Synopsis
As the Algerian War draws to a close, a teenager with a girlfriend starts feeling homosexual urges for two of his classmates: a country boy, and a French-Algerian intellectual.
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Cast
- Élodie BouchezMaïté Alvarez
- Gaël MorelFrançois Forestier
- Stéphane RideauSerge Bartolo
- Frédéric GornyHenri Mariani
- Michèle MorettiMadame Alvarez
- Jacques NolotMonsieur Morelli
- Eric KreikenmayerPierre Bartolo
- Nathalie VignesIrène
- Michel RuhlMonsieur Cassagne
- Fatia MaiteAicha Morelli
Recommendations
- 100
Variety
As always, Techine is excellent at exploring “tiny” personal flashes that assume larger meaning when placed against the broader historical context. - 100
Los Angeles Times
The film perfectly understands the tentative experimentation and frequent self-loathing of adolescence, the difficulty of knowing whom to trust and how much to trust them, as well as how incendiary an age this can be, with uncertain psyches ready to explode at minimal provocation. - 90
Newsweek
Every character--not just the kids, but the teachers as well--comes alive with a complexity worthy of Jean Renoir. The lyricism of Wild Reeds doesn't cast a smoke screen of nostalgia, it brings us closer to the experience of adolescence. - 88
ReelViews
This is a slice of life with an imperfect beginning and conclusion, but what transpires between those two endpoints is strong enough to leave an impression on anyone with the patience to commit to a movie of such unhurried temperament. - 88
San Francisco Examiner
Superbly acted by its young cast, written and directed with great sophistication, Wild Reeds moves with a sad assurance through that domain that most American filmmakers explore only clumsily: the mysteries of the human heart. - 88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Andre Techine creates living characters instead of sociopolitical symbols. - 80
The New York Times
[A] delicate, lovingly photographed, strongly acted coming-of-age story. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Some of the political undertones may go astray, but the emotional center of the film is touching and honest.
