ANightToRemember I've been a bit confused as to some other reviews I've seen on this site. Most call the film "beautiful" and a great realistic love story. In some cases they seem to right, but in other cases they aren't. Let's start with the plot: It's 1960's France, and we've got three guys at a boarding school. François (our main character), Serge (our main character's love interest/lust), and Henri (some kid with a radio). François is in some kind of borderline relationship with his best friend, Maïté. They're at a wedding of the older brother of Serge, even though we aren't totally sure who knows who and how they were invited there. I'll just assume that Maïté's mother, Madame Alvarez, somehow knows Serge's brother. Anyways they go through a horribly shot wedding (more on that later), then go. We get some dialog in which François claims Serge is "weird". Serge's older brother says something about being attracted to Madam Alvarez, and that she can help him get out of going to the war in Algeria. Oh, and he attempts to almost rape her, but don't worry: it's never brought up again.Anyways, Sergi seduces François one night, and it all goes from there. That kid with the radio is involved too, don't worry. Henri is apparently a Fascist from Algeria (strange, considering he's about as North African as a taco) who is always eager for news from there. It all goes from there, I don't want to give away too much.Okay, now let's start with my first problem: the cinematography. Some call it "beautiful" and it looks like "summer" and so "pure" all the time. Okay, no. It just sucks in this movie. NOTHING is unique about it. I could pick up a camera and make a movie in the same place with the same outdoor light, and it'd look so "artsy" to some. It is just... nothing. Nothing looks pretty, nothing looks unique. It's just average.And don't get me started on my main problem: the editing. The GODFORSAKEN EDITING. It's just awful. There are no transitions, at some points it seems to cut in mid-conversation. Let's use an example. At the beginning, there's a scene with Madam Alvarez is dancing with Serge's brother at his wedding. First of all, they are dancing incredibly quickly for a waltz, and they spin and spin and spin. We're with one camera angle (never cuts to another), so it's almost like both are trying to talk, but the other person continues to block them with their head. The scene ends with the two talking, only it's his shoulder covering half her face and his, well shoulder. It just looks terrible, almost unprofessional.A lot of elements seem tacked on. There's a whole sub plot with Madam Alvarez as well, with her going crazy over something (I'll leave it to you to see). Only there isn't a reason for it. At all. There isn't any resolution to her problem, no relation to our main characters, it's like they just wanted to add more drama, but it seems like two movies that were accidentally edited together when they should have been separate. The acting is quite good, though. They all seem to know their characters and do perfectly fine with what they have. I wouldn't mind seeing most of them in other films.But the direction that everyone calls "fantastic" isn't really that. Half the time the characters do things for no particular reason, leaving you wondering their motivations for half the things they do. While it isn't a bad movie, it isn't good. It's entertaining, but just an average piece of film. Nothing special. Go ahead and see it if you want to. By seeing it, you won't gain anything. By skipping it you won't miss anything.6/10

viverito This film is truly amazing. I saw it and was so moved by it that I couldn't stop thinking about it for a very long time. It is heavily based on the director's (Andre Techine) real life experiences. In this film Techine manages to create a realistic and palpable universe which seems which if you know anything about film is a very hard thing for directors to accomplish. I asked a French DP and a friend of Andre Techine about Les Roseaux Sauvages and he told me that it was originally made for television and that it was such an enormous sensation in France that it later was released in the theaters and won many awards at the Cesars in Paris - France's equivalent of the Oscars. I will admit that some American friends of mine went to see this film and didn't get it. What a pity for them.

mifunesamurai At first you think, "Not another coming of age film where they lose their virginity." What you do get is a story that slowly reveals itself to be an intelligent look at sexual awareness and political angst in a provincial French town 1962.

peterjcolbert How do teenagers grow-up? Andre Techine's camera gives us a cool and respectful view into their emotions. Elodie Bouchez, playing sixteen-year-old Maite, in particular, projects emotion with a quiet dignity. It is remarkable how much is going on while the film seems so quiet. Maybe it is the durability of French countryside that calms the children and us.The children realistically explore their budding sexuality with all dimensions treated in a straightforward and sensitive manner. The children await the results of their baccalaureate exam, the culmination of French High School education and the key to their professional lives. The natural developmental and educational issues that teenagers face are compounded by the turbulence of the times. And what turbulence surrounds these children! A violent, unpopular, and un-winable war to retain colonial ownership of Algeria strikes directly into this small French village as one child looses his brother and another his homeland. The latter plans bloody revenge against those whom he believes betrayed France until he realizes that Maite, a girl he loves, would be his target. Maite's mother is overwhelmed by guild and institutionalized by fear that her lack of action may have led to the brother's death.Oh, and there is some great American rock and roll that somehow fits in; it must be that enduring French countryside.