Rating: 
Summary: You MUST see this movie!!!!!!!!!
Review: Wow - who knew East Germany made such good movies? "Coming Out" is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. It's a bit slow at first, but you will totally be enthralled by the complex character development and awed by the very sexy actors. (Matthias Freihof is such a cutie - you gay boys are lucky he's on your team!) Sure you've seen other coming out movies, but this one is really remarkable because it's so unique - in 1989 Berlin - and the performances are excellent. Also - the DVD is pretty cool because it has the "Best of Queer Berlin" - descriptions of places to check out if you get to go over there. Now I want to go to Berlin! But some parts are only PC-friendly, so I had to take it over to a friend's house because I couldn't see all the features on my Mac. But it's well worth it. And one of the other reviewers said this film is a must see for all gay guys - I disagree. It's a must-see for EVERYONE. You don't have to be gay to recognize the genius in this film. You just have to be human.
Rating:
Summary: The only gay movie from East Germany!
Review: This is a wonderfull movie. The action is in Berlin in 1989, just before the wall fall. The plot is a love story between Mathias ( a 19 year old who has attempt suicide in the begining of the film), and Philipp, a young school teacher who is in denial of his gayness. It is very interesting to see the gay lifestyle (and lifestyle in general) of East Berlin in 1989. The country is still a communist state at that time. There are profunds dialogs. I really enjoyed this movie and I believe that it is one of the best gay movie ever made. An absolute must seeing for all gay men!
Rating: 
Summary: Comming Out; a tragic yet haunting love story
Review: Philipp (Matthias Freihol) is a High school literary teacher in East Berlin who falls in love with I assume another teacher who he accidently runs into and gives a bloody nose to. They start a relationship and move into together; one night Philipp visits a gay bay and meet Matthias (Dirk Kummer) a 19 year old (both actors are good looking too)at a Berlin gay bar; Philipp gets wasted and is carried home to Phillip's other apartment in lived in before he started the relationship with his girfriend by Matthias, who spend the night; Philipp is so drunk is remembers little of the affair and runs into Matthias again while waiting to purchase tickets for a show. They reminise about the night before and get reaquainted; all of this behind his girlfriends back.
The rest of the movie finds Philipp torn between his girlfriend and Matthias; tring to have his cake and eat it to (no pun intended) until all three meet at another event and Philipps finds his life falling apart at all ends; his mother finds out he's gay the girlfriend-wife spurns him and matthias is divestated by Philipps double life. There is no happy ending here and I have found that foreign films are more true to life more indepth and multipli-dimensional than there U.S. counterparts. This is a dark and sad film which I believe many of us gay people can relate to at least so aspect of it.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, penetrating view of gay life in Berlin
Review: Advertised as the first significant gay drama to come out of Berlin, the film premiered to wide acclaim on the same night of the falling of the Berlin Wall. It is a surprisingly well done story of a closeted school teacher who becomes romantically involved with a female co-worker but then suppressed desires from his past begin to resurface when he meets a young man (Matthias) in a concert ticket line. He visits an underground gay bar and eventually becomes involved with Matthias but is torn by his true feelings and how his society will view him. The film has a haunting quality yet remains starkly realistic (the opening scene which depicts Matthias having his stomach pumped after a suicide attempt is quite graphic and disturbing). Most of the scenes are filmed on location in Berlin's gay bars, subways, streets, classrooms and houses. The sex scenes are not explicit yet very erotic and very well done. Overall, the film boasts excellent production values and performances and the dvd picture is sharp and colors are good. The scenes in Berlin's gay bars are particularly fascinating (apparently drag queens are really popular there.)
Rating:
Summary: Deep
Review: I first saw this film back in 1989, and fell in love with it. A sensitive, moving and ultimately tragic story, this is the first and only feature film about gay life ever produced in communist East Germany. Ironically, I find it more open, real and honest than most Western films on the topic. Also ironic - and symbolic - is the fact that it premiered on the very night the Berlin Wall came down. It is the story of Philipp (Matthias Freihol), a schoolteacher who has repressed his homosexuality in order to fit into the norm. Philipp meets a shy girl who falls for him, yet he cannot deny his burning desire for the sweet Matthias (Dirk Kummer). It's a moving and passionate story, honestly told - without the shmultz so common in Western movies of the same genre. And Dirk Kummer is a beautiful man who gives a sensitive performance. I recommend it very highly.
Rating:
Summary: You MUST see this movie!!!!!!!!!
