticize Philipp for being ashamed of who he is.  One night, Philipp is looking for a bar to buy cigarettes in and stumbles upon a gay bar where a tremendous costume party is going on.  The place is full of cross-dressing and other costumes, and Philipp accepts a number of drinks bought by the DJ and maybe others.  At the end of the night the boy who's throwing the party, the one from the emergency room, and an old man who was seated at the bar take Philipp home and he wakes up the next day having no idea what happened.  They took him to his old apartment instead of where he lives with his girlfriend, and she is naturally upset that he didn't even bother to call her.  This is just the beginning of their problems.  Philipp runs into the boy when he's waiting in line to buy opera tickets, and the boy manages to get them probably hours before he would.  At first he doesn't want to deepen any relationship to this boy, but he ends up going to his birthday party with his family, taking the boy back to his old apartment and having sex with him, and assuring him he doesn't have a boyfriend.  Then, Philipp just goes back to his life with his girlfriend, leaving the boy to look for him wherever he thinks he might show up.  They run into each other at a classical music concert, which Philipp is attending with his girlfriend, naturally.  The boy runs up to him, hugging him, saying he has so much to tell him, and the girlfriend comes up with a face icy with fury and says she's brought champagne.  Philipp introduces them to each other, but only says the boy's name and introduces his girlfriend as his wife.  The boy runs away in anger, and humiliation probably, and the relationship between Philipp and his girlfriend comes to an end.  He goes back to his old apartment, searches the gay bars for the boy, and gets drunker than he should.  He ends up with the old man from his first encounter talking to him about how dangerous it was to be gay in the past, and how he had spent time in a concentration camp for his orientation.  Even though the waiter tells Philipp they are all afraid, there isn't very much violence, although a couple of times trios of assholes harass people on the train or in the train station.  In one instance, the victim certainly looks gay, but in another, he's just a darker skinned person.  For all their sniffing about American racism, the East Germans were by no means innocent of it.  Finally, Philipp receives a group of observing teachers into his classroom, because he must be a danger to the children because of his inclinations, and he spends a couple of minutes just looking out the window.  Finally the director calls his name in frustration, and he answers, "Yes," which may be the beginning of his finally accepting himself.

It's a movie that shows the problems people cause when they aren't honest with themselves, much less with those around them.  If Philipp had been able to be honest, he might not have had the relationships he did, but he could have had more honest ones.  Or at least less damaging ones.  He asks the boy if he wants a family and children, which the boy doesn't, but he's nineteen so it isn't surprising.  It looks like Philipp does want a more traditional family, though, which is why he lets the relationship happen between him and his colleague.  That is, he lets it happen, he doesn't make much effort himself.  It's most likely true that neither one of his partners would have wanted a relationship with him if he had been honest about his situation, but at least there would have been less hurt and betrayal in the end.  In a horrible coincidence, when I got home after seeing the film, and doing some socializing, the news was full of the massacre in Orlando, the worst in US history.  I had just seen a film almost 30 years old about the difficulties of being homosexual and that same day the news reminds me how difficult and dangerous it still is today.  What a bunch of bullshit.

Before heading home, I stopped at Roll to meet some friends for conversation and drinks.  It's damn hot now, so I tended towards the sharper beers.  First, Yakka APA, very refreshing, balanced flavor, nothing sticking out oddly about it.  There isn't really anything especially particular to it either, but if you're looking for a summer evening ale, you can't go wrong with Yakka.

Then I had a Burning Bernidorm IPA, a summertime drink in Spain if I ever heard one.  It's a little bit darker, and the flavors are stronger.  More bitter, not too citrusy, and something a little bit like those beers that I was told had been made with sea water.  Like a touch of salt for more taste.  Maybe a little bit more my style, since I like a stronger character in my beer, but both of them were perfectly tasty and recommendable.

'Til next year, film fest.  Another month, beer week!

Supplier: Roll
Price: ~€5/pint