High school teacher Philipp Klahrmann (Mathias Freihof) during his first day at work collides with female teacher Tanja (Dagmar Manzel) in one of the school's corridors. As a result Tanja and Philipp get to know each other and develop a romance. While going out with Tanja, Philipp gets dragged into a gay party and meets Matthias (Dirk Kummer), a shy 19-year-old who becomes interested in Philipp. After they meet again by chance, Matthias invites Philipp to his birthday party that evening. After some hesitation Philipp ends up going and the two of them go back to Philipp's apartment and sleep together.
The situation with Tanja deteriorates as Philipp becomes distant and worried, as he begins to come out to himself. He is forced to come out to Tanja, after he and Matthias embrace during the intermission at the opera. Matthias is distraught upon learning that Philipp is married and runs out of the opera house. Over the next few weeks Philipp searches for Matthias, until one night he finds him in a bar with another man, one of Philipp's students. Matthias, still very hurt, pushes Philipp away. Philipp goes to another bar and becomes aggressive with an older gay man. He calms down and tearfully listens as the older man explains that he understands what Philipp is going through, because 50 years earlier he and his boyfriend were arrested by the Nazis and imprisoned in a concentration camp. In a speech designed to please the SED and DEFA, the older gay man explains how the communists helped him through his struggle.
The film ends with a scene in the classroom, as the headteacher--who obviously has discovered Philipp's sexual orientation--says that she and a group of teachers need to observe his classes to see if he's still suitable to teach. Philipp is quiet for a long time and this prompts the headteacher to say "Kollege Klahrmann!" to which Klahrmann simply replies, "Ja." Actor Mathias Freihof claims that this single utterance signifies the recognition by Philipp of his sexual orientation and all its baggage. In a depressing classic German cinema ending, Philipp loses his boyfriend, his girlfriend, and his job. The film closes with a shot of Philipp leaving his apartment block on his bicycle.
This is a predictable, drawn out, but good film--the first and only film about gay life produced in the former communist East Germany. "Coming Out" debuted the night the Berlin Wall fell. Stefan Carow composed the music, Wolfram Witt wrote the screenplay, and Heiner Carow directed. In German, available with or without English subtitles.
