Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

You Are Not Alone (film)

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Music director
  
Sebastian

Country
  
Denmark

7.6/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Drama, Romance

Duration
  

Language
  
Danish

A poster of the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone" starring Peter Bjerg as Kim

Director
  
Ernst JohansenLasse Nielsen

Release date
  
23 February 1978 (1978-02-23)

Writer
  
Lasse Nielsen, Bent Petersen

Initial release
  
February 23, 1978 (Denmark)

Directors
  
Lasse Nielsen, Ernst Johansen

Screenplay
  
Lasse Nielsen, Bent Petersen

Cast
  
Anders Agensø
(Bo),
Peter Bjerg
(Kim),
Jørn Faurschou
(Lærervikar Andersen),
Ove Sprogøe
(Kim's dad (the Headmaster)),
Elin Reimer
,
Jan Jørgensen


Tagline
  
Danish coming-of-age story

Similar
  
Amour (1970 film), Beauty and the Beast (1983 film), Boys (1977 film)

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.

Contents

Peter Bjerg as Kim and Anders Ageso as Bo attempting to kiss and shirtless in a scene from the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

Du er ikke alene you are not alone ending


Synopsis

Peter Bjerg as Kim playing the piano in a scene from the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

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.

Children fighting in a scene from the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

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

Peter Bjerg as Kim smiling and wearing a blue shirt in a scene from the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

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.

Peter Bjerg drinking some wine while wearing a black shirt and shortless with another boy in a scene from the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

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."

Peter Bjerg as Kim and Anders Ageso as Bo smiling while in class in the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

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."

Literature

Peter Bjerg as Bo looking at something and wearing a red shirt in a scene from the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone"

  • Murray, Raymond: Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video. N.Y., TLA Publications, 1994.

    • A DVD cover of the 1978 film "You Are Not Alone" starring Peter Bjerg

    References

    You Are Not Alone (film) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA

    You Are Not Alone (film) IMDb You Are Not Alone (film) themoviedb.org