Wild Reeds (1994) User Reviews

Sexual coming of ager

[DennisLittrell · 8/10 · 27 May 2003]

The slightly loose and episodic feel of this charming coming-of-ager doesn't matter because the characters and the conflicts are so well presented that we are enthralled throughout.

Three boys on the verge of manhood (with the French-Algerian conflict smoldering in the background) are in residence at a boarding school in the south of France in 1962. One is gay, the second is bi-sexual and the third is straight. Through their interactions we (and they) discover their sexuality.

Francois Forestier, played attractively by Gael Morel, is gay as he discovers one night when Serge Bartolo (Stephane Rideau), an athletic schoolmate with a natural style, awakens his sexuality by seducing him. For Serge it is just a school age sexual adventure; for Francois it is love so intense he is transformed. The third boy, Henri Mariana, who is from Algeria, is a little older and a little more cynical. He finds heterosexual love with his enemy, Maité Alverez, who is a hated communist. Elodie Bouchez, whom I recall from The Dreamlife of Angels (1998) for which she shared a Cannes Best Actress award, plays Maité whose style is earnest, witty and brave.

As it happens I was in France during the period of this film, and a teenager as well. The Algerian conflict haunted the young men because as soon as they were of age they could be sent away to fight. Also the Communist Party was strong in France and an attraction to some who opposed what they saw as French colonialism in Algeria and Vietnam. Director André Téchiné who characteristically explores human sexuality in his films (e.g., Rendez-Vous (1985) with a young and vital Juliette Binoche; Le lieu du crime (1986) with Catherine Deneuve; and Ma Saison Préférée (1993) also starring Catherine Deneuve) attempts to integrate these larger issues into his film but I don't think is entirely successful. Serge's older brother is killed in Algeria and his teacher blames herself for not helping him to escape his military service and suffers a nervous breakdown. However this story is not well-connected with the rest of the film. Also more could have been done with the divergent views of Maité and Henri. What I loved was the club scene where suddenly the French girls are twisting to Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" which propelled me back to 1962 when indeed the Twist was all the rage in France.

What makes this film superior is the warm and truthful way in which the sexual awakenings are realized. The kids seem absolutely real and the dialogue is sharp and authentic. Morel is very winning. I especially liked the earnest way he confronts and then accepts his sexuality. Interesting was the scene in which he seeks out the shoe salesman whom he knows is gay for his advice on how he should cope with unrequited homosexual love.

This is a film about young people for open-minded adults attractively done. For many it will strike a strong cord of recognition.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

beautifully combining coming of age confusion with its political current

[lasttimeisaw · 8/10 · 2 October 2014]

WILD REEDS is my introductory piece to André Téchiné's cinematic dominion, its title refers to famous fable THE OAK AND THE REED, and it is an adolescent quartet in 1962 France, against the backdrop of the twilight of Algerian War and the demise of French colonization.

Everyone thinks 18-year-old high-schoolers Françoise (Morel) and Maïté (Bouchez) are an item, even Maïté, who is deeply influenced by her mother Madame Alvarez's (Moretti) communist slant, thinks so, they are so compatible and intimate together, although so far the relationship has been purely platonic, it is only a matter of time before it turns physical.

Françoise is a lean and feeble boy, from a petit bourgeois family, he cannot do sports (swimming is an exception) by virtue of his heart condition, he knows Maïté is his soul mate, but they can never be lovers, after he is sexually aroused by his rural classmate Serge (Rideau), son of a farmer with Italian lineage and whose elder brother would later fall in battle at the front line (after being unwillingly transported back to Algeria since Madame Alvarez refuses to offer a helping hand). A boarding school bromance is burgeoning, they become close friends and Françoise comes out to Maïté, she calmly accepts it with sincere encouragement, meanwhile for Serge, his tryout with Françoise is more or less out of a young boy's curiosity, in fact, he is more interested in Maïté, who abstains form his courtship in light of Françoise.

