Two handsome, naked young men hold each other in bed. One comforts the other, who has awakened from a nightmare. Slowly it becomes clear that the couple is a youthful-looking father and his son.

Following his historical tour-de-force Russian Ark, director Alexander Sokurov returns with Father and Son, a lyrical companion piece to his 1996 film, Mother and Son. Here in their romantic rooftop apartment, the pair has created a private world full of memories and daily rituals. Sometimes they seem like brothers; sometimes like lovers. Following in Father's footsteps, Son attends military school. He likes sports, tends to be irresponsible, and has problems with his girlfriend, who is jealous of his close relationship with his father. Son knows that he must someday live his own life, but he is conflicted, nevertheless. Never has a love between a father and a son been so strong.

Exhibiting plenty of skin and muscles in bare-chested bodybuilding sessions before a voyeuristic camera, Alexei Neimyshev as the serious young Son and Andrei Shetinin as the romantically handsome Father open the film up to sexual interpretations Sokurov perhaps never intended. Whether Father and Son can be termed a gay film is certainly open for debate, but there is no question as to the homoerotic subtext in this relationship. The romanti­cism is further reinforced by cinematographer Alexander Burov's creamy peach palette and composer Andrei Sigel's Tchaikovsky-inspired score.