A student strike at a Danish boys school paired with a budding young gay romance are the backdrops for ‘You Are Not Alone’, a landmark 1978 film from directors Lasse Nielsen and Ernst Johansen. 15-year-old Bo, a shy student at the boarding school and Kim, the son of the stern headmaster form a friendship that starts to turn romantic. Meanwhile, mounting school tensions over the expulsion of a troubled student explore the rebellious political attitude of youth in the 70s. Directors Lasse Nielsen and Ernst Johansen chose to create a film with these two radical themes to great effect with depth and candor. Their sensitive handling of controversial themes makes ‘You Are Not Alone’ a groundbreaking treatment of sexual liberation and the power of each individual voice, no matter how young or old.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New Trailer
- Other Trailers
- Danish-Language 2.0 Master Audio
- English & Spanish Subtitles
- Region-Free
MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions : 7.48 x 5.31 x 0.55 inches; 2.29 ounces
Director : Lasse Nielsen,, Ernst Johansen
Media Format : DVD
Run time : 1 hour and 34 minutes
Release date : September 10, 2024
Actors : Anders Agensø, Ove Sprogøe, Peter Bjerg
Subtitles: : English
Studio : Altered Innocence
ASIN : B0D79SXSD7
Country of Origin : USA
John H. –
more beautiful than I expected
I was really impressed after watching this movie. Selfishly, maybe I was thinking there would be more action between thecute boys. There wasn’t a lot of it, but maybe that led to the quality and credibility of the film. Honestly, I loved many things about the movie. First, plenty of attractive young guys with long hair and tight, form fitting clothes. (Yes, I like both of those on young boys.) On to the main characters of the movie. They are truly what made the movie so amazing, so magical. I almost think it wrong ton call it a “gay” film. It is a film about to very beautiful young boys who become friends, and their friendship grows into an obvious physical attraction towards eachother. That is where this film excells. It is not a hard “throw you lover on the bed and bang him.” Rather, it is a sweet display of desire and attraction. Love it when Bo, the taller, broader, older, handsome guy with lots cool curly hair smiles, and watches as adorable younger, sweet, slender Kim peddles his bike past, with his awsome long, silky blond hair. Also, Bo watches, smiling from the hall, as his cute young friend has a piano lesson in the living room. The amzing shower scene, with both boys nude, was very low keyed, Bo gently washing the back and shoulders of his young love. It could have been so much more graphic, but wasn’t. Just like the party in the forest where a potential passionate kiss by Bo was passed over. I really found the movie believable for as much as it was, as what it was not. The love between the boys was so obvious. And I can see how they could be attracted to eachother. Kim, young, cute, sweet with all that hair!! And Bo. Taller, older, broader….well filled out for a boy his age. And that long,thick curly hair. I can see why they like each other. Also, i really loved the fact they were both truly boys. Neither feminine, overtly gay. Some much more i could mention but i wont. A lot has already been said in prior posts. I missed though, anyone saying of the obvious gentle attraction between the two beautiful boys. And the last scene, the kissing, huging, Kims shirt coming off. That alone was worth buying the movie, for me. Agian, it seemed to show the passion between the boys, and how gently and lovingly it was expressed. It really showed me how two boys can love each other, and not making just about hard, nonstop sex! Gay boys, or just two beautiful boys loving each other.