Thankfully, it is not a clichéd love triangle, instead it is a more dynamic quartet, the fourth force comes from Henri (Gorny), an Algerian-born French exile who is newly transferred to the class, he has lost his father in the war and becomes extremely cynical to the mainland bourgeois class (who is apathetic to the end of Algeria's colonization) and hostile to the radical leftists and communists (who are in favor of Algeria's independence). He is the alien, brings a radio in the class, picks on Serge and provokes Françoise for his sexuality, openly defies his teacher Madama Alvarez and reluctantly to accept the help from Monsieur Morelli (Nolot), until finally decides to drop out before the exam and by coincidence, meets Maïté in the communist headquarter in the still of the night, where her kindness thaws his malicious intention.

Eventually all four gather together for an excursion near the riverside with wild reeds waving around, as they let off their most honest and profound feelings, it is also a siren call to culminate the rite-of-passage of their blazing youth. The ultimate take of a 360 degree shot sterlingly singles out the lush atmosphere with a meaningful punchline, a lyrical rendition of the precious moments in one's adolescence, feeling love, experiencing heartbreak, accepting disappointment and facing an unknown future.

Téchiné magnificently teases out impressive and heartfelt performances from these four young actors, Morel, Bouchez and Gorny all rush into the top 10 tier of my yearly rank. Morel is unpolished but a pitch perfect choice for Françoise's sensitivity and integrity; Bouchez is a legitimate sensation, her Maïté, undergoes the choppiest emotional journey in the film, is utterly compelling in every frame; Gorny is detestable at first, then segues into a more sympathetic character thanks to his unfettering ire and the flitting touchiness for a wounded soul. Rideau's Serge, is offered less material to chew on apart from his jock virility, but his unaffected detachment denotes an alternative psyche in the society which hardly changes.

WILD REEDS is an intimately potent prose on how a controversial political situation can erode and alter the mindset of a young generation. Remarkably, it never begin to pall from its poetic aesthetics and robust narrative. It is deservingly a capstone in Téchiné's staunch career orbit.

You'll need to know about the Algerian War of Independence

[Red-125 · 8/10 · 14 February 2021]

Les roseaux sauvages (1994) was shown in the U.S. with the translated title Wild Reeds. It was co-written and directed by André Téchiné.

The movie is set in 1962, just at the end of the Algerian War of Independence. To fully understand and enjoy the movie, it's helpful to know the basics. French soldiers were still being sent to Algeria to oppose independence. The OAS was a right-wing group in Algeria and France that wanted to retain French colonial power.

We don't see Algeria in the movie--the action takes place in and around Toulouse, in southern France. The film is a coming-of-age movie for four young adults.

Élodie Bouchez portrays Maïté Alvarez, the only woman of the four. Gaël Morel is François Forestier, Stéphane Rideau plays Serge Bartolo, and Frédéric Gorny portrays Henri Mariani.

The three young men are studying in a boarding school. Maïté's mother teaches at the school. She and her daughter are both Communists, and they believe in Algerian independence.

The movie examines a few weeks in their lives. These weeks are filled with self-discovery and interaction among the four adolescents. Some of the events are profound and will change what happens to them in the future.

We saw the film on DVD. It would work better on the large screen, but it was OK on the small screen. The movie has a solid IMDb rating of 7.4. I thought it was better than that and rated it 8.

Great coming of age story in 60s France

[Geordie-4 · 15 April 2000]

This was a really sensitive and perceptive story about growing up and some of the pain and confusion that goes along with that. The movie is quite quiet and doesn't feel the need to comment on everything as so many American movies do. It is the story of four young French people growing up in Provence in France in the 60s and one of the boys has a homo-erotic experience and thinks that the other boy with whom he has the experience must have enjoyed it. The other boy regrets the experience that he had and when his brother dies in the war in Algeria, he feels obliged to support his family and so declines to pursue any sort of homosexual relationship. He wants to live a respectable sort of life and doesn't want to cause any trouble. The young gay boy is very confused but is a good friend to the teacher's daughter. They enjoy dancing and seeing films and learning about various things. The girl ends up falling for a rather lazy young man who has very different political views than herself. The movie is beautifully filmed and very relaxed and slow. It is a nice reflective movie on the nature of youth and some of the struggles that kids go through. The kids handle the struggles in the typical manner of kids. Sometimes they don't handle them very well and other times they show remarkable grace and common sense. But all in all it is a wonderfully gimmick free movie which really shows how difficult it is to be a kid in any place and at any time. I would really recommend this movie to people.

