Wednesday, June 1, 1994

Wild Reeds (1994) - Les roseaux sauvages (original title)

 

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Wild Reeds (1994) - Les roseaux sauvages (original title)

Director: Andre Techine
Scenario: Andre Techine, Olivier Massart
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Year: 1994
Duration: 115 min
Rating:

Actors: Elodie Bouchez, Gael Morel, Stephane Rideau, Frederic Gorny, Michele Moretti, Jacques Nolot, Eric Kreikenmayer, Nathalie Vignes, Michel Ruhl, Fatia Maite, Claudine Taulere, Elodie Soulinhac, Dominique Bovard, Monsieur Simonet, Chief Officer Carre

 

Description:
`Wild Reeds,'' from French director Andre Techine, is a coming-of-age story about four young people living in rural France at the end of the Algerian war.
On the cusp of adulthood, the four move slowly but inevitably in the direction of their fears, making uneasy alliances, formulating world views and discover ing sex.
A major success in France, where it won four Cesar awards, including best picture, ``Wild Reeds'' is a sober, heartfelt piece of work, sensitively directed and lovingly photographed -- though slightly dull, if we're going to be perfectly honest.
Still, the picture, which opens today at the brand-new Embarcadero Cinema, to a large degree makes up in sincerity and atmosphere what it lacks in urgency and drive. Only later do you realize that despite the sluggish pace and meandering structure, ``Wild Reeds'' is about people going through some dramatic transitions.
The early part of the film focuses on Francois (Gael Morel), a quiet, hesitant student in the process of coming to terms with his homosexuality.
``I'm a faggot, I'm a faggot, I'm a faggot,'' he says to his reflection in the mirror, in an unsettling moment that works in a number of ways. Is he internalizing the world's view or trying to gain mastery over it? Is he scaring himself or accepting
himself?

The object of his interest is a straight boy named Serge, a tall, earthy peasant played with animal grace by Stephane Rideau. Serge, who lives in Francois' dormitory, is acutely aware of the war, thanks to his brother's having been unwillingly drafted to fight in Algeria.
The title refers to the story of the skinny reed and the mighty oak. When the storm comes, the reed bends, while the oak tree breaks. The use of the metaphor to describe personalities is a bit cliched, but it applies to the characters, who adjust their vision and become more tolerant as they gain in wisdom.
Frederic Gorny, as Henri, a young militant Algerian-born Frenchman, starts off the most rigid and cynical of the four -- and he almost runs away with the second half of the film. Henri's neofascist attitude toward the Algerians is the result of experience. In one of the film's strongest scenes, Henri describes the stench of his father's corpse after an Algerian rebel bomb blew off half his face.
Orbiting the lives of all three young men is Maite (Elodie Bouchez), a Natalie Merchant look-alike who is appropriately earnest to a fault. Nominally Francois' girlfriend, she is also the romantic fantasy of Serge and, as a Communist Party volunteer, Henri's bitter political rival.
``Wild Reeds'' has many lulls, and at 110 minutes it's too long. But it has a cumulative impact, and the last section, which puts the four characters together in an idyllic woodland setting, brings the film to a satisfying finish.