DANY LYNEN –
FINDING LOVE IN YOUR OWN SEX
I first heard about this movie in 1980. I was in my very early twenties. Time passed, and was not able to obtain a copy and I forgot about it. Browsing through You Tube, recently I found it by chance. When I saw the preview I went to my amazon found it, and ordered it. It made me feel good to relive the feelings and emotions of my boyhood and especially the crush I had on one of my best male friends. From the start of the movie it shows how boys that age relate to one another in a pure form of honest male friendship. The shower scene is perfect and is an innocent act of male puberty. Growing up in the early 70’s made me feel isolated and alone with these feelings. Why is it so wrong to feel this way for your own sex. It’s not wrong. It is beautiful. I believe its part of loving yourself. Studying through history one comes to the conclusion that this ignorant way of thinking here in America, had to be instilled by ancestors of the Mayflower! Only in Europe could a film of this subject matter and, its beauty have been made. Repressing those feelings for so many years left me sad and miserable for years to come. Some of us outgrow it to eventually love a woman and, have a family and some of us don’t! We as a society must come to terms with the facts that it is common in young males. This society tries to make you feel shameful and make you believe that it is morally wrong and against god, that is a crime in itself. Have people forgotten the Kinsey reports. Because of all this puritanical bull in this part of the world it gives me a bitter taste of ignorance.This film is beautiful and wonderful. Its not only sexual but also shows togetherness, friendship, and for me an important lesson in loyalty and being part of the team. Had we as boys back then been able to express ourselves with each other, we might have turned out a little better. Kinsey in his study of male sexuality found out that repressing those feelings and not being able to fulfill a desire makes you only want it more. I recommend this film to all young men out there who have felt these feelings as i did growing up! Currently at these crossroads of life it is so redeeming and rewarding to finally fine out that indeed, i was not alone!
Kenneth Benjamin –
Great Movie But will not Play on BlueRay or Regular USA DVD Machine.
I waited weeks for this DVD and it said region free but when I go to play on either player, blue ray or regular DVD player it wouldnt work. Sometimes DVD’s that have photo art work on the disk have trouble playing.Im hoping the replacement disk will work. Movie is good and worth seeing.
Martin Müller –
Obwohl dieser Film schon von 1978 ist, so ist er für diese Zeit sehr offen. Dieser queere Film hat eine deutsche Synchronisation. Die queere Handlung stellt zwar den Kern der Erzählung dar, präsentiert aber auch andere Probleme von Jugendlichen mit der damaligen Gesellschaft. Zum einen hat der Film eine gute Ruhe um das Leben von Jugendlichen in einem abgelegenen Internat zu zeigen, er wirkt zu keinem Zeitpunkt hektisch. Trotzdem entwickelt er eine mitreiÃende Dynamik, wenn sich die Schüler solidarisieren um gemeinsam Probleme zu lösen, die für den Einzelnen alleine unüberwindlich scheinen. Die Jugendlichen sind generell viel toleranter als die Erwachsenen und sehen keinerlei Probleme in homoromantischer Liebe.Das Internat liegt abgelegen im Grünen, auch ein Waldsee ist fuÃläufig zu erreichen. Dadurch haben die Internatsschüler einen idyllisch gelegenen Schutzraum, in dem sie sich sehr frei entfalten können. Man spürt die sommerliche Atmosphäre, die Unbeschwertheit der Jugendlichen. Die jungen Darsteller demonstrieren, wie gut junge Menschen schwierige Konflikte lösen und offen, neue Lösungen finden. Sie sind sehr verständnisvoll und sozial engagiert. Auch wimmelt der Film von jungen, dynamischen Menschen, die ihren Träumen und Vorstellungen nachgehen, sodass die Charaktere im Film nie einsam und alleine dastehen, was auch gut zum Filmtitel passt. In dieser Atmosphäre fühlt sich auch der Zuschauer geborgen und kann genieÃend dem Geschehen folgen.Die Bildqualität wartet mit guter Schärfe und natürlichen, warmen, sommerlichen Farben auf.Die Papierqualität der Seiten des Mediabuches ist jedoch nur mäÃig; die abgedruckten Fotos sind alles andere als in Fotoqualität und erinnern an dünne Seiten eines Magazins.
rossi vincenzo –
Bello e basta.da vedere
terry –
The movie was as expected in excellent condition no scratches or issues.
