''Wild Reeds'' (french: Les Roseaux sauvages) is a 1994 French
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
André Téchiné about the sexual awakening of four teenagers and their subsequent sensitive passage into adulthood 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.
Plot
The film is set in southwest France in 1962. François (
Gaël Morel
Gaël Morel (born 25 September 1972) is a French film director, screenwriter and actor.
Life and career
Morel was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône (department), Rhône, France, a town of 30,000 inhabitants outside Lyon. He grew up in the ...
), 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
Élodie Bouchez-Bangalter (born 5 April 1973) is a French actress. She became internationally known for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show ''Alias'' and for playing Maïté Alvarez in the film '' Wild ...
), whose mother Mme Alvarez (
Michèle Moretti
Michèle Moretti (born 15 March 1940 in Paris, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Amer ...
) 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 has 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
OAS or Oas may refer to:
Chemistry
* O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis
Computers
* Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards
* OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
, 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.
Each member of the quartet develops in the course of the film, shifting repeatedly from stubborn positions to more flexible appreciations of their circumstances, explained in French class by a reading of "
The Oak and the Reed", one of
La Fontaine's Fables
Jean de La Fontaine collected fables from a wide variety of sources, both Western and Eastern, and adapted them into French free verse. They were issued under the general title of Fables in several volumes from 1668 to 1694 and are considered cla ...
.
Cast
*
Élodie Bouchez
Élodie Bouchez-Bangalter (born 5 April 1973) is a French actress. She became internationally known for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show ''Alias'' and for playing Maïté Alvarez in the film '' Wild ...
as Maïté Alvarez
*
Gaël Morel
Gaël Morel (born 25 September 1972) is a French film director, screenwriter and actor.
Life and career
Morel was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône (department), Rhône, France, a town of 30,000 inhabitants outside Lyon. He grew up in the ...
as François Forestier
*
Stéphane Rideau as Serge Bartolo
*
Frédéric Gorny as Henri Mariani
*
Michèle Moretti
Michèle Moretti (born 15 March 1940 in Paris, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Amer ...
as Madame Alvarez
*
Jacques Nolot
Jacques Nolot (; born 31 August 1943) is a French actor, screenwriter and film director.
Life and career
Jacques Nolot was born on 31 August 1943, Marciac, Gers, a small village in Southwest France. A fragile child, Nolot was doted upon by his m ...
as Monsieur Morelli
* Eric Kreikenmayer as Pierre Bartolo, the Groom
* Nathalie Vignes as Irène, the Bride
* Michel Ruhl as Monsieur Cassagne
* Fatia Maite as Aicha Morelli
Production
The project was first conceived as part of a television film series dealing with adolescence, ''Tous les garçons et les filles de leurs âges'', entitled ''Le chêne et le roseau'' (''The Oak and the Reed''), which made up the first 55 minutes of ''Wild Reeds''. But after completing the script, Téchiné decided to make it a full theatrical release. Based on his own life story, it is his biggest personal success in France and his most intimate film.
It is one of limited number of films on the politically delicate subject of the Algerian War. They include ''
The Little Soldier
''Le petit soldat'' () is a French film, written and directed by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard in 1960, but not released until 1963. It was Godard's third film released with Anna Karina, who starred as Véronica Dreyer alongside Michel Subor (as ...
'' (1963), ''
Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès'' (1972), and ''La Question'' (1977).
Music
* "
Barbara Ann
"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The more famous version was recorded by the ...
" –
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
* ''
Adagio for Strings
''Adagio for Strings'' is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11.
Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year that he wrote the quart ...
'' –
Samuel Barber
* ''Wo die Zitronen blühen'' & ''Frühlingsstimmen'' –
Johann Strauss II
* "
Runaway" –
Del Shannon
Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit "Runaway". In 1999, he was induc ...
* "
Let's Twist Again
"Let's Twist Again" is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, and released as a single by Chubby Checker. One of the biggest hit singles of 1961, it reached No.8 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' pop chart (No.3 on ''Cash Box'') in August of that ...
" –
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnight ...
* "
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical '' Roberta''. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Ge ...
" –
The Platters
The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The a ...
* "Soave sia il vento" (from ''
Così fan tutte'') -
Mozart
Reception
Critical response
The film was met with widespread critical acclaim and holds a rare 100% "Fresh" ratings on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.
Box office
In France the film received limited release, playing at a total of 40 cinemas and opening in second place at the French box office gaining 37,688 admissions its opening weekend. In total the film had 589,301 admissions in France and was the 51st highest-grossing film of the year.
The film opened on one screen in Montreal, Canada on 18 November 1994 and grossed $7,000 in its opening weekend.
It was released in the United States on May 10, 1995 grossing $38,192 in 7 theaters, eventually grossing a total of $917,915 in the United States.
Accolades
At the 1995
César Awards, ''Les Roseaux Sauvages'' won Best Film, Best Director (
André Téchiné), Most Promising Young Actress (
Élodie Bouchez
Élodie Bouchez-Bangalter (born 5 April 1973) is a French actress. She became internationally known for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show ''Alias'' and for playing Maïté Alvarez in the film '' Wild ...
) and Best Original Screenplay.
*
César Awards
The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...
(France)
**Won: Best Director (André Téchiné)
**Won: Best Film
**Won: Best Writing (Olivier Massart, Gilles Taurand and André Téchiné)
**Won: Most Promising Actress (Élodie Bouchez)
**Nominated: Best Actress – Best Supporting Role (Michèle Moretti)
**Nominated: Most Promising Actor (Frédéric Gorny)
**Nominated: Most Promising Actor (Gaël Morel)
**Nominated: Most Promising Actor (Stéphane Rideau)
*
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films w ...
,
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
(France)
**Nominated
*
Los Angeles Film Critics
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975.
Background
Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...
(USA)
**Won: Best Foreign Language Film
*
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...
(USA)
**Won: Best Foreign Language Film
*
New York Film Critics
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magazi ...
(USA)
**Won: Best Foreign Language Film
*Won:
Louis Delluc Prize The Louis Delluc Prize (french: Prix Louis-Delluc ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, ...
See also
*
*
References
External links
*
Wild Reeds' a
FilmsDeFrance.com*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Reeds (Film)
1994 films
Films directed by André Téchiné
French coming-of-age drama films
1990s French-language films
French LGBT-related films
Gay-related films
1994 LGBT-related films
Films set in 1962
Louis Delluc Prize winners
Films produced by Alain Sarde
Juvenile sexuality in films
1990s coming-of-age drama films
Best Film César Award winners
Films whose director won the Best Director César Award
1994 drama films
1990s French films