You Are Not Alone (film)
| You Are Not Alone | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) | |
| Directed by |
Ernst Johansen Lasse Nielsen |
| Produced by | Steen Herdel |
| Written by |
Lasse Nielsen Bent Petersen |
| Starring |
Anders Agensø Peter Bjerg Ove Sprogøe Elin Reimer Jan Jørgensen |
| Music by | Sebastian |
| Cinematography | Henrik Herbert |
| Edited by | Hanne Hass |
| Distributed by | Horizon Films (U.S.) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 mins |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish |
You Are Not Alone (Danish: Du er ikke alene) is a 1978 Danish coming-of-age film written by Lasse Nielsen and Bent Petersen, directed by Lasse Nielsen and Ernst Johansen and produced by Steen Herdel.
Synopsis
Set in a Danish all-boys boarding school, one of the boys, Bo (Anders Agensø), develops a special relationship with the headmaster's young son Kim (Peter Bjerg). In the beginning of the film the headmaster is trying to get funding for a new gym for the school. The boarding school is likely a Christian one, as they have school prayer and the teachers keep referring to good Christian morals.
In another plotline, a troubled student is expelled for displaying sexually charged posters. Some of the students decide to protest this by walking-out of classes. The boy is eventually allowed to return to school so that he may graduate. At the year-end graduation ceremony, the boys present to the entire school and their families a short film they made by themselves based on the commandment "Love thy neighbour".
Controversiality
The film stills holds up as being somewhat controversial, particularly in the United States, not only for its subject matter of an adolescent same-sex romance, but also for its scene that shows both young lead actors; Agensø (age 15 at the time) and Bjerg (who was 12) in full frontal nudity, taking a shower together.
Regarding Bo's and Kim's relationship, when director Lasse Nielsen was asked if the film could be made today he responded: "No, I don’t believe the film could be made today. We have an unfortunate situation of self-censorship these days."
However he also commented on the world's view on homosexuality by stating: "In many ways, there is more tolerance. On YouTube, for example, you can see many young boys “coming out” as gay. And – at least in Denmark – parents are becoming more accepting. I’m not sure there has been much progress in U.S.A. however, where many young gay teenagers are still driven to suicide because of general and specific social harassment." [1]
References
Literature
- Murray, Raymond: Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video. N.Y., TLA Publications, 1994.
External links
- You Are Not Alone at the Internet Movie Database
- You Are Not Alone at AllMovie
- You Are Not Alone, original Danish movie trailer
- Lasse Nielsen on his film ” You Are Not Alone “