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Summer Storm (2004 film)

Summer Storm
Summer storm 2004.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner
Produced by Jakob Claussen
Written by Thomas Bahmann
Marco Kreuzpaintner
Starring Robert Stadlober
Kostja Ullmann
Alicja Bachleda-Curuś
Miriam Morgenstern
Music by Niki Reiser
Cinematography Daniel Gottschalk
Edited by Hansjörg Weißbrich
Distributed by X Verleih AG
Release date
  • 2 September 2004 (2004-09-02)
Running time
98 minutes
Country Germany
Language German
Budget 2.7 million
($3.5 million)
Box office $2,085,166

Summer Storm (German: Sommersturm) is a 2004 German coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner, starring Robert Stadlober, Kostja Ullmann, Alicja Bachleda-Curuś, and Miriam Morgenstern. The story is set to the background of a rowing regatta, which climaxes into a summer storm.

Teams from all across Germany descend on a quiet camping ground for a week of training leading up to a final rowing competition. The plot follows the members of the RSC rowing club from southern Germany as they train for the regatta.

The boys are excited by the prospects of camping with a female rowing team from Berlin. However, by a stroke of fate, the Berlin girls' team cancels and is replaced by Queerschlag ("Queerstrokes"), a gay youth rowing team, and these boys are out, proud, and vocal about it.

Amidst the occasionally tense interactions between the members of his team and those of Queerschlag, Tobi is himself forced to confront his long-time feelings for his close friend and teammate Achim, who is already romantically involved with his girlfriend Sandra. Spurned by Achim, Tobi is devastated, but is partly consoled by his new friendship with Queerschlag member Leo.

The tension between the members of the two teams culminates in a scene set to the backdrop of a summer storm, during which Leo confronts Tobi about his homosexuality in front of his teammates. Tobi denies being gay, and, in an attempt to defend him, one of his teammates tells Tobi's girlfriend Anke to tell the rest of his teammates so. Anke, the only person to whom Tobi has confided his secret, remains silent.

Ultimately, Tobi comes out to his teammates and his rowing team, who seem to accept Tobi no matter what, and they go on to compete with Queerschlag in the final regatta.

Summer Storm received mixed reviews, currently holding a 48% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a 51/100 rating, signifying "mixed or average reviews".


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