A decent movie. No more, no less.

[ANightToRemember · 6/10 · 19 December 2011]

I've been a bit confused as to some other reviews I've seen on this site. Most call the film "beautiful" and a great realistic love story. In some cases they seem to right, but in other cases they aren't.

Let's start with the plot: It's 1960's France, and we've got three guys at a boarding school. François (our main character), Serge (our main character's love interest/lust), and Henri (some kid with a radio). François is in some kind of borderline relationship with his best friend, Maïté. They're at a wedding of the older brother of Serge, even though we aren't totally sure who knows who and how they were invited there. I'll just assume that Maïté's mother, Madame Alvarez, somehow knows Serge's brother. Anyways they go through a horribly shot wedding (more on that later), then go. We get some dialog in which François claims Serge is "weird". Serge's older brother says something about being attracted to Madam Alvarez, and that she can help him get out of going to the war in Algeria. Oh, and he attempts to almost rape her, but don't worry: it's never brought up again.

Anyways, Sergi seduces François one night, and it all goes from there. That kid with the radio is involved too, don't worry. Henri is apparently a Fascist from Algeria (strange, considering he's about as North African as a taco) who is always eager for news from there. It all goes from there, I don't want to give away too much.

Okay, now let's start with my first problem: the cinematography. Some call it "beautiful" and it looks like "summer" and so "pure" all the time. Okay, no. It just sucks in this movie. NOTHING is unique about it. I could pick up a camera and make a movie in the same place with the same outdoor light, and it'd look so "artsy" to some. It is just... nothing. Nothing looks pretty, nothing looks unique. It's just average.

And don't get me started on my main problem: the editing. The GODFORSAKEN EDITING. It's just awful. There are no transitions, at some points it seems to cut in mid-conversation.

Let's use an example. At the beginning, there's a scene with Madam Alvarez is dancing with Serge's brother at his wedding. First of all, they are dancing incredibly quickly for a waltz, and they spin and spin and spin. We're with one camera angle (never cuts to another), so it's almost like both are trying to talk, but the other person continues to block them with their head. The scene ends with the two talking, only it's his shoulder covering half her face and his, well shoulder. It just looks terrible, almost unprofessional.

A lot of elements seem tacked on. There's a whole sub plot with Madam Alvarez as well, with her going crazy over something (I'll leave it to you to see). Only there isn't a reason for it. At all. There isn't any resolution to her problem, no relation to our main characters, it's like they just wanted to add more drama, but it seems like two movies that were accidentally edited together when they should have been separate.

The acting is quite good, though. They all seem to know their characters and do perfectly fine with what they have. I wouldn't mind seeing most of them in other films.

But the direction that everyone calls "fantastic" isn't really that. Half the time the characters do things for no particular reason, leaving you wondering their motivations for half the things they do.

While it isn't a bad movie, it isn't good. It's entertaining, but just an average piece of film. Nothing special. Go ahead and see it if you want to. By seeing it, you won't gain anything. By skipping it you won't miss anything.

6/10

The movie of my life

[vandrade · 10/10 · 2 September 2005]

It is absolutely impossible to make a film like this one without carrying out the personal memories of an our own teenage time. That's why this so called 'teenage movie' is so far away from all other experiences within this field. Téchiné had written and directed a part of his own life. Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Paris, Lisbon, who cares? This is the movie of my life. And if it is so, it's not only because of the unexpected beauty of all frames on the movie, but, essentially because that I felt every inch of the road walked by the characters of this film, as if their experiences, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, were my own teenage experiences and hopes. I saw this film ten years ago, and still I can remember every image, every phrase... And I kept these memories as a guideline for a future life, when I was 23 years old. I know what I have lived, I still don't know what the future reserves to me. But, on those days, ten years ago, I have increased my hope. I found that there was people like me, and like the others around me... The time and the place doesn't matter. No film will never make me feel so strongly about my youth, and, simultaneously, about my future as a man. This is not a 'teenage movie', it's a collection of memories about the construction of our personality. And, we all, with that age, were a little bit of François, Serge, Henri and Maite. And we still are. (...I'm sorry about my English...)

