Review: 'Eismayer' Probes Volcanic Passions Beneath a Rigid Exterior

Writer-director David Wagner's gay military drama "Eismayer" – based on the real-life romance of Austrian servicemen Charles Eismeyer and Mario Falak – is as thoroughly buttoned up in an outward, formal sense, and yet as passionate underneath, as the titular character, who is played with revelatory glimpses of regret, tenderness, and loneliness by Gerhard Liebmann.

Sergeant Major Eismayer is legendary, and dreaded, by the new recruits of the Fourth Guards Company, many of whom would not be in uniform if military service was not mandatory. Recruits swap anxious stories about him and swallow toothpaste in a bid to call out sick and avoid his wrath. "He'll fuck you for breakfast," one young man tells another, and he might just mean that literally; rumors circulate that the infamously tough sergeant does, on occasion, have sex with recruits.

One newcomer who's not worried is Mario Falak (Luka Dimic), a "Yugo," or Bosnian-speaking immigrant. Falak is derided as a foreigner, and he draws unwanted and harassing attention, but he shrugs all that off. When it comes out that he's gay, Falak is beyond unrepentant. A fight with another recruit brings Eismayer's discipline down on him, but Falak, enraged, is determined to do Eismayer one better: He runs an "honor lap" in the freezing cold of the nighttime outdoors, but he does it naked.

The only thing Falak seems to fear is heights, which is a problem during basic training exercises, but now that he knows Falak is gay, Eismayer seems inclined to give him a little encouragement rather than simply barking at him. All of this is fodder for Eismayer's commanding officer, who sneers at Eismayer for his hard-assed old-school ways – which, he suggests, have no place in the modern Austrian army.

It turns out to be true that Eismayer sometimes cruises his recruits, and it's not long before he orders Falak to his apartment to fix his television. They have the place to themselves. Eismayer's wife, picking up on his disinterest, has packed up the kids and left. Nothing much actually happens, but a sergeant commanding a recruit to pay a house call to fix his TV, then inviting him for dinner, and then arranging things so that the recruit has to stay the night is a little more than merely problematic.

Still, the two forge a bond that quickly grows into a shared passion and then a love story, especially once Falak completes basic training and is no longer under Eismayer's command. Eismayer, a survivor of past battles with cancer, is stricken once more with the disease, and Falak becomes his helper, lover, and – in a choice reversal – the drill instructor who keeps the sergeant on track to recovery.

Wagner makes use of some too-overt imagery (a neglected building in winter signals loud and clear what the state of Eismayer's loveless soul is; a sudden shift to lush springtime woodlands coincides with the love affair), but, together with his leading men, he creates a sense of joyous blossoming that's given tension by hesitation and fear. Eismayer's not so tough after all. Throwing his own words back at him at one point, the truly fearless Falak accuses him of being a "chickenshit."

The film gives us a happy ending, one that feels earned. Even better is knowing that the happiness is real. "Eismayer" joins other compelling gay military dramas we've seen lately ("Moffie," "The Inspection," and, let's face it, "Top Gun: Maverick") and ranks among the best of the genre, thanks in equal measure to Liebmann's expertly calibrated performance and Dimic's sexily charismatic screen presence.

"Eismayer" opens in theaters Oct. 6.