Les roseaux sauvages (1994)

Director:

André Téchiné

Writers:

Olivier Massart (writer)
Gilles Taurand (writer)

Release Date:

10 May 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In a village in the Southwest of France, 1962. Maite and Francois are 18 years old. They are friends...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexual | Classroom | Algeria | Friend | Wedding Cake

Awards:

8 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Élodie Bouchez	...	Maïté Alvarez
Gaël Morel	...	François Forestier
Stéphane Rideau	...	Serge Bartolo
Frédéric Gorny	...	Henri Mariani
Michèle Moretti	...	Madame Alvarez
Jacques Nolot	...	Monsieur Morelli
Eric Kreikenmayer	...	Pierre Bartolo, the Groom
Nathalie Vignes	...	Irène, the Bride
Michel Ruhl	...	Monsieur Cassagne
Fatia Maite	...	Aicha Morelli
Claudine Taulère	...	Nurse
Elodie Soulinhac	...	Colette, Girl at Party
Dominique Bovard	...	Guard
Monsieur Simonet	...	Guard
Chief Officer Carre	...	Officer

Also Known As:

The Wild Reeds (International: English title) (festival title)
Wild Reeds (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | UK:115 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:Not Rated | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | UK:15

Company:

Ima Films

Trivia:

Stéphane Rideau and Gaël Morel have worked together in two films: Les roseaux sauvages (1994) and Loin (2001). Also, Gaël Morel has directed Stéphane Rideau in four films: La vie à rebours (1994), À toute vitesse (1996), Premières neiges (1999) (TV) and Le clan (2004).

Quotes:

Serge Bartolo: The death of a brother is tough. I thought I'd die. But there is something even tougher, tougher than war. It's that life goes on.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge...: Le chêne et le roseau (#1.1)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Let's Twist Again

Great coming of age story in 60s France

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.