Film Without End

[harry-76 · 7/10 · 21 April 1999]

Have you noticed how the quality of acting in films of the 90s is consistently "good" to "very good"? Hardly ever "bad," and then again, hardly ever "great"? To me, this is due to the casting directors (taking over from the former directors and producers) nabbing actors in their physical prime and expertly assigning them given roles. The result is a consistent level of good quality acting, significantly raising the level of merely adequate scripts and sustaining audience attention far beyond what the material would normally elicit. "Wild Reeds" is a case in point. Set in southwest France in 1962, Andre Techine's film is generally a loosely written and structured coming-of-age story essentially about four older teens in a boarding school passing into adulthood. We learn a bit about their social values, more about their political views (especially the French-Algerian conflict) and a lot about their sexual inclinations. What we don't learn is what Director Techine or his scriptors, Olivier Massart and Gilles Taurand are trying to say. The story goes along from character to character without a motivating force. There's a good deal of talk about a lot of things, but no particular central viewpoint is conveyed in a concise manner. It's a film without form or end, which just sort of stops at a certain point because that's about the general length of a feature. Yet the film is interesting, mainly due to the youthful beauty and quality of the male and female actors, beautifully cast in these roles. As probably will be the usual case, we'll look for them in vain in the future to see their other work. They've been "perfectly" cast here, and their work is permanently documented in "Wild Reeds." But the film itself--casting aside--is an episodic, loose, cloudy and unfocused piece of work. It cries out for a central theme forcefully projected, even though the general atmosphere is deliberately languid and atmospheric (Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" is often heard in the background). While we've enjoyed meeting these characters briefly and learning about their concerns, we long for a central viewpoint to give their expressions definition. And that takes a good deal more than merely fine casting and "good" acting to accomplish this.

The best Téchiné film yet

[alexandre-extra · 10/10 · 23 April 2005]

«Les Roseaux Sauvages» (in Portuguese, «Juncos Silvestres») isn't just an ordinary film about the awakening of adolescence: it is a romantic treatise, an unforgettable example of delicacy and fidelity in the approach of such sensible themes such as the sexual ambiguity in adolescence and, above all, the love as a superior statement, domineering - even metaphysical.

Although I haven't seen much of Téchiné (I saw, besides «Les roseaux sauvages», the movies «Loin», «Les égarés», and the recent «Les temps qui changent»), I believe that, to the date, this is without a doubt his best film, the most ravishing.

Téchiné tells us the story of four teenagers: François Forestier (interpreted sublimely by Gaël Morel in his eternal look of sweet innocence), Serge Bartolo (interpreted by Stéphane Rideau, the eternal seducer confirmed later in «Loin», «Presque Rien», «A toute vitesse»...), Maïte Alvarez (interpreted by the well known Élodie Bouchez) and Henri Mariani (Frédéric Gorny).

The film starts with François talking to Maïte about the movie «Såsom i en Spegel» (that reports us to the idea of 'search for the real truth'), from the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, although that isn't said. Truly, the entire film is the search for the truth by the 4 teenagers.

François is Maïte's boyfriend, although that relationship is more of a platonic protection against adulthood pressures than a physical passion. At the same time, François, Serge and Henri study in the same masculine boarding school, where they share rooms. Serge, in his sexual ambiguity, desires Maïte and at the same time seduces François, and ends up having sex with him. From that day on, François faces the homosexual desires that he had yet not perceived, while he falls in love for Serge and feels excited by Henri. On its turn, Serge, although always hesitant, breaks the relationship with François to search a more peaceful village life, next to any woman that fulfills his needs. The scene where Serge first breaks with François is brutal and pungent. François, always interpreted as the most fragile and delicate of the four, meets Serge while the last is walking to the river to drown his cat's cubs. At the same time that he tells François (always sensitive) in cold blood that «they are not good for each other», he throws the innocent cubs into the river. For the first time in his life, François' heart is broken, in a scene that reminds us the archetype «the lost of innocence». From that moment on, François is always searching for fortuitous encounters with Serge, living as, in his own words, a «thieve stilling moments»: one time he travels in a motorcycle hugging Serge, in another time he sleeps next to him, etc.

