You Are Not Alone

I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, although the subtitling on my copy lagged a little nearer the end.

It was a charming view of life at a Danish boarding school where two boys meet for the first time, and their friendship slowly evolves into something more. I wish that more films were like this and, having just finished watching it, I want nothing more than to start it again and watch it over, however I have to go out in 5 minutes, so I shall have to wait for tomorrow.

My only criticism is that the plot seemed to wander and be a little disordered at times. It had some, though fun, unnecessary sub-plots that could, to be honest, have been cut in order to have some more development of the two main characters, who were so well acted by the two boys.

I live every day with all the negativity that surrounds being openly homosexual in High School (I'm 14 and gay) and I can only say that I wish my own peers could be as accepting of me, and others like me as the other boys in this film, however, in our British (and even more in the US) society today, there is still a lot of stigma surrounding homosexuality and I feel that even today, thirty years after this film was originally released, most of the people I know would not be ready to see it, and that is a terrible shame as it is a fantastic film.

This is a great movie, and you will either walk away with a warm fuzzy feeling or you will simply start the move over and watch it again if, unlike me, you have the time.

I finally got a chance to watch a movie last week...it had been over a month! This movie tells the story of two young boys that fall in love, one a post-pubescent student at a boarding school, the other the pre-pubescent son of the school's headmaster.

First, the movie is beautiful. The interaction between the two main characters is touching, and handled with tender care. The two young men (who are the actual ages they are portraying) are excellent and convincing in their roles...as are the other young actors who make up the rest of the students at the school. The interactions between all the characters in the movie are incredibly realistic...not sugar coated, or worse, over dramatized.

There are issues, however, with this movie that make it less than excellent. For one, the script is terribly fragmented. For a while, you forget that there is supposed to be a relationship developing between the two main characters. The main storyline gets lost amongst a jumble of other side stories going on inside and outside of the schools walls. While these side stories don't dull down the movie (on the contrary, they are often humorous and charming), they strip any semblance of order and purpose from the narrative.

The other issue is that all the other characters are either completely oblivious to the affection that Bo and Kim share (which is nearly impossible), or they don't care (which seems equally odd). While I've nothing against a story that is simple, innocent, and charming...you'd think that these two boys would suffer some of the hardships that come along with being young and gay. :giveup Overall, I applaud the movie for approaching it's subject material so openly, in a way that would NEVER be seen in an American film. The characters are engaging and a joy to watch. Too bad the story wasn't more cohesive. Still, worthy of a 7/10.

You are not alone is a movie about love. It is easy to watch and I can guarantee that if you have an open mind you will enjoy every minute of it. The action takes place at a Danish boarding school. That is the place where Kim (12 y.o) and Bo (15 y.o) meet for the first time.

I like the romantic which flows from the screen. The whole atmosphere of the movie is very relaxing and the music contributes to that. Some time ago I read that this movie became an icon for generations of young people growing up and after seeing it I can understand why.

You are not alone is sentimental movie which you will enjoy on some quiet night – it can make you a better person.

You Are Not Alone is an extraordinary film and one would not be surprised if it became a classic. The characters although not fully developed, much like the script, are nonetheless exceptional in that it sets the foundation for other similar works. Two young gay boys searching for understanding and acceptance, find love in a Danish private school. The film itself is sketchy with undeveloped nude scenes and hampered with an equally fragmented plot. Still rising above the script are the young actors Anders Agenso and Peter Bjerg who add a certain innocent vitality to an otherwise humdrum story. You'll enjoy the final sensual scene. It's the stuff dreams are made of. *****

DU ER IKKE ALENE (You Are Not Alone) is a 1978 Danish landmark film written by Lasse Nielsen and Bent Petersen and directed by Nielsen and Ernst Johansen. When the period during which this film was made, a time when gay theme movies were all but verboten, this little film is a brave, delicate, tender, unpretentious tale of the bonding, both emotional and physical, that occurs between two young boys in a boarding school in Denmark. The story develops slowly and insidiously, a fact that makes some viewers find it boring or slow. But for this viewer the pacing of the story is intricately involved in this tale of the fragile first attractions that occur in young boys: everything is new, and nothing is rushed - it just happens and evolves.

Kim (Peter Bjerg) is a young prepuberal youth living with his parents: his father (Ove Sprogøe) is headmaster of a boys' school and his mother (Elin Reimer) is in line with the father's hard-line standards. Though not a student in the school, Kim does associate with the young high school age boys and finds one lad in particular, Bo (Anders Agensø), a role model who shows concern for Kim and with whom Kim bonds, emotionally and eventually physically. The manner in which this occurs is never acted out but merely suggested in the most discreet and beautiful way. But we watch as this bond develops more strongly, with each of the boys nascent to the situation in which they find themselves.

The classmates are a varied group - normal kids in a normal school situation - until one of the boys Ole (Ole Meyer), who is somewhat of a trouble-maker, posts magazine pictures of nude women in his dorm room. Reprimanded by the headmaster he is put on probation and when he ultimately posts the contraband pictures in the dorm restroom, he is threatened with expulsion. His classmates band together to protect him and Ole is maintained in the school.

Other sidebar stories that pepper the screen are swimming hole escapades where the injury of one of the boys calls forth the empathy of the entire class; there is a vignette where an older woman tries to teach one of the boys the beauties of physical love; there is a shower scene that finds Bo and Kim gently observing each other; and there is a class project for graduation that is supposed to be an enactment of the 10 Commandments, one episode of which is assigned to a student filmmaker.

It is this finished class project film, shown before the faculty and the parents, that is based on the commandment 'Love thy neighbor' and it is a beautifully wrought scene of Bo and Kim embracing and kissing in one of the more honest and sensitive moments on film. The 'non-story' film ends without an audience response: it simply fades away to a tune that speaks of 'You are not alone - there is someone like you ahead.' No, this is not a film about nudity or raw sex. Instead this film is a brave exploration of the normal period in growth when boys search for role models and find their first sensations of love emerging. It is delicate, beautifully filmed and acted, and is one of the early forays into same sex love that works on every level. Grady Harp