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Wild Reeds

Wild Reeds
Les roseaux sauvages.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by André Téchiné
Produced by Georges Benayoun
Alain Sarde
Written by Olivier Massart
Gilles Taurand
André Téchiné
Starring Élodie Bouchez
Gaël Morel
Stéphane Rideau
Frédéric Gorny
Cinematography Jeanne Lapoirie
Edited by Martine Giordano
Distributed by Pan Européenne Distribution
Release date
  • 1 June 1994 (1994-06-01)
Running time
110 minutes
Country France
Language French
Budget $3.8 million
Box office $5.2 million

Wild Reeds (French: Les Roseaux sauvages) is a 1994 French drama film directed by André Téchiné, about the sensitive passage into adulthood and the awakening of sexuality in four youths at the end of the Algerian War. The film was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but not nominated.

The film is set in southwest France in 1962. François (Gaël Morel), a shy young man from the lower middle class, is working towards his high school diploma. He spends most of his time talking about movies and literature with his best friend, Maïté (Élodie Bouchez), whose mother Mme Alvarez (Michèle Moretti) is François's French teacher. Mme Alvarez and Maïté are communists. At the boarding school, François becomes acquainted with Serge (Stéphane Rideau), the sensual son of immigrant farmers. At night, he joins François in the dormitory to chat. Finally, Serge draws François into an erotic relationship.

François discovers his homosexuality and develops a deep attraction for Serge, who had only acted out of curiosity. François confides this discovery to Maïté, who swallows her disappointment and encourages him to come out of the closet. When Serge becomes increasingly interested in Maïté, she declares herself to be interested in nobody.

Serge's brother Pierre dies while serving in the army in Algeria, and Maïté's mother suffers a nervous breakdown, having previously refused to help Pierre desert. An Algerian-born French exile, Henri (Frédéric Gorny), enrolls in the boys' boarding school and aggravates their conflicts, adding a political conflict. He is obsessed with events in Algeria and supports the OAS, which opposes Algerian independence and defends the rights of French settlers there. He treats François without sympathy and bluntly tells him to own up to his homosexuality. His political stance provokes Serge's hatred. Henri finally engages Maïté, his political opposite, and they yield to their mutual attraction.


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