A concise synopsis of gay-themed movies and gay interest films. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Echte Kerle (1996)




















Christoph Schwenk (Christoph M. Ohrt) is a macho homophobic plainclothes police detective in Frankfurt who does stakeouts spying on criminals with his partners Mike (Oliver Stokowski) and Helen (Carin C. Tietze). One night Christoph finds his fiancĂ©e with another lover, a bodybuilder. He loses her, along with all of his belongings, and his home, and is thrown out of their apartment. After a massive car wreck, he gets very drunk in a gay bar and wakes up in the morning in the bed of the cute and naked Edgar (Tim Bergmann), a gay auto mechanic. The big question that torments Christoph is did he or didn't he. Confused at what led him to Edgar's bed and what he may have done, the straight but homeless Christoph takes up Edgar’s offer and moves in with him.

Edgar deals in stolen cars, and Christoph is not pleased that Edgar has fallen in love with him. Working with the beautiful, self-confident Helen, but living with a gay guy makes him uncertain about his sexuality and his job as a cop. Helen is also attracted to him. But rumors fly at the office because he has been seen with the gay car-dealer. The best scene in the movie takes place at the police station, when two other officers try to out Christoph as gay. He answers, "In this funhouse where one is beating his wife, the next one is blackmailing thieves, and the third is having sex with illegal immigrant girls. In this funhouse, I will play the gay one from now on." Edgar's weekend lover Marco (Andreas Pietschmann) causes Christoph to question his surprising jealousy. The three police officers become friendly with Edgar and Marco and when it seems they may be involved in the car theft ring under stakeout, they each find it easier to look the other way and support each other.

Though Edgar's mother expresses the motto of the film ("These days, everything is possible isn't it?"), the end is not a happy one for gay viewers hoping that Christoph will fall in love with Edgar. On the contrary, the sudden ending pairs off the various members of this story in a warm and funny way in a manner some may find predictable. Christoph gets Helen, and Edgar goes off with a guy who had been only a minor character in the film.

This lively romantic comedy of sexual errors is witty, funny, light, entertaining, insightful, well-paced, and features good acting with a message. It's filled with humor and sensitivity, is slickly creative, and the characters are not stereotypes. Peter W. Schmitt composed the music score. The screenplay was written by Rudolf Bergmann and Rolf Silber, who also directed. In German with English subtitles. The English title is "Regular Guys".

Followers

Blog Archive