johannes2000-1

Unlike many of the reviews here, I wasn't that impressed with this annoyingly slow paced and depressing gay-themed drama. Donato (a Brazilian beach lifeguard) and Konrad (a German tourist, who for some reason speaks fluently Portugese) meet, when Donato saves him from drowning, but fails to save Konrad's fellow traveller. They develop a relationship, Donato follows Konrad to Germany, where he gets increasingly homesick and depressed. Some years later Donato's little brother turns up in Germany too. This covers pretty much the whole story.

The whole atmospere is bleak and grey. Both guys hardly talk, constantly brood, sulk or stare speechless into the far distance, at times they bicker or have (rather rough) sex. When the young brother shows up, things are shaken up a bit, and then there's suddenly the hint of a reconciliation and a happy end, when we see (for 5 long and tedious minutes) the backlights of their motorcycles disappear, weirdly enough not into a bright sunset, but into a dense fog (but I probably missed some deep metaphore).

Many reviewers rave over the sex-scenes, but in my (European) opinion it's all very mild: some bare buttocks and some simulated intercourse, that's it. Both characters aren't sympathetic at all, and the younger brother is downright obnoxious, so you couldn't care less what happens to all three of them. As said, the pace is extremely slow, dialogues are sparse, and there are long stretches where absolutely nothing happens. I'm sorry, the intentions of the makers were undoubtedly sincere, but for me it didn't work at all - it just felt tedious and utterly depressing.