Being 17
- Director: André Téchiné
- Writer: Céline Sciamma; André Téchiné
- Producer: Olivier Delbosc; Marc Missonnier
CGiii Comment
Oooooh to be 17...again!
Those raging hormones, those desires, those needs...they don't make much sense when you are only 17...
Wrestling with feelings, coming out, growing up...unavoidable realities.
André Téchiné captures the joy and the rage of that wondrous age...with two young actors who bounce off of each of other like boxers and merge with a chemistry seldom seen...like reluctant lovers do.
The complexities of parenthood pitted against those of the teenager...with an alpine backdrop...is, simply, breathtaking!
This is good parenting...and, her tragedy is unbearable and the teenagers step up to the plate...sensitivity, maturity and compassion...here we have a preview of the men they will be...in time.
The future is bright for these boys...still time to run through the fields as if nothing else mattered. Still time to be engulfed by the sweat of first love...
Being 17 is filled with tears, joy and frustration...a beautiful, thoughtful and positive film.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Damien and Thomas attend the same grammar school class. They cannot stand each other and whenever verbal insults fail to do enough damage they take a swing at each other. Yet they could just as easily be friends. Damien’s mother Marianne is a country doctor and his father a military pilot on a tour of duty abroad. Thomas is of Maghrebi descent and is the adopted son of a farming family living on a remote farm in the mountains. After several miscarriages the farmer’s wife is expecting again and, since her pregnancy promises to be a difficult one, Marianne invites the withdrawn boy to come and stay with them for a while. Damien and Thomas find themselves having to live under the same roof ...
André Techiné has already taken part in the Berlinale Competition several times with films such as Les temps qui changent (2005) and Les témoins (2007). In Quand on a 17 ans he explores what it is like to grow up in different social environments in this portrait of two confused youths trying to govern their emotions. A rugged village in the mountains of south-western France as the seasons pass becomes the psychological landscape of the relationship between two young men which vacillates between disdain and attraction.
Ces lignes ne vous sont peut-être pas étrangères, elles ouvrent le roman d’Edouard Louis, En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, phénomène littéraire de l’année 2014.
L’histoire de ce jeune garçon exclu de son Village, de sa famille, à cause de sa différence, porte en elle une force hors norme.
Le cinéma devait s’intéresser à ce récit autobiographique chargé d’émotion.
Le réalisateur des Roseaux sauvages et de J’embrasse pas, André Téchiné, était tout désigné pour restituer la dureté de l’œuvre et son caractère sociologique (Bourdieu, Eribon).
Il indiquait dès le début du projet son souci de littéralité, qui devrait ainsi nous permettre d’entendre encore la beauté du texte.
La collaboration de la réalisatrice Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, Bande de filles) en tant que co-scénariste ne fait qu’augmenter notre plaisir de vous faire découvrir Quand on a 17 ans en première séance française, le nouveau film d’André Téchiné, cinéaste majeur du cinéma français.
Cast & Characters
Sandrine Kiberlain as Dr. Marianne Delille;
Kacey Mottet Klein as Damien Delille;
Alexis Loret as Nathan Delille;
Corentin Fila as Thomas Chardoul;
Jean Fornerod as Jacques Chardoul;
Mama Prassinos as Christine Chardoul;
Jean Corso as Paulo;
Rémi Garcia as Le proviseur;
Maïté Arraiza as La prof de français;
Françoise Gaillard as La prof de maths;
Nicole Ellkésir as Prof d'histoire géographie 1;
Didier Hougarou as Prof d'histoire géographie 2;
Gérard Labelle as Le prof de sport;
Christelle Ripa as La prof d'espagnol;
Vanessa Duran as La prof de chimie