Petersen emerged as a major filmmaker during the rise of the New German Cinema ( Das Neue Kino), but remained separate from its more theoretically-inclined superstars, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder ( Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1974), Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God, 1972), Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, 1987), Margarethe von Trotta (The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, 1975), and Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, 1979). To date, the director and actor have made seven films together, including The Consequence (Petersen’s first theatrical feature), Das Boot (1985 – one of the two or three greatest war films), and Air Force One (1997). On the popular German series “Tatort” (“Crime Scene” – with 90-minute episodes, it premiered in 1970 and is still running), for which he directed six episodes, he met the gifted actor Jürgen Prochnow. Between 19, he attended the Film and Television Academy in Berlin, then immediately found work as a TV director on over twenty productions. He later moved to Hamburg to attend the Johanneum School, where he concentrated on theatre. Wolfgang Petersen was born Main the small town of Emden, in northern Germany. The final section, Video, discusses the disc’s image and sound quality (there are problems, but they should not deter you from seeing this extraordinary film). Will Thomas overcome his shame and reunite with Martin?Īfter introducing director Wolfgang Petersen, author Alexander Ziegler and the historical context for The Consequence, I’ll offer an analysis of the film. Although Thomas gets away, complications arise when the politician reveals his own plans for the young man’s “education.” Thomas flees, only to wind up living on the street. Martin concocts an elaborate escape plan for Thomas, involving a forged identity for himself as a psychologist and the machinations of a conniving German politician, Representative Clemens Krauthagen (Alexis von Hagemeister). But they are harassed at every turn: Martin is fired from jobs, and Thomas’s parents send him to reform school, where he comes up against the sadistic instructor Diethelm (Werner Schwuchow). Once released, they move in together and try to start a new life. After hiding in Martin’s cell, Thomas breaks down Martin’s resistance, with little difficulty, and the two share their mutual love behind locked doors. During rehearsals for a convict’s play, Thomas quickly falls in love with Martin. While serving a two and a half year sentence, he meets Thomas (Ernst Hannawald), the son of prison staffer Giorgio Manzoni (Waldo Luond). The Consequence is set in 1970s Switzerland, where the actor Martin Kurath (Jürgen Prochnow) is sent to jail for his involvement with a willing but underage youth. Although the plot is melodramatic (how many inmates have love affairs with the handsome and eager sons of prison officials?), the gifted actors bring out all of the tale’s real, and raw, emotion, even as director Wolfgang Petersen creates his stylistic masterpiece. This is not only a great LGBTQ-Themed film but one of the most riveting films of its time. It was even more powerful seeing it again. The Consequence made an indelible impression, when I first saw it years ago.
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