I've always thought they should make more movies set in the hot-house, high-pressure world competitive figure skating. And not just sappy romances like "Ice Castles" or "The Cutting Edge", but dramatic, adult-oriented movies chock-full of genuine sexual tension. True, most of the male half of figure-skating pairs are no doubt very, very gay, but if they're not, think of how difficult it would be to spend so much time in the close proximity (and often with your hand on the shapely butt) of a very pretty, scantily clad young female partner.
By this measure, this film is a definite success. It is about a pair of aspiring figure skaters (Laura-Charlotte Syniawa, Florian Stetter),who are definitely very attracted to each other, but hold themselves back. Then the girl suffers a serious injury and the guy takes up with another rival female partner (Isabel Gershke), who also sexually seduces him, bringing all the sexual tension and teenage turmoil to a feverish boil. The ending is rather melodramatic and stupid, but the movie as a whole is quite enjoyable. Laura-Charlotte Sinayawa may not have been quite "legal" by US standards, but if I need to register as a "sex offender" for still having basically a lot of the same feelings toward a VERY attractive teenage girl like her that I did when I was 16 myself, then just tell me where to register, and I think I better bring a lawn chair because there is going to be a LONG line. Regardless, she is quite good in this.
The most disturbing thing about this is not Syniawa's brief nude scenes or the worshipful attention the camera generally pays to her post-adolescent posterior. Nor is it the more graphic nude/sex scenes involving Stetter and the "barely legal" Isabel Gershke. No,the most disturbing thing is I think the protagonists are supposed to be brother and sister! Sure, I'd expect that from a German exploitation movie like "Schulmadchen-Report Volume 4", but this is a fairly respectable TV movie co-starring Christtoph Waltz, who later went on to win a pair of Academy Awards. Of course, I'm just going by the plot synopsis on the IMDb since I didn't understand the German dialogue (they might not be BLOOD siblings at least). But until someone bilingual reviews this or they release this obscure German TV movie with German subs. . .
Anyway, if you can look past the queasy (possible) incest angle, this movie is certainly pretty entertaining.
