Rent Romeos (2011)

A very timely relevant German film about gender identity with Rick Okon star of DAS BOOT TV series - Romeos review by PV

I rented this solely because it is the film debut of RICK OKON who starred brilliantly in German TV drama series DAS BOOT - i finished watching series 4 last week. That has made him a start really.

Here we have an early - 2011 - exploration of gender, esp with the recent trans debates.

Yes, it is very soapy, rather HOLLYOAKS at times actually - the writer/director has not gone on to do anything else, in film releases at least. That soapy melodrama bit is what I disliked.

No doubt the usual activists will complain it is a MAN who plays the main role. Well they can always watch GIRL the 2018 film from Belgium, though I preferred the same director's CLOSE. That does feature authentic casting.

Anyway, RICK OKON born 1989 wo 21/2 here nails it utterly, no matter what your views on such things. Germany is actually rather conservative, compared to the UK esp London, and this is set in very provincial Cologne, so I must admit I was a tad surprised at the sexuality openness here. Fact or fiction, who knows?

Very German too in that it features young people doing national service. When I was there in 1990s, all school/college leavers had to do either a year in the military or 18 months in a civilian service role - the guys I knew all worked at a local community centre.

So almost 4 stars but not quite, so 3 stars. VERY timely and relevant film about gender identity