Jongens

At this writing the previous reviews save one all heap praise on this sweet little movie. The lone dissenter hated it.

I understand both points of view. It's well done, nicely framed, and tells a story that flows quite naturally. It is subtle, and it shows us what's happening rather than tells us, which is what a good movie needs to do. On the other hand, we have seen this story and virtually every plot device it uses in countless other gay films from the last 30 years.

More than one review here compares Boys to Beautiful Thing. No, sorry. Not even close. Beautiful Thing is unflinching in its hard boiled, sardonic view of teen age angst. This movie should only be compared to Beautiful Thing by calling it Beautiful Thing Ultra Lite.

Now, that's not a bad thing, necessarily. And, evidently, for a lot of people, Ultra Lite is enough. I won't say I didn't enjoy it, because I did; it's very watchable. But if you go into this expecting a masterpiece, well, you may not find it. Especially if you've seen a lot of gay-themed movies that are really good.

I totally agree with the other reviewer. This is really a beautiful and wonderful film. Like what he/she has said, the cinematography and music are good, and the key point about " Loving someone and not being able to show it, ....................., driving you to do things that disgust and hurt you inside." is the most significant message of this movie that need to be told to the whole world no matter we are gay or not gay.

The two young leading actors has done a good job especially the one who plays the boy who hesitate to come out. The only thing that is not yet perfect is that the total play time is too short that they have only shown how the boy who hesitate to come out suffers but has not shown much about how his lover suffers from his jojo hesitation. Otherwise it will be perfect.

Although I have recorded it down with my DVD-recorder, I still hope that one of those big studios will appreciate this film and release it on DVD and Blu-ray, not just with Dutch subtitles but also with English subtitles so that we can share this wonderful film with our family and our friends all around the world. Here in the Netherlands, it seems that only big studio like Universal, Warner, Paramount, Fox and MGM will release Dutch films with English subtitles. Let's pray for that!

This movie is a rare jewel.

Out of the gay "coming-of-age" stories I have seen, this one hit home the hardest for me. I never saw such an accurate portrayal of how it felt to fall in love when I was around fifteen years old myself. The acting in "Jongens" is amazingly natural and believable. Although it is isn't a high budget film, it doesn't detract from the experience at all. The cinematography and music perfectly accompany the drama.

Loving someone and not being able to show it. The elation of being in love, the lying awake and dreaming of someone, the enormous heartache felt when you still feel that showing what you really feel is impossible, driving you to do things that disgust and hurt you inside.

All children around the age of 11-15 should see this movie. And adults will understand and appreciate the drama, too, whether they are straight or gay. I don't remember seeing such an authentic portrayal of gay teenage love and of the difficulty gay teenagers experience even in a tolerant country such as the Netherlands.

Fantastic to see a gay-themed movie without anything remotely explicit, but that still so clearly shows the enormous tension and love between the lead characters. The German movie "Sommersturm" (Summer Storm) came close, but contains scenes that, while realistic and innocent too, may be found a little offensive by homophobes. "Jongens" is therefore the perfect movie to show to mixed crowds, and to educate people on the normality of being gay. This is the kind of movie a gay kid might show his parents.

Huge compliments to the makers for such a fantastically realistic portrayal of gay teenagers. Let's hope this movie will be shown to children all over the world, for homophobia is still rampant in so many countries. And this sincere drama won't offend even the most uneducated and intolerant person, if they are willing to learn the truth.

Despite my longstanding love for the genre, I did not expect to be so moved by this film. In the same vein as movies like Shelter, Just A Question Of Love, Beautiful Thing, Jongens is about a boys struggle with sexuality, family obligations, growing up. There are plenty of plot points that are similar, admittedly, but Jongens had something the others didn't. Or perhaps it steered clear of things the others didn't.

While some reviews suggest there needs more elaboration, or elucidation, I think that's where the beauty lies. The main character, Sieg, and his love interest, Marc, fall for each other. You don't know that because they say it, or because they are physical with each other - you know that because of their stolen glances, their fleeting touches, the way they play and laugh and muck around, just like boys do.

There are serious elements to the film - we constantly see Sieger punishing himself with his athletic training, his overbearing brother always in the background - but they don't overwhelm you, or steal anything from all the sweet, gentle moments. Playing out parallel to the upcoming athletic championships, and with the backdrop of the river,forest,and long dirt roads - so much can be taken from what you see, and how it makes you feel, rather than what is told or forced upon you.

I agree there should be more, but only because they're special, their feelings and shared moments are fun and enthralling, and you'd like to be privy to hours of them.

If sweet, subtle, coming-of-age films are your cup of tea then definitely take time to see this movie. Sieg's journey into love, and identity is universal, and I think a lot of people - regardless of their sexuality - will relate.

This is a great movie. I watched it in dutch, with dutch subtitles and my native language is Spanish and I didn't even need to understand them because their performances were so good that it wasn't necessary. This is the kind of gay themed movie I was looking for all this time. It's not explicit and shows the real feelings of the principal character. It shows the love and the pain he suffers. It's like the last users said: it's the kind of movie that everyone can see. This movie can change the mentality of a lot of people. It's great and I'm happy that IMDb gave it such a good qualification, because almost an 8 is very difficult in this web site.