Du er ikke alene

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

This is one of those films that would be impossible to make today and that also shows how different the northern European countries have been with their openness around young kids' sexuality. The film tells a beautiful story of first love between two boys in a boarding school with the actors being the right age for a change, and even when the subject is filmed with the most delicacy and naturalism, it's also not shy in showing full fontal nudity that screams 70s and would be impossible to show today. The film is a landmark in Danish cinema and touches on all kind of important teen and preteen subjects. The only real problem that I see with it is that the structure is very lose and sometimes the main story gets lost between the multiple secondary ones.

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.

Excellent movie, if you have an open mind. The two boy's relationship grows in a very innocent manner. Even if you are heterosexual, you can probably identify with the feeling of your first infatuation for another person and all the little moments together that seemed special. This movie deals with first love, of another kind, in an extremely tasteful manner. My only regret is that, in America, people will not tolerate movies like this one. It makes it very hard to hear of, and also see movies with such an explosive subject. I would recommend it, if you can find it.

This is not merely an enjoyable film, but it is a very unique and important movie too. This is the case because it approaches with taste and dignity a sensitive subject matter which is often regarded as taboo. The subject is that of homosexuality between teens and preteens. Bo is a 15 year-old boy who finds himself smitten with Kim, who is younger and extremely handsome. Kim more than reciprocates Bo's interest and passion. The result is a beautiful and loving relationship between two nice and decent boys. The movie contains incidental nudity and fabricated intimacy, however it is in no way vulgar or dirty. A previous viewer remarked that the musical score is unremarkable, but I found it to be both beautiful and catchy. Any youth who has experienced feelings similar to Bo's and Kim's may have found it difficult or damaging to attempt to discuss these matters with influential people, such as parents, teachers or peers. This may tend to cause such youngsters to feel isolated and defective. This movie offers vindication and progressiveness, even if the level of acceptance which Bo and Kim enjoyed is unfortunately somewhat fantastic. Maybe it's true, as this movie suggests, that characters like Bo and Kim (and people like me) really are not all alone in this world.