The scenes in the classroom are bright, solar, reminding the purity of childhood; and alternate with the scenes taken place at night, that are incredibly sensual. François is also portrayed as an intellectual that reads Jean-Arthur-Nicolas Rimbaud, a homosexual writer revolted against the world, that leaves everything to live with the also writer Paul Verlaine, while he was still a teenager. That is what François wants to be.

Maïte, on her side, is a communist that, after knowing about François passion for Serge, is jealous, but finally realizes the true platonic nature of her relationship with him. After a while, she falls in love with Henri, a pied-noir (French born Algerian) teenager revolted against the situation in his native country. He is also in love with her, although ideologically they are rivals.

And this is why love, in this film, is taken as a superior and dominant statement: it surpasses all human ideologies, even the most complex and rooted ones; it surpasses intellectuals who read Rimbaud and even the most practical persons.

The action takes place in 1962, at the same time as the Algerian crises, that is not exploited, although, to a certain pace, it is. The soundtrack confirms the excellence of this film, with Chubby Checker giving a sixties atmosphere, and the Adagio for string by Samuel Barber yielding the dramatic dimension that the film deserves, like in the highly stylized scene where Henri his sleeping by the river, or when François travels in the motorcycle hugging Serge.

In the end, François meets a shoe salesman that everyone knows his a homosexual, in a scene that represents the almost desperate search for a way to destroy the lowliness, incomprehension, and lack of role models that are destined by his sexual orientation. Although he doesn't find the answer for his problems, because there isn't one, François remains optimistic − and this is another lesson that this film teaches us: to stay in the fight, always optimistic in a future happiness.

This is one of those movies where I would like to penetrate and live in forever, between Maïte, Serge, Henri and, above all, the character unifying the destiny of the four, François, 'searching the truth'. I have seen films in the come-of-age theme, but this remains my favorite. Some good ones are «Presque Rien» (with Jérémie Elkaïm and Stéphane Rideau), «A cause d'un garcon» (also with Jérémie Elkaïm), «Maurice» (based on E. M. Forster homonymous work) and «Beautiful thing».

It remains to be said that this film won four César (in the Cannes festival): best film, best director, best script and best actress-revelation for Élodie Bouchez.

More than teenage angst.

[DukeEman · 7/10 · 3 February 2003]

At first you think, "Not another coming of age film where they lose their virginity." What you do get is a story that slowly reveals itself to be an intelligent look at sexual awareness and political angst in a provincial French town 1962.

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing

[viverito · 10/10 · 15 September 2004]

This film is truly amazing. I saw it and was so moved by it that I couldn't stop thinking about it for a very long time. It is heavily based on the director's (Andre Techine) real life experiences. In this film Techine manages to create a realistic and palpable universe which seems which if you know anything about film is a very hard thing for directors to accomplish. I asked a French DP and a friend of Andre Techine about Les Roseaux Sauvages and he told me that it was originally made for television and that it was such an enormous sensation in France that it later was released in the theaters and won many awards at the Cesars in Paris - France's equivalent of the Oscars. I will admit that some American friends of mine went to see this film and didn't get it. What a pity for them.

Honest French Teenage Drama

[harry-76 · 7/10 · 4 April 2000]

"Wild Reeds" presents an honest look at late teens coming of age in a private French boarding school. The multi-leveled drama focuses primarily on four youths striving to balance their lives as they near graduation and young adulthood. The acting is uniformly good and the direction secure. A film rich in youthful characterizations.

