Wow! Such a good movie.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

"Rückenwind" or "Light Gradient" is a German movie from seven years ago written and directed by Jan Krüger and this was far from his first work in terms of gay-themed movies. And admittedly, it is also not as bad as the short film he made on this matter early in his career. But "Rückenwind" is still a pretty unsuccessful project overall. There was not a single factor about this film that I really liked. I have seen many gay-themed (short) films and the problem is in 90% of the cases that the film relies way too heavily on the couple being homosexual and not heterosexual as if this was already a major plot point. In my opinion, you have to deliver in the face of this background information and not act as if this is the plot already. To be more focused on this film here, this is also a major flaw I believe. Apart from that, the writing does not feel too inspired either. It was obviously the maker's intention to deliver a character study here, in which nothing really spectacular happens, but even from that perspective I found it lacking and boring. It certainly does not help that the two lead actors do not seem to be among the most gifted of their craft. looking at their bodies of work in recent years, it seemed that they stopped acting. And Krüger also has not made a feature film in 5 years anymore. I hope if he does another one one day, he will have improved a bit as "Rückenwind" is disappointing for the most part and lack relevance despite being very short and running only for approximately 75 minutes. Not recommended.

I loved this movie! I don't care that I don't understand the end or much of anything else about it. I may figure it out someday, or I may not, but that does not in any way diminish the joy this wonderful movie gave me.I was fascinated for every one of its 75 minutes. The music alone is exhilarating, an eclectic mix including an 18th century Handel song and modern instrumentals that made me want to dance (and I am NOT a dancer). Sebastian Schlecht, who plays Johann, the darker-haired of the two lovers, is extraordinarily appealing in a quirky, understated way, and his expressions during the last ten minutes of the movie just blew me away.I never assume actors are gay, but if these two are not, then they had the best direction any two straight actors ever had, and they followed that direction with courage and dedication and talent few actors have. I believed completely in the passion and the tenderness between them, and their love scenes are some of the most erotic I have ever seen, although they are not even close to being explicit sexually.I can't get over how much better this movie is than other reviewers led me to expect.

****** POSSIBLE SPOILERS ********** But wait! You can't spoil a movie that has nothing to spoil!I'm a fan of indie films and foreign films, but I'll be the first to admit, I've seen a lot more bad ones than good ones. So as an expert on bad movies, let me tell you, this one is terrible. What happens in it? Maybe something, but whatever the hell it is, it happens off-screen. There's a lead-up to the point when the something may or may not have happened (i.e., the whole, drawn-out, insufferably boring movie), and an epilogue in which a character mumbles something about a fox and a hare in a hospital.But what happens? Well, there's a flash of ropes, and a struggle and darkness, and.... well that's it.I'm not exaggerating. That's the movie. the lead-up is lyrical... a prologue about a fox and a hare... then lots and lots of bicycle riding in the woods. Bicycling riding on abandoned runways. Sun shining through the trees as they ride bikes through the woods. S&M in the woods, robbing sandwiches from other bike riders in the woods. Outdoor showers with a garden hose, skinny-dipping on a pier, and then the thing that possibly happens, and then the epilogue.At least "The Singing Forest," in my mind the worst movie ever made, *tried* to tell a story. This one doesn't even try.So this is how to torture Hitler in hell. Strap der Führer into a chair, with his eyes pried open a la Alex in A Clockwork Orange, and force him to watch the "Light Gradient" over and over... But, every time it finishes, pause to beat him and shout "Achtung! Explain it to me, Herr Hitler! I know you understand what happened! Now talk!" Beat him for five more minutes, say "Vee haff vays to make you talk" and play the loop again.Hmm. Maybe even he doesn't deserve that.

I feel compelled to write a rare--for me--review because I feel that the only previous reviewer missed the point of this movie almost entirely.It's true that the photography and setting are beautiful. It's also true that the title refers to the gently-sloping bike lane that the two protagonists choose for their camping weekend in the country. However, like almost everything else in the film, it also may allude to the gradual, almost imperceptible manner in which a "hike in the woods" can degenerate into a mad rush to terror.The film opens in an antiseptic institution of unknown character wherein one of the central characters, Johann, finds himself. In voice-over, he tells of a fable involving a fox and a hare. The fox is attempting to lure the hare into the deep woods for a little adventure. The hare, ignorant of any impending danger, is finally persuaded. "I'm game", he intones. The scene then cuts to a passenger car on a train bound for the German countryside. The young man we have just met now has a new-found companion, Robin. It soon becomes apparent that the two very attractive young men are lovers, each with a bit of a masochistic/sadistic streak. The balance of this rather brief study in human nature--at a mere 75 minutes--is a test of the viewer's aptitude at deciphering which of the two boys is the hare and the other the fox. Every detail in the film is critical to avoiding being blind-sided by the ambiguous and chillingly abrupt ending.