Wild Reeds [DVD]

This resonant, engrossing 1994 film by Andr?© T?©chin?© ("Thieves") is an unusual coming-of-age story set at a French boarding school in 1962, when news of France's war in Algeria is still plentiful. T?©chin?© focuses on a handful of students, measuring their transition into adulthood against the reality of love, sex, and the war's controversial cost. Strikingly sensitive and sophisticated, beautifully dramatized, and perfectly acted by a young cast, the film feels like one of those universal touchstones for the final days of childhood grace. T?©chin?©'s typically blunt-but-gentle manner is perfectly suited for this tale of youthful gains and losses. "--Tom Keogh"