The Consequence (Die Konsequenz)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras: D Film: B-
Wolfgang Petersen
has had a mixed directing career, especially lately, with problematic films
like Troy. Early on, as he did several German TV
projects, he started to make feature films and one of the most interesting and
least discussed (especially after “tough-guy” hits like In The Line Of Fire, Air
Force One and even The Perfect Storm
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) rode the reactionary 1980s wave) works is The Consequence (Die Konsequenz).
This 1977
drama features Jurgen Prochnow as an arrested man who likes having sex with
underage boys. In for begin caught with
a 15-year-old, he soon finds that the son of the prison warden Thomas (Ernst
Hannawald) who is just coming of age and coming out falls for Martin (Prochnow)
upon arrival. Though difficult, they
start to have an affair inside prison, then when they both leave for different
reasons, find it is actually harder to continue things outside of the prison
walls.
They get
separated ands harassed, with Thomas send to a reformatory school which slowly
begins to destroy him, getting arrested and sent there to be “converted”: into
a “real man” which means the total opposite.
Instead of a gay Lolita, the film has Martin caring
but more passive than he should be, for reasons (older man being out of his
mind to be with an under-aged boy to begin with and not really ever caring
about the what happens to either just by the nature of the motivation of being
with someone he should not) that should be obvious.
I give
Prochnow credit for taking such a thankless role and Hannawald is very brave to
play a character so vulnerable, exploitable and lost. Though this has not always been the case of
late, Petersen handles the story and actors with a sense of sensitivity and
humanity, yet the screenplay by Petersen and Ziegler (from Ziegler’s novel) is
still not as well-rounded in all matters, making this film seem more aged than
it should. There is much not explored
and though the ending has its point, it leaves too many missed
opportunities. Still, the film is worth
a look.
The 1.33
X 1 image is soft and detail-limited, but is still nicely shot by Cinematographer
Jorg-Michael Baldenius in black and white when the stocks were still good. That helps make any problems more
tolerable. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
also a little weak featuring background hiss throughout, but part of it is the
way it was likely recorded at the time. There
are no extras, but you get the choice between white burned-in titles and
highlighted subtitles with block backgrounds if the white versions do not work
for you.
- Nicholas Sheffo
