"The wild reeds": a classic broadcast on Arte

Les roseaux sauvages is a 1994 film directed by André Téchiné. 26 years later, it is broadcast this Wednesday, June 24 on Arte. The opportunity to (re)discover this classic.

A TV movie commissioned by Arte then became a film

Les Roseaux sauvages is a French film directed by André Téchiné. It is actually a longer version of the TV movie The Oak and the Reed. It is part of a collection commissioned by Arte called Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge. It contains two other TV movies, later released in long versions in the cinema and directed by two directors known to the general public: L'Eau froide by Olivier Assayas and Trop de bonheur by Cédric Kahn. André Téchiné's TV movie is entitled The Oak and the Reed, based on the fable by Jean de La Fontaine. A few rules were imposed. First, it had to include a party scene. As for the period covered, it was to be between the 1960s and 1990s. André Téchiné accepts Arte's proposal. He will even say he is happy to " be able to respond to a command that corresponds to [his] desire" since a certain freedom is still granted to him. The film will focus on the 1960s, those of his own adolescence. The script will be written very quickly resulting in a 55-minute TV movie written in five days. However, changes will be made with the help of screenwriters Gilles Taurand and Olivier Massart to develop the characters and go deeper into the story. It will be so developed in two weeks that theTV movie takes the turn of a feature film. The production will be done in partnership with Arte and Canal +.

Wild reeds, a strong story

The work is largely autobiographical. The film is set in 1962 in southwestern France. Two young teenagers, François and Maïte, attend a wedding between a soldier and a young French woman so that he does not have to return to the war. The latter asks Maïté's mother, Mrs. Alvarez, a professor and communist activist, to help him desert, but she refuses. François discovered his homosexuality while he was in high school. There are love stories but also questioning as many teenagers can have at this age. The subjects are vast from politics to the vicissitudes of high school. The film received four César Awards in 1995, including Best Film and Best Director. Fun Fact, Gaël Moral, playing François, one of the main actors of the film is also a director. For his film A toute Vitesse , he called on Élodie Bouchez, another main actress, playing the young Maïté Alvarez. We leave you with the trailer of the movie. It will be broadcast this Wednesday, June 24 at 20:55 on Arte. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcYtJHtdsNo