Let's be realistic.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely Brilliant!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This early Wolfgang Petersen film tackles the controversial theme of inter-generational gay love with distinction.A convict, Martin, was jailed for having a sexual relationship with a fifteen year old boy. Martin is an actor and while in jail produces a play written by one of his fellow inmates. He needs a young actor and the son of the jail warden, Thomas, volunteers. Thomas, who is sixteen but looks about 20 (my only - minor - gripe about this film) clearly has gay tendencies and develops a crush on Martin. A relationship results with Thomas illegally staying over in Martin's cell. One of the inmates spills the beans and Martin's parole gets cancelled. He keeps in contact with Thomas, and when released they continue their relationship. Martin decides to play open cards with Thomas's father and informs him about their relationship. The callous warden subsequently stops the relationship en sends his son to a reformatory. It turns into a nightmare for the young man, and changes him psychologically, resulting in serious depression, and worse.This somber film, suitably filmed in B/W, boasts great performances by the protagonists. Directing and script were excellent, with the viewer made aware that some tragedy was in the making, right from the first few minutes. I score this excellent film 8/10.

"Die Konsequenz" is a West German 100-minute film from 1977, which means this one will have its 40th anniversary next year. And even if this is a very long time, it is still somewhat strange to see a film from the late 1970s still in black-and-white. But it did not hurt the movie at all, possibly even helped it. The director here is Wolfgang Petersen and he is also the one who adapted Alexander Ziegler's novel for the screen here. Ziegler was still alive when this one came out. He committed suicide about a decade later. Petersen worked with Jürgen Prochnow on several occasions and most people will immediately think of "Das Boot", but this one here is the much better collaboration between the two, even if it is not very known outside (maybe even inside) Germany. It should be though and I hope my review can make a few people curious about this movie. Prochnow plays a convict in here, who falls in love with one of the warden's sons (played by Ernst Hannawald in a career-defining performance). This is about the first half of the film only though.Everything that follows is about the duo's relationship. The boy's father does not agree with it and has the son sent to a very questionable correctional facility where one of the instructors severely hurts the boys physically if they don't obey his every word. Sadly this gruesome warden (probably the main antagonist of the film) gets lots of support from the institution's director (played by Hans-Michael Rehberg who is known to German film fans for sure), who absolutely has his back despite the unnecessary cruelty. When Prochnow's character finally manages to get his young lover out of his hellhole, more problems arise as friends turn into foes and agreements are broken.All in all, this is a very touching film. I thought it needed a bit to really suck me in and I did not care for the prison scenes early on too much, but everything afterward is a very thrilling and tense watch that had me at the edge of my seat. Prochnow and Schwuchow are outstanding, everybody else (including Hannawald) is really good too. It is very easy to feel for the couple and hope they will find a way to manage their struggles and overcome these obstacles that these dark times back them posed for homosexual couples. It is weird to imagine this film came out almost the very same time like "Taxi zum Klo". It is such a different film, even if the topic is somewhat similar.I was really positively surprised here and very much impressed by this little hidden gem. You already see from the title of my review how much I enjoyed the watch and felt for the characters. The biggest strength, however, apart from the acting is that this film uses homosexuality just as a framework and managed to construct an intriguing story inside that framework. Many many gay-themed (short) films use this subject as the core component of the story and occasionally don't even try to elaborate beyond that or, if they do, they frequently fail completely. But Petersen and Ziegler make all ends meet. You absolutely have to see how they did it exactly. Do not miss out on "The Consequence". This is my favorite 1977 film at this point.

An unusual work in Wolfgang Petersen's filmography, "Die Konsequenz" ("The Consequence") is a heartbreaking and unconventional love story, a movie that makes us look at Petersen in a different way, far from the optic we used to know from the director of blockbusters such as "Air Force One" and "In the Line of Fire". Without the speed and the colors of his notorious films, he has plenty of time to develop his story and create a brilliant piece that echoes life, giving his most natural and realistic work along with "Das Boot". His posterior enterprises might have stronger energies, action and bigger castings but doesn't have the patience and beautiful elements this has.A saddening tale on the recklessness of youth in its pursuit for love, "The Consequence" deals on the obstacles two lovers have to face while trying to be together. Not the ordinary love story, quite the opposite. This one involves Martin (Jürgen Prochnow, in his best performance) an actor imprisoned for seducing a minor, and the young Thomas Manzoni (Ernst Hannawald), son of the prison's warden. Both were approached due to a play performed in the jail - unimaginable setting for such encounter to happen but believable in certain contexts. They share some good moments, always in secrecy, but the challenge comes after Martin's release. They meet again, already sure that what they shared was love and they're ready to live with each other, but Thomas parents are against their relation and even more opponent to their son's homosexuality, and these new facts causes the role changes in the story: this time the younger one will be arrested - in a juvenile facility though, after some arrangements made by his father - while the other will try anything to be near his lover or to release him if possible. Not the cup of tea of many viewers out there who can't handle sad stories but the moral and warnings we get from this tale are truly valuable, very honest to us. It's cruel but it has a point. More than just a love story, it's a painful piece on the consequences of immaturity, right in that drastic point between youth and adulthood, already showing that choices have ultimate and heavy consequences that'll affect everyone's lives in one way or another. Thomas apparent brave act of showing to his family that he loves Martin and he wants to live with him only proves to be disastrous to himself. Their union faces bumps after bumps, and a great part of those happen because of the younger guy, not smart or not experienced to know the ways of life. If only he kept this a secret, just run away with his partner, things would might turn out to be OK for him and Martin. Enthusiastic admirers of great acting will be delighted with the magnificent performances of the main stars. Prochnow, usually best suited in villain roles, is amazing in this sort of heroic role, not a perfect guy but a committed, passionate and kind, completely caught off guard and head over heels for this boy and always making his best to help him, even when he realizes that it's no longer possible. He express plenty with just few words. Hannawald's angelical face little by little becoming the face of sadness and misery is certainly the most unforgettable in the movie along with some of his lines ("I think it's really rotten of them to lock you up like this for making love to a boy" innocently referring on Martin's condemnation. He gives the performance of a lifetime in here.Times are different, there's more openness and acceptance when it comes to sexuality issues but things aren't so bright and positive, which makes this film even more relevant today than like it was in the 1970's. Desperately needs more audience. 10/10

Beautiful black and white cinematography is the main pillar this modest and distressing coming-out drama rests. The script is intelligent without being intellectual, and has some amazing and surprising scenes. Main cast members Prochnow and Hannawald are excellent; Wolfgang Petersen handles the laymen cast very well.I do not think that (20 years after date) this film has lost any actuality. Besides, this film is honest, unsentimental and without sensationalism, something that can not be said of the average mainstream coming-out film of the 80' and 90's.