Silent Youth

This film has "silent" in the title for a reason. You will enjoy this film if you understand the intricacies of the noises in the silence. Watching this film brought me back to a time where I can remember all of the nuances of a budding relationship.

And yes, something is mentally off with one of the characters, but that adds much more to his mystery. It leaves you wondering what could have happened in this poor boy's life that brought him to where he is today. And it makes you like the other guy more for understanding how to deal with the situation. I really liked this film.

One criteria for an enjoyable movie is LIKABLE characters, of which this flick has ONE. Additonally, something must happen between the principal characters to interest the viewer, which doesn't transpire here. It's about as interesting as Andy Warhol's "Sleep!"

The ending is kind of cryptic but the two young man appear to be holding hands, which is cute -I felt the ending could have been done differently but I don't think it took away from the film because honestly there wasn't much to take away from the film. It's ok, like someone else said: only one likable character (but we only really met 4 characters throughout the whole film). What else can I say about this film to fit the minimum requirement? I have seen much worse gay themed films however so many coming of age/young love stories which are so much better. But this is not a typical gay themed film or coming of age story. The film leaves you with a lot for the imagination (if you even care to postulate) what might have happened to Kirill to make him act the way he does.

Almost Ingmar Bergman like. Excellently nuanced performances from the two main characters. I really want to try and figure out why they were so attracted to each other because the dialogue doesn't explain it. What you have are two young guys who seem so lost, they really don't know who they themselves are? Life is so much like this for many of us, and the reviewers who said they didn't get it probably just can't understand what this kind of attraction really feels like. I watched it two times.

I found this movie to be hypnotic and strangely poetic. It's billed as a "coming out" story, or a gay "teen love" story, and it's definitely each of those things, in its own way, but as some descriptions have put it, the movie is actually about awkwardness, alienation, yearning, and ultimately, connection. There is very little action in this film, and even less dialogue. Most of the story is told by implication and through long periods of silence. Many may find this to be frustrating, and I can understand why. This isn't a movie that sets up a premise and then goes through the standard motions of reaching it's conclusion. Like a poem, everything is compressed into a kind of minimalist quality. If you go into this without any expectations, I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised by the actual underlying story this movie tells. This isn't a standard presentation of a standard story, and I found myself amazed at the tenderness and vulnerability expressed by the two characters in the most unexpected, off-kilter ways. I give this 8 out of 10 stars, as the movie achieves what it sets out to do with a kind of austere, almost detached grace that won't work for every member of the audience.