I enjoyed "You Are Not Alone" very much, but am curious as to the director's true intent. As most reviewers have noted, the most striking theme in the movie is the romantic relationship between Bo and Kim, and this will largely determine a viewer's reaction to the movie. Many of those who admire it (such as myself!) see in this a wish-fulfillment of frustrated adolescent erotic longings from their own youth. Others (probably even many others) see the portrayal of this relationship as disgusting -- difficult as it is for me to understand this, given the chastity of what is shown in the movie. However, on the face of it, this is not the real theme of the movie. Rather, this is the rebellion of Youth against Authority, which was a very prominent subject in the 1970's, when the movie was made. It is quite possible to interpret the whole movie as being about this topic, with the gay relationship only being one of its many manifestations. Admittedly, the movie's abrupt ending, immediately after a scene where the assembled faculty and public are shown a filming of a prolonged erotic embrace between the young lovers, seems to miss a big chance to say more about this youth/adult conflict, and to emphasize the gay theme. However, I can't really think of a way in which the scene that would have resulted from this would have had any constructive upshot, and it seems to me a clever device of the film-makers to leave this to the viewer's imagination.In an attempt to find out more about the true intent of the writers, I trolled the internet and found that this movie is the final one of a trilogy by Lasse Nielsen about youth. The previous two have no gay element at all (at least, according to the reviews, I haven't seen them). This makes me think that the conflict rather than the gay theme was indeed uppermost in the writer's mind -- at least, nominally. For me (and many others), the romance remains its real content. Lasse Nielsen seems to have made no other movie since this one (although, rather mysteriously, a search on his name in amazon.com yields a second hit, another movie from featuring nude boys, called Genesis Children, from 1991, but Nielsen is not actually listed in any credits for this one!).I have to say that, apart from the romance, the movie is not that all that well crafted, which is why I couldn't give it a 10. (After several more viewings, I changed the rating to 10 after all.) The various themes are not well developed and transitions between scenes tend to be abrupt and disjointed. In particular, I would have liked to see more about how the Bo/Kim relationship really developed -- we just get a few highlights, apparently spread out over a considerable stretch of time (but unclear just how long: weeks? months?) On the other hand, the film has a large number of very interesting characters, albeit often sketchily depicted; and the acting is uniformly excellent, I am amazed at how well the generally very youthful actors perform.Incidentally, I found the following review in the NYTimes from 1981, when the movie was shown at a film festival, which is not included in the External Reviews on IMDb.com: query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html ?res=9A03E0DF153BF931A35752C0A967948260 (Spaces inserted in order to comply with IMDb.com rules on long words.) It's quite amusing, but not very kind!Finally, I have a query for anyone with more insight into the movie: why does Bo remove Kim's arm from his shoulder in the scene of the group's discussion of events after the bathing scene where a boy was injured? It doesn't fit in the uniformly blissful unfolding of their relationship, but it doesn't seem to mean very much either. It's a very minor point, I'm just curious. (Update: it's been pointed out to me that this is consistent with Bo's feeling some shame about his sexual orientation, cf. the opening scene where he pulls back from stroking his friend's back, the scene where he moves away from Kim when Aske enters the room, and the scene at the picnic where he seems about to kiss Kim but instead breathes on his stomach.)

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.

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

You are not alone is a movie about love. It is easy to watch and I can guarantee that if you have an open mind you will enjoy every minute of it. The action takes place at a Danish boarding school. That is the place where Kim (12 y.o) and Bo (15 y.o) meet for the first time.I like the romantic which flows from the screen. The whole atmosphere of the movie is very relaxing and the music contributes to that. Some time ago I read that this movie became an icon for generations of young people growing up and after seeing it I can understand why.You are not alone is sentimental movie which you will enjoy on some quiet night – it can make you a better person.