A complex and graceful drama - among the finest French dramas of the 90s

[davidals · 9/10 · 18 September 2003]

On all fronts WILD REEDS is a top-notch drama - offering a look into the lives of 4 teenagers at a boarding school in rural France in the early 60s, this film is complex and immaculately well-made. Unusual in films depicting adolescence, WILD REEDS is complex and sophisticated, respectful of its' characters' varying sexualities (and their struggles to accept same), while also offering other glimpses of their intelligence and growing independence: views on the Algerian war, which was then raging, and on communism (with one character defined as communist, and another as an ardent anti-communist). The lush cinematography is summery and beautiful throughout, and the cast (most whom have gone on to other notable films) is great throughout.

Techine's direction gives the many strands of this story a great, personal feel - the shoe store scene stands out as an honest depiction of an individual recognizing and trying to accept his sexuality, and attempting to identify other gay people, as a way of lessening isolation, and in an attempt at spontaneously finding some sort of role model. Very thoughtful and very well-made.

Les Roseaux Sauvages (Wild Reeds)

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 24 March 2018]

I found out about this French film because I remember seeing the title in the numerous editions of the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it was almost a contender in the Oscars category for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was nominated, I was looking forward to trying it. Basically set in southwest France in 1962, shy young man François Forestier (Gaël Morel) from the lower middle class is working towards his high school diploma. He spends most of time talking about movies and literature with his best friend Maïté Alvarez (Élodie Bouchez), whose mother Madame Alvarez (Michèle Moretti) is François's French teacher, she and her son are communists. At the boarding school, François becomes acquainted with immigrant farmers' son Serge Bartolo (Stéphane Rideau), they join in the dormitory at night for a chat and are drawn into an erotic relationship. François discovers his homosexuality and develops a deep attraction for Serge, who had only acted out of curiosity. Maïté is disappointed when he confides in her about his feelings, she encourages him to come out of the closet, Serge becomes increasingly interested in her, but Maïté is not interested in anybody. Serge's brother Pierre (Eric Kreikenmayer) dies while serving in the army in Algeria, and Maïté's mother suffers a nervous breakdown, then Algerian-born French exile Henri Mariani (Frédéric Gorny) aggravates boarding school and political conflicts. Henri is obsessed with events in Algeria and supports the OAS (Organisation armée secrete, meaning Secret Army Organisation), which opposes Algerian independence and defends the rights of French settlers there. Henri treats François with no sympathy and tells him bluntly to confess to his homosexuality, his political stance provokes Serge's hatred, Henri finally engages Maïté as they give in to their mutual attraction. Each character develops through the course of the film, repeatedly shifting from stubborn positions to more flexible appreciations of their circumstances. Also starring Jacques Nolot as Monsieur Morelli, Nathalie Vignes as Irène, Michel Ruhl as Monsieur Cassagne and Fatia Maite as Aicha Morelli. This is a complex story about war, class, sexuality and responsibility, I did find it hard to keep up with everything going on, but it was great to watch for the beautiful French countryside and other shimmering images, a worthwhile drama. Good!

An overrated prestige film

[parkerbcn · 5/10 · 5 June 2021]

The movie is quite prestigious and the most successful of this director. It's the classic coming of age tale with a lot of summer sceneries, some background political themes (the Algerian war) and sexual awakening (with both homosexual and heterosexual impulses), but it's not one of the best of this subgenre. A lot of the time the acting is wooden and the dialogs overwritten; also, it has a very poor rhythm. Fortunately, some sequences are very good and if you are into prestige-looking French movies you will probably enjoy it.

A film that is respectful of teenagers and tells the rest of us how they grow up

[peterjcolbert · 26 May 2001]

How do teenagers grow-up? Andre Techine's camera gives us a cool and respectful view into their emotions. Elodie Bouchez, playing sixteen-year-old Maite, in particular, projects emotion with a quiet dignity. It is remarkable how much is going on while the film seems so quiet. Maybe it is the durability of French countryside that calms the children and us.

