Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Arcadio Bolanos In the past, director André Téchiné has relentlessly pursued complex subjects. His films don't pander to the audience, nor do they allow the public to be emotionally detached. In "Les Témoins", for instance, AIDS is understood not as a simple disease but as something that profoundly alters social discourse and human interaction.In "Les Roseaux Sauvages" there is an immanent bellicosity among France and Algeria which lingers on in the background long enough to affect the protagonists. At the beginning of the film a wedding becomes the scenario in which we observe Serge's brother clumsily plotting how to desert from French troops, while François is idly chatting with Maïté, a girl he doesn't love but dates nonetheless. The war strongly infiltrates the world of these youngsters, as a new student arrives to the boarding school attended by Serge (interpreted by Stéphane Rideau in what would be the first of many gay related productions) and François (interpreted by Gaël Morel, director of several films of gay interest), an older boy named Henri that has experienced the aftermaths of the armed conflict in the flesh.After a couple of visits Serge pays to François in the middle of the night, the two boys soon become friends, but not before sharing some intimate secrets and practicing mutual masturbation and sexual intercourse. Of course, for Serge this one night stand is the product of revolting hormones and teenage horniness, but for François this moment changes everything: he will come forward to Maïté and from that moment, what at first seemed a typical high school relationship, is utterly modified.It's not long before Henri finds out, quite easily, about the sexual escapades of the two boys, but seems preoccupied only with the development of the war. Henri is unable to come through a normal grieving process regarding his father and the Algerian reality. The need for a symbolic death becomes patently necessary for Henri. Jacques Lacan defined the symbolic death as a narrative of closure, as the final sentence one must utter in order to let the dead ones go. If every culture in the planet respects some sort of funerary rites it is precisely because of that. The real death comes naturally when a heart stops beating, but the symbolic death is something cultural, something that depends on any given individual and the ability to cope with loss. Coming to terms with death means to be able to write that epitaph in our head, to be able to understand someone else's life and then to let go of it.Serge, on the contrary, will eventually accept the casualties of war, and instead of being paralyzed by death he will keep moving on. When Maïté's mother suffers a psychological breakdown after hearing about the demise of one of her students, her daughter feels devastated. None of this matters to François who's having a hard time understanding his own sexuality. A most relevant moment takes place when he confronts his image in the mirror and starts repeating "Je suis pédé", ashamed of being gay. This degrading word will lead to the reformulation of the object of desire, according to new terms and surpassing the phallic response; François's desire will be inextricably linked to the question of the desire of the other in its ethical dimension insofar as it bears the possibility of alterity, of authentic otherness. Of course it's never easy to be young and gay, but it's even more difficult in an isolated French province in the early 60s. It is then that Maïté's emotional support proves to be fundamental for François, as he will comprehend that his initial object of desire may well be out of his reach.The characters of the film adopt contrasting postures. Serge and François possess an adaptability and flexibility that will become indispensable. Henri and Maïté, however, are determined and stubborn individuals. Henri's teacher tries to make him understand that being strong like an oak is a disadvantage as oaks break when the storm comes, only reeds survive the storm because they bend but do not break. Drawing a divisor line between war and sexuality, Téchiné finally gathers the three boys and the girl in one final sequence that instead of focusing on the cliché of hope is centered on the pervasive reiteration of uncertainty and friendship.

vandrade It is absolutely impossible to make a film like this one without carrying out the personal memories of an our own teenage time. That's why this so called 'teenage movie' is so far away from all other experiences within this field. Téchiné had written and directed a part of his own life. Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Paris, Lisbon, who cares? This is the movie of my life. And if it is so, it's not only because of the unexpected beauty of all frames on the movie, but, essentially because that I felt every inch of the road walked by the characters of this film, as if their experiences, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, were my own teenage experiences and hopes. I saw this film ten years ago, and still I can remember every image, every phrase... And I kept these memories as a guideline for a future life, when I was 23 years old. I know what I have lived, I still don't know what the future reserves to me. But, on those days, ten years ago, I have increased my hope. I found that there was people like me, and like the others around me... The time and the place doesn't matter. No film will never make me feel so strongly about my youth, and, simultaneously, about my future as a man. This is not a 'teenage movie', it's a collection of memories about the construction of our personality. And, we all, with that age, were a little bit of François, Serge, Henri and Maite. And we still are. (...I'm sorry about my English...)

Dennis Littrell The slightly loose and episodic feel of this charming coming-of-ager doesn't matter because the characters and the conflicts are so well presented that we are enthralled throughout.Three boys on the verge of manhood (with the French-Algerian conflict smoldering in the background) are in residence at a boarding school in the south of France in 1962. One is gay, the second is bi-sexual and the third is straight. Through their interactions we (and they) discover their sexuality.Francois Forestier, played attractively by Gael Morel, is gay as he discovers one night when Serge Bartolo (Stephane Rideau), an athletic schoolmate with a natural style, awakens his sexuality by seducing him. For Serge it is just a school age sexual adventure; for Francois it is love so intense he is transformed. The third boy, Henri Mariana, who is from Algeria, is a little older and a little more cynical. He finds heterosexual love with his enemy, Maité Alverez, who is a hated communist. Elodie Bouchez, whom I recall from The Dreamlife of Angels (1998) for which she shared a Cannes Best Actress award, plays Maité whose style is earnest, witty and brave.As it happens I was in France during the period of this film, and a teenager as well. The Algerian conflict haunted the young men because as soon as they were of age they could be sent away to fight. Also the Communist Party was strong in France and an attraction to some who opposed what they saw as French colonialism in Algeria and Vietnam. Director André Téchiné who characteristically explores human sexuality in his films (e.g., Rendez-Vous (1985) with a young and vital Juliette Binoche; Le lieu du crime (1986) with Catherine Deneuve; and Ma Saison Préférée (1993) also starring Catherine Deneuve) attempts to integrate these larger issues into his film but I don't think is entirely successful. Serge's older brother is killed in Algeria and his teacher blames herself for not helping him to escape his military service and suffers a nervous breakdown. However this story is not well-connected with the rest of the film. Also more could have been done with the divergent views of Maité and Henri. What I loved was the club scene where suddenly the French girls are twisting to Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" which propelled me back to 1962 when indeed the Twist was all the rage in France.What makes this film superior is the warm and truthful way in which the sexual awakenings are realized. The kids seem absolutely real and the dialogue is sharp and authentic. Morel is very winning. I especially liked the earnest way he confronts and then accepts his sexuality. Interesting was the scene in which he seeks out the shoe salesman whom he knows is gay for his advice on how he should cope with unrequited homosexual love.This is a film about young people for open-minded adults attractively done. For many it will strike a strong cord of recognition.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Aw-komon This is Techine's masterpiece and it is doubtful whether he will ever top it. It is a flawless, poetic film (no chain-smoking brain surgeons here, as in 'My Favorite Season'), and the only one in existence that deals (among many other themes)with budding homosexuality in an adolescent with such class and empathy. My favorite scene is when Techine refuses to offer any dialogue and lets the scene hang when Mrs.Alvarez meets the wife of Prof.Morelli who's been sitting in the car during Morelli's lunch with her (Mrs.Alvarez). I will not explain any further, you will have to see for yourself; great films are meant to seen and reseen as many times as it takes to erase the memory of mediocre ones.