Wild Reeds Review
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 world, and its strength lies in director André_Téchiné's intelligent treatment of his young subjects: their dilemmas ring with unforced authenticity and resist the clichés that usually accompany accounts of adolescent turmoil. In one of the film's most memorable and unsettling scenes, François, coming to terms with his homosexuality, stares at his reflection in the mirror, repeating "I'm a faggot, I'm a faggot, I'm a faggot." The viewer is left to wonder if he is internalizing the label society has given him, trying to claim it for himself, or simply struggling to accept himself for who he is. Téchiné doesn't try to force an explanation, a tactic that is more refreshing than frustrating. French critics evidently agreed: Les Roseaux Sauvages won four Césars in 1994, including Best Director, Best Film, and Most Promising Young Actress for Élodie_Bouchez as the idealistic, conflicted Maïté. Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
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