Wild Reeds

This is a nostalgic French coming-of-age drama from director Andre Techine set in a Provence deeply divided over the war for independence being waged against French colonialism in Algeria. In 1962, Francois (Gael Morel) and Maite (Elodie Bouchez) are best friends and students at a boarding school in ...more

A deeply thoughtful, heartfelt drama, Les roseaux sauvages demonstrates how to make a coming-of-age film. In many American movies, coming of age is achieved through external activities, like taking a road trip or getting deflowered by a next-door neighbor; here, French teens attain maturity through an internal, cerebral evolution, revolving around one's identity and place in society. The film is set during the Algerian War, when France was questioning its own national identity and place in the ...more