Jenseits der Mauern

According to the director, this is his "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", a film about what happens when a madly-in-love couple is forcibly separated by a bad turn of events. But it's really much more than that.

It's about the power dynamics in a relationship, and how they shift over time. It's about dominance and submission. It's about making choices. It's about freedom or the lack thereof.

What keeps it from being overly ponderous (though it does raise lots of questions) is way it focuses on the specifics of a rather dysfunctional relationship between a needy, waif-like, seemingly helpless young man desperate to be taken care of, and a seemingly more together toughened-by- life older man who at first doesn't take him seriously but then falls hard for his boyish, coquettish charm.

And then they're separated and they and we discover that they're not entirely who they seem to be and everything shifts.

The cinematography is suitably gritty and sharp, while the acting of the two leads is superb. These are very flawed characters but we don't care and we fall in love with them anyway, the way they fall in love with each other.

The ending is realistic and a bit sad, but not tragic. We all come away a little wiser, but just a little, as this is not Hollywood, after all, thank god.

Beyond the Walls is the beautiful, erotic and powerful story of an almost pathologically needy young man named Paulo, his encounters with two much stronger men, and how those experiences change his life.

There are none of the stereotypical characters, florid melodrama and boringly predictable plot clichés that cripple most gay movies. From their initial meeting in a bar, Paulo and Ilir jump quickly into a relationship of such intense passion and tenderness that it makes all other gay movies look like The Love Boat. But from that point on, nothing anybody does fits our Hollywood-conditioned expectations of what these characters ought to do. They all change, but never in ways we expect them to.

The movie is never either predictable or gimmicky, and every scene rings true. Best of all is Matila Malliarakis's astonishing, courageous and brilliant performance as Paulo. Everything about this movie is excellent - the writing, direction, photography, music, and all the actors - but without Malliarakis it would be just a good movie. He makes it spectacular.

I have to disagree with the other review here (and at the time I write this, there's only one), Weekend is a much better movie than Beyond the Walls. I see the similarities, but this is far more complex than Weekend.

Not nuanced, mind you, complex. With Weekend, I felt I really knew the two principle characters well, warts and all. They were lifelike and real.

These characters are somewhat one-dimensional. Despite the life changes made by Paolo, the young guy, I didn't really understand him fully. More of a back story on him might have helped me understand how he goes from conflicted, to needy, to clingy, to obsessed, to victim, to detached, all in the space of a year. Which is entirely possible, but unlikely in a first-world early-20s-something.

And, evidently, he only knows two gay people, both older men. We only see him in the first scene with contemporaries (and they abandon him, so are they really friends?) except for his girlfriend. And all we learn about their relationship is that she's finally had enough of his sleeping with men.

And, I know it sounds petty, but it bothered me that I didn't know how Paolo was earning a living. That isn't revealed until half-way into the movie. I found it a distraction, wondering if it was a plot point. He uses an inhaler frequently in the first part of the movie, so I wondered if he was on disability. We don't see the inhaler in the second part of the movie, so maybe that's meant to signify he's more comfortable with the life choices he's made? If so, that's a LOT to hang on an inhaler.

His first lover, Ilir, is a little more sketched out, but I wasn't convinced that he was the kind of person who would have succumbed so quickly to the petulance and coquetry of Paolo, particularly when the aforementioned's "charms" were at least partly motivated by his needing a place to stay. The second lover, the owner of a gay sex shop, is about as flat a character as you'll ever meet.

If you sketch out the plot line on paper, it makes sense, and is plausible. But I don't think the movie makes the sell. Still, I wasn't bored, and was curious to see how things resolved. I did not quite buy the ending, but again, I could see how it might happen.

This is an above-average movie, and many may like it. But for me, it was no Weekend. By far.

One of the best TRUE-Love stories I've seen in movies! The film felt very real, and that's why I ADORED IT!!! Everything was fantastic... From the origin and discovery of love, the heartbreak and then the rebirth of love.

These are the types of movies that make you believe in true-love, and not a far-fetched version of it, a very tangible one.

I truly recommend this feature. I'm really glad that I found it!!! And the script was very good too, the acting was marvelous, that you really believe in them.

:D 10/10.

What can I say? I watched it because Matilla (Paulo's actor) but I didn't expect that the movie would be this wonderful! (cant help since many gay-theme movies are really plain) I laughed, smiled, and cried a lot. The story isn't the only best thing here because the actors (especially Matilla) have done perfect job. It's sad there's much movie of him around (he's more a TV star I think). This is highly recommended for those who're into gay movie. thought I hate the ending, since its really sad but hey, just watch it! Don't worry, this isn't porn, you wont see and genital here, just a soft romantic gay movie and you wont find awesome gay themed movie like this everyday.