The children realistically explore their budding sexuality with all dimensions treated in a straightforward and sensitive manner. The children await the results of their baccalaureate exam, the culmination of French High School education and the key to their professional lives. The natural developmental and educational issues that teenagers face are compounded by the turbulence of the times. And what turbulence surrounds these children! A violent, unpopular, and un-winable war to retain colonial ownership of Algeria strikes directly into this small French village as one child looses his brother and another his homeland. The latter plans bloody revenge against those whom he believes betrayed France until he realizes that Maite, a girl he loves, would be his target. Maite's mother is overwhelmed by guild and institutionalized by fear that her lack of action may have led to the brother's death.

Oh, and there is some great American rock and roll that somehow fits in; it must be that enduring French countryside.

Must Be Missing Something

[pauleky · 6/10 · 7 May 2023]

A pleasant enough story about a young gay man and his friends in 60s France. However, it seems to be much ado about nothing. And, as usual, the homosexual is set up to be somewhat pathetic and ends up loveless. Granted the movie ends before he grows up, so I hope that's not always the case, but as in most gay films, and certainly those of this era, the gay guy can never get the boy. Either they have to die or they end up alone. The acting was OK, although the lead is a bit wooden. The direction is good, and the France versus Algeria subplot is interesting. Also, the young French Algerian is the most interesting character in the entire movie. A movie about him would've been more interesting. Good enough for a rainy afternoon, but no masterpiece.

Refreshing and subtle

[karine-3 · 9/10 · 3 June 1999]

I liked the movie even if I was left with the feeling that there was no real end to it (a common thing in French movies). It was superbly acted by four young comedians perfectly cast. The relations between them are ambiguous. Still, more depth could have been given to their characters and the story.

Nevertheless, there is an overall subtlety to the movie, something that makes it light even if the topics are not always light (Francois discovers he is gay and have some problems dealing with it, Henri is a pied noir in France at the end of the Algeria war and is in a delicate situation, not speaking about Serge who loses his brother to that same war and Maite who is somewhat oppressed by her mother who is a die hard communist militant).

It was very refreshing to see. You need to be familiar with the history of Algeria war and the tensions of that time though to fully follow. A film I would recommend to many people.

Coming of Age in VHS

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 26 May 2016]

In a village in the Southwest of France, 1962. Maite and Francois are 18 years old. They are friends, not lovers. In Francois's classroom, there are Serge, whose brother has just married to try to escape from the war in Algeria, and Henri, a pied-noir (Algerian-born Frenchman).

This is a great story about being a French teenager in the 1960s, but suffers from an awful transfer, with even blurry credits. Rarely do you see VHS transferred to DVD on professional discs, but that is what it looks like they did. Someone call Criterion! This is clearly deserving of an upgrade.

Also, I really liked the use of 1960s American music. Apparently France in the 1960s did not have their own popular music.

My favorite movie by far

[caejal · 10/10 · 11 July 2001]

I absolutely adore this movie. When I first saw it, I loved it because I could identify with the lead gay character, but I have seen it since then, and i love it now for its portrayal of the complexity of adolescence life. This is by no means part of the American teen melodrama genre. It deals with everything from homosexuality to mental illness to war to racism to feminism to communism. It has a deep political, psychological, and emotional message. I urge you to see this movie.

Super-deep, entertaining, no-compromise film from France; puts 99% of American films to shame

[Aw-komon · 10/10 · 28 June 2000]

This is Techine's masterpiece and it is doubtful whether he will ever top it. It is a flawless, poetic film (no chain-smoking brain surgeons here, as in 'My Favorite Season'), and the only one in existence that deals (among many other themes)with budding homosexuality in an adolescent with such class and empathy. My favorite scene is when Techine refuses to offer any dialogue and lets the scene hang when Mrs.Alvarez meets the wife of Prof.Morelli who's been sitting in the car during Morelli's lunch with her (Mrs.Alvarez). I will not explain any further, you will have to see for yourself; great films are meant to seen and reseen as many times as it takes to erase the memory of mediocre ones.

