Being 17
2016 · Directed by André Téchiné
Original language: French
- drama
The story
Damien lives with his mother Marianne, a doctor, while his father, a pilot, is on a tour of duty abroad with the French military. At school, Damien is bullied by Thomas, who lives in the farming community up in the mountains. The boys find themselves living together when Marianne invites Thomas to come and stay with them while his mother is ill in hospital. Damien must learn to live with the boy who terrorized him.
What it’s like
Cool, grey-green Pyrenean light sits on wide, unhurried landscapes: long, patient shots of mountain ridges, a farmhouse kitchen, a cramped Paris-style flat with the windows open to weather. Camera work is restrained and observational, often static or slowly tracking, with a naturalistic, lightly grainy texture and very little score, so the wind, footsteps, and rain carry most of the sound. The mood is quiet tension that tips into tenderness: a wary, prickly unease between two teenage boys that slowly softens into something tender and hard to name. Pacing is deliberate and unforced, with long silences and small gestures doing the emotional work. Its intensity is low to moderate: bullying and verbal cruelty, a few tense confrontations, and some physical scuffles, but no gore and nothing graphic; sexuality is handled with restraint and some brief, tender physical intimacy. Best for slow, reflective evenings, for viewers who want a sensitive coming-of-age story about first love, prejudice, and shame, and who don't need a neat resolution.
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