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Coming Out

Play trailer Poster for Coming Out 1989 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A young teacher (Mathias Freihof) is torn between his feelings for a female friend (Dagmar Manzel) and a transvestite (Dirk Kummer).

Critics Reviews

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Bruce C. Steele OutWeek 06/09/2020
Line up early...the film has a sharp emotional power without giving in to its own melodramatic impulses... Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/17/2005
2/5
John A. Nesbit outrate.net 04/25/2003
3/5
historical context is its great claim to fame Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Garry A @heavyg Jun 29 It wasn't easy for people to come out back in the 80s. The main character communicated so much with just his eyes. See more Roy G 10/25/2024 Roy Gardnerra Australian Review: I really enjoyed watching this unique movie that was made around the same time the Berlin Wall came down. All the characters were authentic and gave great insight into how tough it must have been to live through that awful era. The story unfolded slowly, allowing the characters and landscape setting to dominate and develop as the film progressed. The two leading men were a pleasure to watch in every scene they shared together. Production values were very high, and it deservedly won a number of film awards. Oh, and I forgot to mention for the voyeurs out there (like myself), the movie had plenty of erotic eye candy that was even more remarkable considering the circumstances at the time of the film's making. Really, it should be promoted and celebrated way more than its current level of awareness. 23 Oct Reply See more catherine w 05/16/2021 Interesting - the gay scene and Berlin of 1989. The film is technicolor, beautiful to look at. I'm not quite sure what happened in the last scene, but that's good too. See more 04/30/2021 Felt a bit more dated compared to other 80s movies that I watched but I REALLY liked it. It's like the German My Beautiful Laundrette. It's a very charming and bitter-sweet look at the life of a gay man in east Germany (the scenes in the gay club were apparently filmed in real gay club!) some fun notes:- -The outfits in this movie were AMAZING. I must steal all these guys' clothes. -The first scene in the gay club is literally camp hall of fame See more 02/07/2017 A deeply moving film about the difficulties of asserting a gay identity in a conformist society (way beyond the socialist background). One of the last great DEFA production, shot just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. See more 03/13/2016 Something was really great about this film and this was the historical period that made everything even more difficult and complicated.Philip's struggles were so evident,so apparent.Freihof did an amazing job in portraying that and gave us a movie with the real angst of coming out.It is true though that the movie was too long for its own good.But at the end the final conlcusion was worth everything! See more Read all reviews
Coming Out

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Movie Info

Synopsis A young teacher (Mathias Freihof) is torn between his feelings for a female friend (Dagmar Manzel) and a transvestite (Dirk Kummer).
Director
Heiner Carow
Screenwriter
Erika Richter, Wolfram Witt
Production Co
DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 10, 1989, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 12, 2001
Runtime
1h 49m