Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

beautiful landscapes, inspired music, good acting. and a touching story about friendship and self definition. the great virtue of film is the fine delicacy in exploration of a sensitive subject . to define the small details, the powerful emotions, the need to understand, the refuse to accept and the air of competition. a teenage story presented in a manner who defines its specificity. because it is not exactly a gay film. it has the gift to propose a more large perspective about relations and gestures and feelings of an age who is only essential step to self definition as person. and that does it real beautiful. a form of grace. a form of geography of refuges. and the freedom . so, a beautiful film. about a story of summer. and about the nuances of friendship.

I'm sure I wouldn't give this movie all them stars if I saw it today. But I know exactly why I did back then.I don't remember what age I was exactly. What I do remember is the loneliness of the closet. I remember changing channel as my older brother went into the living room for a minute. I remember living in shame. I remember quivering as I watched Tobi struggling and finally come out. I think I cried.I'm not sure it was the first gay-themed movie I watched but it definitely wasn't the only one that had this tremendous effect on me ( The two first ones that pop into my head are Brokeback Mountain & Shelter, bot leaving me weeping a while after the end). I could go on with movies that got me feeling so sad yet so full of hope as I was. Or about the ones that I saw or re-watched more recently - as I continue to grow older and more confident with my gayness - that got me thinking and feeling joyful all the while being less normative than a whole of coming-out/coming-of-age gay/bi-themed movies. Oh; that could be a good movie list "Non-normative movies and shows for sad gay kids"! I'll get to it soon.

This review contains spoilers.I watched this film years ago and just a couple days ago. While I agree with much of the glowing reviews (the photography, the natural, generally undramatic realistic interaction between characters, budding romances etc.) there is a mean streak in here, as well as several instances where some are being extremely inconsiderate. I'm not exactly sure how old these people are supposed to be, but they seem like very late high school or early college? Tobi, the rejected Gay lover, just doesn't get it that Achim is straight. Achim talks about girls, about having a problem if a Gay guy liked him, on and on and still almost to the end, Tobi doesn't get it. Meanwhile, Leo likes him, and is very tender with him several times, Tobi injures Leo's arm (unintentionally) still Leo can't participate in the competition, something they presumably train their whole lives for. Tobi doesn't even apologize! Come on! This is the perfect, tender romance of the century movie? What about the part where Tobi tells Sandra to not withhold sex because of her small bosom (something boyfriend Achim told Tobi in confidence) Yes, "kids" and adults are mean, but I'm not the one saying this is such a gentle love story. It is downright harsh in places. To say What he did to Sandra, Tobi is a selfish little twit. (And stupid too, if he thought Achim wouldn't be furious about it or that Achim would stop loving Sandra? Even if Tobi is naive about homosexuality, he must know that male/female is the majority). Oh, and I know that Tobi was fixated on Achim so Leo was probably just a diversion. It is easy to get the impression I hated this movie, I didn't. I just wrote this review as a counterbalance to the excessive number of reviews purporting this movie to be perfect. I'm aware that people can be mean, and there are plenty of immature adults around. But I think for some of the dumb sh*t Tobi pulled, he needed his a** kicked. As a Gay man myself, I can understand how difficult it is to come out but this never is an excuse to be cruel and inconsiderate to others.

One of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. Very much like my early days. Too bad they don't all turn out as great as Toby's did. A breath of fresh air to enjoy. This director is a god sent to the gay community. I say Bravo !!!! I have not yet seen any other of Marco Kreuzpaintner films but I am sure they will be fantastic. I wish I could get a Email address for Mr Kreuzpaintner But as of yet I cannot locate one. I hope other who have seen this movie enjoyed it as much as I. Please Email me if you would like to discuss any of his works or have any suggestions for other great movies. I must enter ten lines of comments to get this to take so at this point I guess I must ramble on to use up more space.