Since it produced one of the world’s first ever explicitly gay films called ‘Different From The Others’ back in 1919, Germany has been at the forefront of making really good LGBT movies. They are usually very sensual with a penchant for really hot looking men but all with highly original and compelling plots. Here then is queerguru’s pick for our Top Ten German Gay Movies.
1) Futuro Beach: This stunning new movie is light on plot as it focuses much more of the sensuality of each moment. There are certain pivotal scenes which are sparse of dialogue where he allows the camera to remain much longer than the norm with such riveting effect. Whether it be Donato letting off steam dancing rather manically in a club, or when he and Konrad are making rough and passionate sex together, or in the closing scene of the final motorbike ride. This story about the search for self-identity is one that will linger with you for a long time after you have seen it. Karim Ainouz the filmmaker is a Brazilian who now lives in Germany.
2) Free Fall: Our second favorite is one of the hottest German gay movies for years. This rather compelling debut movie about forbidden love in a very rampant homophobic community tells the story through the ‘straight’ married police cadet’s eyes and is overly sympathetic to his quandary and confusion. The relationship between the two men is almost completely physical and there is scant attention to any emotional feelings between them. It’s not just pretty clear from almost the word go that someone in this triangle is bound to be hurt, but the likelihood that none of them will end up with what they want, is soon so much more than a mere possibility.
3) Romeos: there are all sorts of ‘Romeos’ in this very innovative and somewhat daring tale about gender identity that is about how very tough it can be just being one’s self. It’s thought provoking and profound, but it is also wildly funny and tender too as it is, after all, a rather sweet love story.
4) Fucking Different XXY: For the past 10 years German filmmaker Kristian Petersen has masterminded a whole series of short movies that have explored and pushed the boundaries of gay sexuality and gender-binarities questioning which he has produced under the ‘Fucking Different’ banner. This is not a movie for closed minds or anyone who doesn’t want to deal with some in-your-face sexuality, but as the movie’s own motto claims and sums it up so aptly it ‘breaks stereotypes, creates confusion, and celebrates diversity’.
5) I Feel Like Disco : In this decidedly endearing movie, aspiring filmmaker Axel Ranisch gives a refreshing take on a working class father dealing with his son coming out as gay. Filled with humor and pathos both of them struggle with establishing a bond that must fill the enormous void left by the mother’s untimely passing. Tender and touching, it is the oddest wee gem of a movie.
6) Guys and Balls: A delightful romantic comedy about a young goalie who causes a stir when he’s caught in a kiss with another man. Thrown off the team, he packs his bag, but not before promising to return with an all-gay team and to beat his former friends in a match. It is totally predictable but also unerringly charming.
7) Summer Storm: A close friendship between two crew members on a rowing team is tested when one slowly discovers he’s gay and attracted to the other in this sensitive coming-out story
8) Coming Out: Made in 1989 this tender coming-out drama made in East Germany shows how tough being gay was in this Communist State. Passionate and heartbreaking.< /div>
9) Taxi zum Klo: In this gay classic movie from 1980 West Berliner Frank tries to keep his professional and personal life separate. During the day, he is a dedicated public school teacher but at night and on the weekends, he is a gay man, known as Peggy or Frank to his friends, who is always on the prowl for anonymous sex often in public places. However things on the personal side of his life may change when he meets Bernd, a movie theater clerk.
10) Fox And His Friends: In 10th place in our list is another classic this time from gay auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder who stars in it too. Franz “Fox” Biberkopf is a working-class guy, at loose ends when his lover is arrested and the police shutter their carnival booth. In need of cash for his weekly lottery purchase, Fox lets himself be picked up by an elegant older man named Max. At Max’s, he meets two younger gay men who have expensive tastes and images to uphold. The next day, Fox wins 500,000 marks in the lottery, and Max’s friends suddenly become Fox’s friends, especially Eugen, the heir to a bookbinding firm that’s short of cash. Eugen’s polish beguiles Fox, and the fleecing begins.