Review: Wow - who knew East Germany made such good movies? "Coming Out" is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. It's a bit slow at first, but you will totally be enthralled by the complex character development and awed by the very sexy actors. (Matthias Freihof is such a cutie - you gay boys are lucky he's on your team!) Sure you've seen other coming out movies, but this one is really remarkable because it's so unique - in 1989 Berlin - and the performances are excellent. Also - the DVD is pretty cool because it has the "Best of Queer Berlin" - descriptions of places to check out if you get to go over there. Now I want to go to Berlin! But some parts are only PC-friendly, so I had to take it over to a friend's house because I couldn't see all the features on my Mac. But it's well worth it. And one of the other reviewers said this film is a must see for all gay guys - I disagree. It's a must-see for EVERYONE. You don't have to be gay to recognize the genius in this film. You just have to be human.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark and sad...but important
Review: This movie is a bit "out there" with scenes that feel unrealistic or overdone. The whole nature of the movie is dark as others have menioned but the point of the movie is still relevant and important...at least in some parts of the world. Bit of a spoiler to follow.... There is no real mystery to this film. Boy, who has met and married girl, meets boy and falls in love but stays with girl until the secret is revealed. Then boy loses everything in a dramatic and crushing way. In 1989 East Berlin, I would guess that this is how gay men were treated. Only guessing though. I think it is how they are still treated in many parts of the world. The best part was the story that the old man in the bar tells toward the end of the movie. That kind of sums it all up. Overall: recommended. But don't be surprised if you don't feel much like laughing when it is all over. Will make you think, though....
Rating: 
Summary: One Worthwhile Aspect: Dirk Kummer's performance
Review: "Coming Out" certainly had a worthwhile aspect: Dirk Kummer, as the sensitive Matthias, gave an excellent performance, especially that scene where Matthias finds out that Phillip is married and that single tear rolls down his devastated face. I had a couple of problems with the film, however. The scene in which the skinheads were taunting the black guy and the scene in which those three subways [un-smart] were beating up the [non-straight] guy seemed inauthentic. The viewer could tell that the actors weren't actually striking the victims; the punches and blows looked fake. Another problem: the film score was awful. It sounded like something you'd hear on a episode of the origial Twilight Zone, a disagreeable, atonal string quartet clash; very unsuitable music. A better score would have moved the film up one star for me. Also, there was a scene in which Phillip's (Matthia Freihof) girlfriend embraced him and passionately kissed him in front of his childhood friend, Yakob. It seemed as if she were trying to prove a point, possibly that Phillip was straight. But she knew nothing of Phillip and Yakob's former relationship, so the gesture made absolutely no sense. Finally, the movie ended with unanswered questions. Did Phillip lose his wife forever? What happened to Matthias? I wish those pivotal questions would have been tied up overtly, instead of implicitly. Nevertheless, I especially enjoyed Dirk Kummer's performance. Actually his performance was the only this that made this film worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Universal themes, excellent backdrop
Review: Maybe it's the fact that it's an "indie" film and it's supposed to be "trendy." Or maybe it's that it's foreign. But what's with films that just *end* before you get anywhere? Set in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall, the movie starts off with Mathias getting his stomach pumped, and we eventually learn that he's attempted suicide because he's gay. That's the last we see of Mathias for a bit, and instead we start focusing on Philipp, a high school teacher. Philipp, however, clearly has issues with his sexuality. He gets himself a girlfriend to present to the world his heterosexuality, but, having been led into an underground gay bar, his latent tendencies erupt and become irrepressible. He eventually meets Mathias, who quickly becomes the object not just of his lust, but his genuine affection as well. The story is a compelling one, and not just because it takes place in East Berlin - I know plenty of people here in the States who have problems with their own homosexuality and end up doing what Philipp does. The characters transcend national borders. They're people. The acting is impressive. Philipp clearly is tormented, and the viewer can feel the pull and pressures of his life grating on him. Repression is a terrible thing. Where the movie loses it for me is its substantial lack of focus and drive. So many loose ends that aren't adequately explained. Words to ponder after the movie has run its course: What happens to: Marriage? Baby? Job? Mother? Mathias? Philipp? With no apparent answer to any of these apparent questions, I was left a little empty. Show me an ending! Any ending! Moreover, the philosophizing becomes a bit much. Between a former -- trick? boyfriend? -- and the old man at the bar, the message came across a bit too heavy-handed. Perhaps it's because, in the States now, we're more steeped in the rhetoric and (in some places) can be contentedly and confidently "out." It was relevant back then, I'm sure, but now, it got a bit tiring. All in all, this movie was a decent effort, and entertaining for what it's worth. I just really wish they would have inserted a more definitive ending.
Rating:
Summary: Love behinde the Wall
Review: One of the most facinating aspects of this movie is that is was filmed in East Germany before the fall of communism yet is more frank about the gay aspect than many gay films made in the west today. though interesting, the location of the movie took a backseat to the storyling.
the main character is a handsome teacher working in a highschool in East Berlin, he becomes reaquainted with a woman he knew in college and starts to date her. Later in the movie, he has a shock when one of her friends turns out to be a childhood pal of his, and somebody that he used to have strong feelings for. this encounter reawakens these feelings as well as his nervousness about them. he takes the step of going to a gay bar. this seems to be the end of it until later in the city he bumps into a young man who recognized him from the bar, there is a chemestry between them which them becomes complicated because of his relationship with his girlfriend. the striking thing about the movie is that it didn't dwell overly much on the tragic aspects although it pointed out the wrongheadedness of not being honest with the people in your life. In the end it gave you the feeling that the man was going to land on his feet and is a film I would recomend. Again the side-plot of the everyday aspects of life in East germany before the fall of communism was a facinating addition to this very good film.
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