Grace and Passion Sharpen Blunt Gay Story in ‘Toilers’

Keith Froelich’s “The Toilers and the Wayfarers” is an example of regional filmmaking at its most venturesome and rewarding. It takes us into the Minnesota German American town of New Ulm, an orderly community of much charming vintage architecture--but not exactly the most congenial place for a gay youth to come of age.

Froelich’s key figure is Dieter (Matt Klemp), a handsome 16-year-old high school student with a strict father (Jerome Samuelson) who, like most people in the town, speaks German most of the time. Not ready to face up to his sexual orientation, Dieter is repulsed when his best friend, Phillip (Andrew Woodhouse), makes a pass at him. As Phillip regards Dieter as his only reason for staying in New Ulm’s ultraconservative atmosphere, he runs off to Minneapolis in reaction to Dieter’s rejection.

Meanwhile, an ailing lonely woman (Joan Wheeler) in New Ulm has invited her nephew Udo (Ralf Schirg) to come live with her, a decision she regrets almost instantly. Udo, who looks to be somewhere in his early 20s, is a troubled, unreliable yet free spirit, a guy who’ll drink a beer at 8 a.m. and shocks his aunt’s starchy friends and neighbors with his uninhibited behavior.

With Phillip gone, Dieter quickly becomes friends with Udo, whose influence grows as Dieter’s father’s becomes increasingly disapproving of their friendship. Udo is apparently straight, or perhaps asexual, and he and Dieter seemingly remain no more than friends. If, however, they are lovers, this is no small issue because Dieter is a minor. Froelich seemingly is trying for a quality of uncertainty or ambiguity in this relationship that is beyond his reach as a first-time feature writer-director.

Dieter is a classic example of the obedient, dutiful youth who, when he rebels, does so in direct proportion to the oppression he has long endured. When his father’s censure becomes unbearable, he takes off with Udo to Minneapolis, and they meet up with Phillip. But these young men have almost no means of survival. Udo is prepared to scrub floors, quite literally, before prostituting himself, but both Phillip and Dieter are swiftly caught up in the dangerous business of hustling on the street. That they are gay simply heightens their vulnerability.

The larger point Froelich makes quite well, even though it has been made before, is that teenagers fleeing miserable homes have so few viable alternatives to prostitution when they take off for the big city. Udo’s presence adds further dimension in that he also represents the immigrant whose dream of America doesn’t match up with the realities.

The narrative line and detailing tend to get fuzzy in “The Toilers,” but Froelich holds attention because his people are easy to care about and because he’s brought their distinctive world to life with considerable grace and passion. He gets a hefty assist from composer Chan Poling’s stirring score and cinematographer Jim Tittle’s splendid black-and-white images.

About half the film’s dialogue is in German (translated via good English subtitles), and Froelich manages to elicit winning performances from his trio of stars, who move easily back and forth between English and German. “The Toilers” is romantic, even lyrical, in spirit, but it doesn’t flinch before blunt realities. Not for a second.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: The film contains only a brief scene of lovemaking, plus glimpses of nudity, but its themes are too mature for small children.

‘The Toilers and the Wayfarers’

Matt Klemp: Dieter

Ralf Schirg: Udo

Andrew Woodhouse: Phillip

An Outsider Enterprises presentation. Writer-director Keith Froelich. Producers Karen Manion, Ralf Schirg, Froelich. Executive producer Marc Huestis. Cinematographer Jim Tittle. Editors Robb Harriss, Froelich. Costumes Jeannie Millett, Sally Englehardt. Music Chan Poling. Set decorator Merrill Stringer. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

* Exclusively at the Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.