The story revolves around a young high-school teacher, Philipp Klarmann, who during his first day at work collides with a fellow teacher, Tanja, in a school corridor. Philipp ensures Tanja is okay and later takes her out for a drink. A romance quickly develops and they become engaged to be married. It later becomes clear that Philipp is conflicted about his sexuality. He demonstrates empathy with a discriminated minority by defending a black man who is being bullied on a train. Jakob, an out gay friend of Tanja's, comes to visit. Unknown to her, he and Philipp have had a previous relationship that didn't end well. Philipp later visits a gay bar, where a party is taking place. Most patrons are in costume and many are in drag. Philipp is cautious, but takes a seat near an older male character who senses his hesitation in this setting and says, "Don't be scared. Everyone is at first. Be brave." A young man, Matthias, watches Philipp from a distance. They later meet up, have an evening out together and have sex and fall in love. Philipp's relationship with Tanja deteriorates and he struggles with his identity. His mother indicates that she realises he is gay and that she disapproves. Philipp is eventually forced to come out to Tanja, after she inadvertly meets Mathias during intermission at a concert by the famous conductor Daniel Barenboim that all three are attending. Matthias is distraught when he learns that Philipp has a fiancée and runs out of the concert hall in distress. Over the next few weeks, Philipp searches for Matthias and also goes cruising for sex; he meets up with a man and has casual sex, an experience which he enjoys but perplexes him when the man casually leaves afterwards. He eventually finds Mathias at a bar with another man. Matthias rejects Philipp and Philipp goes away upset and returns to the gay bar where the two originally met. The old man Philipp first met in the bar is there again and he tells him the story of how he was forced to separate from his lover during the Nazi period. He concludes his story by saying "everyone is alone... everyone is afraid." The film ends with a classroom scene, in which the head teacher, who has apparently discovered Philipp's sexual orientation, comes to do a sham classroom observation, theoretically to see if he is suitable to teach. Philipp sits on his desk saying and doing nothing, prompting the head teacher to yell 'Kollege Klarmann!' to which Philipp simply replies 'Ja', signifying his acceptance of his sexual orientation.
The opening scene follows an ambulance through well-known areas and boroughs such as Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin-Mitte and Friedrichshain on a night that the audience could assume is New Year's Eve, due to the fireworks in the background. Other scenes in the movie are filmed on locations that were common meeting points for homosexuals in East Germany such as the Fairytale Fountain in Volkspark Friedrichshain and bars such as "Schoppenstube" in Prenzlauer Berg and Zum Burgfrieden which was located at Wichertstraße 69, though it was closed in January 2000. Scenes filmed in the school where Philipp teaches were filmed in the Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymnasium, a historical building and school in Pankow and some halls were used in a few scenes. The family of Lothar Bisky allowed scenes which took place in Tanja's apartment to be filmed in their Berlin home. Bisky was the director of the University of Film and Television from 1986 to 1990 and later, in the reunified Germany, he became a left wing politician. Two of his three sons are gay, one of whom is Berlin-based painter Norbert Bisky.
Awards
The film has been shown at film festivals around the world and has won a number of awards, including:
1990 40th Berlin International Film Festival - Silver Bear for 'outstanding artistic contribution', for its 'expression of respect for human rights, humanity, and tolerance'. Teddy Award, an award for the best LBGT films at the Berlinale.