rod finch –
portrays a true and honest reflection of a relationship in a world where many people are judgemental and intolerant
schumann_bg –
It can be difficult getting what you want – this film is the only dvd I have ever known to get oxidised, over a ten year period, so that it no longer plays after 40 minutes. Reading another review here alerted me to the risk of other faults, so I bought a copy of the German edition, only to find it has a slight blur whenever anyone moves fast, or that the image jerks, say in a tracking shot. So it’s back to ordering another copy of this tla releasing edition, and hoping it’ll be a good copy … It’s a great pity the film is not released in the UK, but then, so much of value isn’t. Particularly anything historical and of gay interest – the gay companies only put out what’s brand new.The ineptitude extends to the cover, which quotes a misleading remark from The Seattle Times likening the film to “the best style of Truffaut” – on the German box, it is “the early style of Truffaut” whose early films are really not all that gentle. Les quatre cents coups is really a painful film about adolescence, far from the tone of Lasse Nielsen’s Danish film; however it is definitely in the Truffaut class. It focuses on a group of teenagers in a boys’ boarding school. There are a few young women on the kitchen staff who seem to be an extension of the learning body. The school is run by a fairly draconian headmaster, but actually has absorbed a lot of the freewheeling values of the 70s. Flower power suffuses every frame, still, and brightly coloured tops, and long hair. It is about two things: youthful rebellion, as embodied by one pupil, Ole, who puts pornographic images up in his room and almost scuppers the school’s chance of getting a new gymnasium. He later repeats it in a more public space, is expelled, and brings about a revolutionary fervour in the other pupils. This is elided with an exploration of gay love, primarily between 15-year-old Bo and 12 year-old Kim, who happens to be the headmaster’s son. Sexuality in general is a theme, treated both lyrically and frankly. The very young age of the main protagonists – Kim is younger than everyone else we see in the school, who range from about 14 to 17 – gives the film a radical feel that is nevertheless totally in the spirit of truth, I would say. The film highlights a brave new world in which feelings and tenderness are paramount, and the warmth that comes off the screen is remarkable. It was a brief moment in gay liberation when youth could be regarded quite like this – now the pendulum has swung rather the other way, It poses far-reaching questions about how we bring people up – what feelings are ‘appropriate’ at different ages? Western Europe is still much freer than many other places, but on a world scale, the picture is hardly rosy for youthful love, either of a gay or straight persuasion. People in America being proud of being virgins, gayness excoriated in many countries, and anything between boys of this age being automatically branded as abuse – but is the adult world any more enlightened for it, are we really going in the right direction at all? Or are we entering a new dark age?These questions are only tangentially posed by the film – it isn’t presenting itself as all that serious, and the lyricism would cave in if it were too polemical. It is more like dandelion seed, blown on the wind. Utterly charming in many scenes, with a soundtrack of unmistakeable 70s appeal and openness; there is a drunken picnic in the woods, the girls wearing long tiered skirts; a lesson discussing the addictive nature of hashish; a history lesson on democracy and what it means to youth; creative drama that ends up looking like Pina Bausch, in an experiment to raise awareness of bullying. Also a confrontation with some thugs, one of whom ends up being forced to kiss Ole’s bottom – while his clothing is just so cool – all the gear is, with 70s underpants of the sort that made life more fun as the outer layer came off – before lycra, in other words, streamlining everything (the underwear favoured by modern robots). These boys are not above playing pranks – there is a whole group of them who come to life over the course of the somewhat rambling screenplay, but in the end it is a bigger vision that it reaches for, and one that makes you think: yes, this is how school days should ideally be.It is a far cry from a modern film like Laurent Cantet’s The Class; also an outstanding film in its way, but how we have fallen from this tenderness, this love. What a horrible edge there is now, how confrontation has become the norm in a way that lacks all proportion. To compare the two just makes you despair at how politicised, uptight and unpleasant the world has become – yet the other is still possible underneath all that … isn’t it?Beyond this, a part of the appeal is looking back and connecting with feelings one had in early adolescence oneself. The director does seem to have quite a lot of shots of 15 and 16-year-old boys in their underpants but really this is only a true reflection of what you would see if you were at a boys’ boarding school in the summer, as opposed to being given the parents’ tour. For a gay male, it can only tap into feelings one had and take us back, grateful to have felt these things, and still seeing them as a yardstick of truth.