Wild Reeds
| Wild Reeds | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| 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 |
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Release date
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Running time
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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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Wikipedia