This is a film reminiscent of "Sun Kissed" of 2006. Most seemed to hate that film too.Both are films following a schizophrenic fantasy. The action is slow because it is a dreamlike state. Johann fantasizes a hiking trip with a lover. The mother and son they meet are totally supportive of their homosexuality. It is possible that society's non-supportive attitude is what put Johann in the institution in the first place, and so he fantasizes the opposite in a dream world. Johan is both the fox and the hare, two different aspects of his personality.All the water scenes are symbolic of fantasy and are the key that we are not witnessing reality. The showering with a hose out of doors is similar to a scene in "Sun Kissed" because the plumbing did not work indoors which may symbolize the institution or society in general. The scene over the highway where Johann and Robin watch the world go by beneath them shows they are in a world of their own in which they can love each other and be free. The one contact with the real world to which Johann must succumb is the need for sustenance thus the scene with the stealing of food from the couple bicycling. I like to believe the berries eaten by Johann was actually medication administered which totally disrupted his dream lovers' outing. Thus doctors meddling with someone's subconscious are liable to get him tangled in the woods.Who can say that a schizophrenic with a complete fantasy world in his/her mind has not reached nirvana? I gave it a nine because I realized fairly early that I was following a dream that was not supposed to make sense. One just has to suspend reality and go with the sensuous flow.

****** 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'm not sure it counts as a spoiler, since I couldn't figure out the ending.This film seemed to go nowhere, slowly and randomly. Two gay boyfriends (together two months) go on a biking trip together, and encounter mishaps and some friction. They take refuge in a farmhouse with a 40ish woman who seems to fixate on gay men (like her vanished husband) and her teenage son who is typically rather bored and boring, not especially interested in things gay, and not believable as a threat to the two lovers. There's a loose sense of foreboding, but since all the characters seem bored or moody, there is little in the way of clues to piece together a plot. There are a lot of indulgent scenic shots which slow down the action, rather than adding momentum towards a denouement that when arrived at, I still found confusing. The side story about a disappearance in the 18th century seems like it could be a clue to the action, but I couldn't see how it fit. Ditto the psychoactive berries, which add confusion rather than clarity and makes an attempted thriller less thrilling and more confusing in the end.

Light Gradient refers to the gradual slope of a bike path the boys take through a German forest. By gradual I mean slow. Entire scenes tend to go by of light bouncing off trees, water trickling down streams. Comparisons could be made with Summers Storm in the use of half naked young German men out in the open. However this movie has a very scant cast. Mostly 2 main characters, with 2 more joining later. This is not a coming out movie. All characters are extremely comfortable with their sexuality and I think this is a wonderful portrayal of owning ones sexuality.However the slowness of the movie will be its downfall. Occasional spurts of naked frivolity break up the trance like pace. The many close ups of Johan are not unwelcome. Overall it makes for a visual feast. The story line, however, is not compelling, just a little puzzling.