Because of the nature of its homosexuality this film will be ignored, dismissed, misunderstood, and it will be immediately be put into a ghetto of film making. This film is a masterpiece. I will not give any spoilers other than to say that many men who are homosexual hide behind masks: masks to hide their nature from the still alienating heterosexual, and masks to assert their defense against those who would do them harm. Two men are the central characters here: the open homosexual who is a university professor, and a young and troubled youth (beautifully acted by Alexander Tsypilev). The youth literally has his masks. The teacher does not. In one brave sequence, the teacher speaks out against casual sex and the masks that go with that.
This is basically a simple story, but Tor Iben is a creative director and magically turns the Surreal in the film (like Bunuel before him) into stark realism. An audience bred on superficial films will be bewildered and will turn away. Fassbinder did this to his audiences with many of his films. and 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant' and 'Fox and His Friends' alienated many homosexuals, but Fassbinder had a heterosexual following that kept his films alive. Many of today's homosexual films like 'Theo and Hugo', 'Harvest' and 'God's Own Country' have a short life span, and I fear this film will too. I wonder how the brilliant 'Sauvage' will fare when it hits UK shores...
TLA have brought this out and, despite the ludicrous, unwarranted sexual warning on the cover, buy it. The lost art of Bunuel has returned, along with echoes of Japanese classics like 'Onibaba' (ritual is a great part of this film, and the Samurai is there as well along with Kurosawa).
But I am fast losing patience with those who want the simple, the normative and the non-confrontational.