The USA and the ham-fisted 'ending'
I have lived in the US for the past two decades, and can honestly state that the US is one of the most homophobic, morally backwards, and obtuse nations in what we refer to as "Western civilization" -- furthermore, that nation is moving BACKWARDS as I write this.
For that reason -- and probably that reason alone -- the "ending" of the movie took the form of a ham-fisted, out of nowhere marriage between Eyal and Pia. Had the movie gone where it should have gone (in terms of authenticity with respect to the dynamics that unfolded between Axel and Eyal), audiences in the US would have shunned the movie or dismissed it out of hand (bear in mind that we are referring to a nation that cannot even tolerate the concept of "civil unions" between members of the same sex). The "ending" was tacked on for the sake of US audiences, to salvage this brilliant little movie from box-office failure in that nation. The "ending" was bereft of merit, and had only one redeeming feature -- the dream in which Eyal and Axel were once again together...
I am openly gay, and saw the relationship unfolding between Axel and Eyal very early in the movie. Eyal was jealous, confused, upset, and at a complete loss to understand his own feelings as he abandoned Pia at the gay bar -- he did not know or understand it, but he had formed a bond with Axel and saw Axel's behavior in the gay bar as a "betrayal" of that bond. Later, when Axel explained gay sex to Eyal, Axel deliberately and (in my opinion) carefully stated that he classified himself as neither a top nor a bottom -- something which I think he did so as to preempt any foreclosure of a future possible relationship between the two of them. His reference to Eyal and other "straight boys" was such a coy tease that I cannot understand how anybody could have missed this dead give-away! This was blatant flirtation!
The TRUE ending of the movie -- the scene in which Eyal is comforted and caressed by Axel -- speaks for itself. Both characters have undergone profound psychological transformation. Axel, for the first time, feels hatred for those who wish to harm him (the punks at the underpass). Eyal, for the first time, feels awe for life itself (and is hence unable to complete his mission). They know each other and love each other, and, for the first time, this can be acknowledged for what it is...
(I was reminded of a similar scene involving incredibly close bonding, in a movie named "Mysterious Skin," which ended on a similar note...)
It saddens me that this little gem of a movie had to be mangled so as to make it palatable to US tastes at the box-office. Pia's character undergoes no development whatsoever; she is merely part of the scenery (in terms of the dynamics between the characters).
This is a movie about seduction, in which the seducer does not, at first, even know if he wants the seduced...
PHILIP CHANDLER