Product Details

• Actors: Matthias Freihof, Dagmar Manzel, Dirk Kummer, Michael Gwisdek, Werner Dissel
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: German
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: June 12, 2001
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005BH25
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,565 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Coming Out" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

COMING OUT - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sexuality, romance and politics in superb East German drama, July 30, 2001

By 

Libretio - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Out (DVD)

COMING OUT

(E.Germany - 1989)

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Mono

Demonstrating that love can blossom unexpectedly even under the most adverse social conditions, the late Heiner Carow's award-winning and hugely impressive COMING OUT was filmed in communist East Berlin whilst homosexuality was still a criminal offence on that side of the Wall. Matthias Freihof plays a bright, attractive schoolteacher whose affair with a female colleague (Dagmar Manzel) is interrupted when Freihof falls in love with a beautiful young man (Dirk Kummer) whom he meets after stumbling into an illicit gay bar. Given that most gay teachers aren't exactly welcomed in even the most 'open' societies, it's inevitable that the enforced suppression of Freihof's true nature should result in the cruel deceit which he practices on the two people he loves most, with equally inevitable consequences if the truth should ever come out. In the end, it's left to an elderly patron of the gay bar (Werner Dissell) to put Freihof's problems into perspective by reminding him of a time in Germany fifty years earlier when things were much, MUCH worse for gay people...

Carow was a veteran writer-director whose career stretched back to the 1950s, but this was his first attempt to tackle the problems faced by gay people under his homeland's oppressive regime. Forsaking shrill melodrama for coolly understated realism, he simply points the camera at a superb cast of talented actors and allows them to develop their characters on the foundations of Wolfram Witt's excellent script: Freihof carries the picture as an essentially decent man whose fears of legal redress provides the linchpin of the entire narrative; Kummer is the romantic teenager whose tragic past sends him in search of true love (watch him carefully in the scene directly after his lovemaking with Freihof, when he asks if they will meet again - there is such hope and longing in his beautiful face); and Manzel is dignified in the thankless role of Freihof's uncomprehending girlfriend, the one with most to lose as a result of her lover's deceit.

Filmed in and around some of the illegal gay bars which proliferated in East Berlin at the time, Carow charts the burgeoning romance between Freihof and Kummer with a tenderness that almost completely eludes the 'pretend' relationship with Manzel. But while the film is defiantly romantic at heart, it's also unflinchingly honest in its depiction of political repression at even the most basic level (in class, Freihof teaches individualism and freedom of thought, whilst concealing his sexual identity for fear of reprisals). As such, the film's conclusion may seem a little abrupt, even arbitrary, to some viewers, but it actually represents the true dawning of a whole new chapter for the central characters. In fact, Freihof's closing declaration - a single word, with countless implications - must have seemed especially liberating to those who caught the film's theatrical premiere in Germany on the same day the Berlin Wall came down, ending years of repression at a stroke. Long after the political tyrants of our world are gone, movies like this one will stand like stone, bearing witness to unkind history. A must-see.

NB. Some interesting trivia: Firstly, though often cited as the first and only gay film from communist East Germany, COMING OUT was actually preceded by Wieland Speck's WESTLER (1985), a desperately awkward West German drama concerning a love affair between two young men living on opposite sides of the Wall, which utilized clandestine footage secretly recorded in East Berlin. And secondly, the medical staff in the opening sequence of COMING OUT are genuine, and poor Dirk Kummer appears to be having his stomach pumped FOR REAL! Talk about dedication to your craft...!!

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, penetrating view of gay life in Berlin, August 3, 2001

By 

W. Oliver (Alabama) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coming Out (DVD)

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.)

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You MUST see this movie!!!!!!!!!, June 19, 2001

By 

Clea (Key West, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Out (DVD)

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.