You Are Not Alone (1978)

Two precocious boys explore their sexuality at boarding school.

Directors:

Ernst Johansen, Lasse Nielsen

Writers:

Lasse Nielsen, Bent Petersen

Stars:

Anders Agensø, Peter Bjerg, Ove Sprogøe

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anders Agensø	...	Bo
Peter Bjerg	...	Kim
Ove Sprogøe	...	Kims far - Forstander
Elin Reimer	...	Kims mor
Jan Jørgensen	...	Lærer Jens Carstensen
Jørn Faurschou	...	Lærervikar Andersen
Merete Axelberg	...	Lærer Mortensen
John Hahn-Petersen	...	Lærer Justesen
Hugo Herrestrup	...	Conradsen
Beatrice Palner	...	Fru Jensen
Aske Jacoby	...	Aske
Ole Meyer	...	Ole
Janek Lesniak
Peter Vittrup
Martin Højmark

Storyline

A student strike at a Danish boys school is the backdrop of YOU ARE NOT ALONE. The leisurely paced tale explores the relationship between 14 year-old Bo and Kim,11, the younger son of the stern boarding school headmaster. Mounting school tensions over the expulsion of a troubled student threaten to sabotage the tranquility of the school.

---

Plot Keywords:

male nudity | boarding school | teenage boy | male frontal nudity | queer cinema | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official distributor's page for the film. [Germany] (German) Official distributor's page for the film. [United States]

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

23 February 1978 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

You Are Not Alone

Filming Locations:

Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Steen Herdel Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the directors requested that Peter Bjerg get a little haircut for the role of Kim. Even though he loved his hairstyle, he needed to see more of his face for the camera.

---

Connections

Follows Could We Maybe (1976)

User Reviews

Beautiful and touching...but not absent of flaws.

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.