| Les Roseaux sauvages | |
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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 |
| Editing by | Martine Giordano |
| Distributed by | Strand Releasing |
| Release date(s) | 1 June 1994 |
| Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | €3,800,000 |
Wild Reeds (French: Les Roseaux sauvages) is a 1994 French drama film directed by André Téchiné, about the sensitive passage in the adulthood and in awakening of sexuality by four youths at the end of the Algerian War.
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The film is set in south-west France in 1962. François (Gaël Morel), a shy young man from the lower middle class, is working towards his high school diploma. But he spends most of his time talking about movies and literature with his best friend, Maïté (Élodie Bouchez), whose mother is his French teacher. Mme Alvarez (Michèle Moretti) and Maïté are communists. At the boarding school, François becomes acquainted with the sensual son of a farmer, Serge (Stéphane Rideau). At night, he joins François in the dormitory to chat. Finally he draws him into an erotic relationship.
While Serge acted out of curiosity, François discovers his latent homosexuality and develops a deep attraction for Serge. He confides this discovery to Maïté, who swallows her disappointment to encourage him to come out of the closet. While Serge becomes more and more interested in Maïté, she declares herself to be interested in nobody but feels a platonic love for François.
The Algerian War and its horrors crash headlong into these young grazes of the heart. Serge's brother dies at the front, the mother of Maïté loses the reason to have refused to help him to desert.
Into this mix, an Algerian-born French exile, Henri (Frédéric Gorny), appears in the boarding school and aggravates all the conflicts. Supporting the OAS, he brings with him the traumas of the war. He makes François face up to his homosexuality in a cynical way and provokes Serge's hatred. But it's especially the tempestuous meeting with Maïté who goes to destabilize the two of them, when the ideological confrontation collides with their mutual attraction.
In the contact of their differences, each of them learn, little by little, to qualify their judgments and their vision of life.
It was at first a television film of command under the subject "Tous les garçons et les filles de leurs âges", Le chêne et le roseau (The Oak and the Reed), which includes the first part of Wild Reeds. But Téchiné decides to bring out the film in theatrical, in his completed script. Of autobiographical inspiration, it is his biggest personal success in France and his most intimate film also.
As the Algerian War is still, in certain way, a taboo on many points, films on the subject were rare or subject to debate (The Little Soldier (Le Petit Soldat), Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès, La question).
The film was met with widespread critical acclaim and currently holds a rare 100% "Fresh" ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.[1] It was released in the United States on May 10, 1995 grossing $38,192 in 7 theaters its widest release eventually grossing a total of $917,915 in North America.[2] In France the film received limited release playing at a total of 40 cinemas and opening in second place in the French box office gaining 37,688 admissions it's opening weekend. In total the film had 589,301 admissions in France and was the 51th highest earning film of the year.[3]
At the 1995 César Awards, Les Roseaux Sauvages won Best Film, Best Director (André Téchiné), Most Promising Young Actress (Élodie Bouchez) and Best Original Screenplay.
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