A beautifully and touchingly made teenage drama

[londonpaul · 9/10 · 22 June 2002]

Director Techine once again has made a beautiful movie, this time concerning a group of teenage friends in southern France in the early 1960's. Techine uses the Algerian war as a catalyst for the interaction between the 4 friends. As the movie unfolds, each friend discovers how they're involved with one another, in dramatizatons that the French are so good at. Techine makes good use of the idyllic, pastoral French Pyrenee countryside to compliment the personal dramas unfolding in it. You can almost smell and feel the summertime around you. A touchingly-done coming-of-age film for all ages, not just teens. So successful was the pairing of Rideau and Bouchez that they went on to make several other movies together, one of which was directed by Gael Morel, one of the stars in this movie as well.

Dull and uninspiring

[gcd70 · 3/10 · 28 June 2008]

Dull, uninspiring tale of young love from a reputed master of French cinema. Andre Techine's film fails on many levels, unable as it is to grab our attention, hold our interest or endear us to its participants.

"Wild Reeds" has a very weak link, and that is its script. From director Techine, Gilles Taurand and Olivier Massart, it misses the mark on both plot and character development. The story, concerning a young boy's love for a fellow student who has lost his brother in the Algiers war, and a young girl's confusion about life and love which is compounded by her mother's nervous breakdown, never manages to captivate or even slightly interests us. Coupled with this is the scripters failure to present characters we can care about. Ensuring the film's complete destruction is the awful, pointed dialogue that is totally embarrassing and never works.

In this light "Wild Reeds" did not stand a chance, and any attempts by the young cast to salvage the film are doomed. Having said this, Gael Morel, Elodie Bouchez, Frederic Corny and Stephane Rideau all try hard to reach us from their confused, youthful worlds. Alas none of them can.

Cinematography from Jeanne Lapoirie is fetching.

Monday, August 4, 1997 - Hoyts Croydon

Beautiful and endearing coming-of-age film.

[johannes2000-1 · 9/10 · 27 September 2021]

I had never before heard of this movie and stumbled over it by accident on Netflix. It's a French coming-of-age film by director Téchiné (known for "Les Témoins" and more recently for "Quand on a 17 ans"), it dates from 1994, while the story is set in the early sixties. It's an extraordinary movie, with an involving story, beautiful photography of the summery countryside of France, and a cast of teen actors who are surprisingly convincing in their difficult but also endearing parts.

All four main characters have just completed the final exams of highschool and stand on the brink of adult life, with every one of them having their own hopes and fears for the future. Between the four develop several relationships, some of those sexual (or just hoping for that), and while at the start of the movie there's lots of mutual mistrust and lack of understanding, at the end they all team up as friends, albeit each with new insights in the others and in themselves.

Téchiné (who also did the writing) lets them speak their dialogues in a torrent of meticulously crafted, almost stylized phrases, which is not at all what you would expect of young and insecure teens. But somehow it works, I guess because in these dialogues all four are painfully honest and say exactly what they think, which all the better helps you as a viewer to understand their motives and feelings.

As said, all four young actors do a great job, especially Élodie Bouchez as the headstrong and spirited Maïté, and Gaël Morel as the insecure François who tries to cope with his homosexual feelings. And of course Stéphane Rideau who in this, his first movie, at age 18 already has the appeal of a young Alain Delon.

A life lesson film with great actors and beautiful scenes.

[POPBoy-2 · 10/10 · 17 June 1999]

One of the most beautiful films I have watched. The scenes are very beautiful and the actors are perfect. The history is, sometimes, sad. Three boys and one girl with sexual and emotional conflicts. Sexuality and passion. Pain and doubt. Reason and emotion. The feelings are very rich. Everything is very sensible. The three boys and the girl teach, each one, a lesson.

Down-to-earth, genuine and beautiful

[Mancic2000 · 9/10 · 19 December 2008]

This is a genuine and convincing portrayal of how teenagers from different backgrounds facing different problems find their true selves, and how they shape and transform their philosophies of life through the mutually interwoven processes of love, hate, learning, accepting and enlightening.

This is a story on how purity and love will transcend across very different people and help them become awake to what they are and what they long for when facing the real world. A beautiful masterpiece that would move you without doing something "big". The 4 lead characters delivered convincing and promising performances, each making them very likable people without glorifying, stereotyping or idolising any ideology.

All in all, a highly recommended beautiful, genuine and poetic gem.