‘Love ain’t no
crime’ is the tag line of a Swiss docudrama, released in 2014 and written and
directed by Stefan Haupt, about the people involved around a gay publication
called The Circle that was published in Zurich in the 1940’s and 50’s.
It was seen by the whole of Europe as the pioneer of gay emancipation but
infamously scapegoated for the murder of several gay men that took place in the
so-called Stricher-Milieu (the gay prostitute scene) in Zurich.
The movie is set
both in the 1950’s and modern day and concentrates on the story of two men,
still together today, who fall in love when one of them Ernst Ostertag, a young
rather shy teacher who becomes a member of the gay organisation that publishes
Der Kreis[1], meets
Robi Rapp a beautiful young transvestite performing at one of the many gay
costume balls put on to raise funds. We
follow the two lovers through the high point and the eventual decline of the
organisation with on screen interviews with the real Ostertag and Rapp. There
on screen personalities are played by Matthies Hungerbuhler and Sven Schelker.
Seven Schelker and Matties Hungerbuhler. |
The movie is
not just about post war gay history and the prejudice surrounding a magazine
but the prejudice about a section of society that were not allowed to live
their lives as they wish even thou it did not affect others. It was premiered
at the Berlin Film Festival but has never received a cinematic release in the
UK. As
well as being a gay film, The Circle is above all a wonderful plea for freedom
to love.[2]
Rapp and Ostertag tell their story. |
[1] Der Kreis, which was founded in
the 30‘s, arose from the early gay movement of the 20th century and stood for
an idealized gay self-image. As it was the only gay self-help organization in
the world that survived the Nazi period in Europe, it became a model for
similar organizations in many other countries in Europe and even in the USA.
[2] Cineuropa.
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