Film Review: QUAND ON A 17 ANS (BEING 17) (France 2016) ****

being_17QUAND ON A 17 ANS (BEING 17) (France 2016) ****
Directed by Andre Téchiné

Starring: Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet Klein, Corentin Fila

Review by Gilbert Seah

Directed by Téchiné with a script he wrote in collaboration with Céline Sciamma, the film follows the romantic and sexual awakening of two seventeen year old boys as their initial animosity, expressed in violence, morphs into love. For the not-so French literate, Being 17 borrows its title from the second half-line of the first verse of Roman, (1870) by Arthur Rimbaud: On n’est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans.

This is not their first collaboration. Téchiné and Sciamma have worked on several films before including the quite similar and excellent LES ROSEAUX SAUVAGES (WILD REEDS) in 1994 also about young gay love.

The film unfolds in 3 trimesters (three French school terms in a year). The first occurs in winter and the final after summer. The protagonist is 17-year old Damien, a smart (good in math) and sensitive (good in poetry) who lives with his doctor mother and absent father, Nathan a fighter pilot abroad. They lead a relatively comfortable life in a small town located in a valley among the mountains of the Hautes-Pyrénées. Mother and son miss Nathan who comes home occasionally when the military allows.

In high school, Damien gets picked on by Thomas, a classmate, who trips him in the middle of class for no apparent reason. From then on there are constant altercations between them while playing sports and in the schoolyard. Both are outsiders at school chosen last for sports teams. In order to protect himself, Damien takes self-defense classes with Paulo, an ex-military family friend. The film goes from there with the story turning into young love – with raging hormones expected of youth at the age of 17.

The main story is supported by significantly moving subplots about Thomas’ adoptive mother bearing a child and Damien’s father’s death, the catastrophe that eventually brings the two boys together.

The change of seasons reflect the sexual awakening of the boys. When the boys are in school the first trimester is set in winter, their sexual desires are as if, hidden in the cold. As spring approaches, Damien’s sexual attraction towards Thomas awakens. An excellent segment also occurs later in the film when the two study Latin and discuss the difference between desire and need. Desire is natural but superfluous and pretentious, the reason Thomas tripped Damien in the classroom as he deemed Damien’s poem as open pretentiousness.

The shooting of the film in the winter in the mountains of the Hautes-Pyrénées makes stunning scenery. And the sight of the small town from the mountain top, as shown by Thomas to Damien’s mother is breathtaking.

For a director over 70, Téchiné captures the vibrance of youth. This can be observed best in the scenes in Damien’s school as the kids goof around, take part in sports or take lessons in the classroom. It is also rare in films that both adults and youth are treated as intelligent. In fact, every character is intelligent enough to have a valid say in the story. BEING 17 is both a moving and enlightening entertainment that marks once again another superior work from Téchiné.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSPninRQwI

 

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Happy Birthday: Paul Weitz

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paulweitz.jpgPaul Weitz

Born: November 19, 1965 in New York City, New York, USA

Married to: Patricia Brown (15 December 2001 – present) (1 child)

I was raised to be super polite. I had great parents, but it was a very class-conscious New York environment. One of the things I love about the set is dealing with all kinds of people. It’s one place where being a control freak can be a benevolent thing. I try to project calm so they can do their thing. They shouldn’t look over and see terror in my eyes.

AMERICAN PIE
1999
dir. Chris Weitz
Paul Weitz
Stars
Jason Biggs
Eugene Levy
CHUCK AND BUCKChuck & Buck
2000
dir. Miguel Arteta
Starring
Mike White
Chris Weitz
About a Boy
2002
dir. Weitz
Chris Weitz
Starring
Hugh Grant
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
dir. Weitz
Stars:
Chris Massoglia
John C. Reilly
MOVIE POSTERBEING FLYNN
dir. Paul Weitz
Stars:

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Happy Birthday: Ted Turner

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tedturner.jpgTed Turner

Born: November 19, 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Married to: Jane Fonda (21 December 1991 – 22 May 2001) (divorced)
Jane Shirley Smith (2 June 1965 – 1988) (divorced) (3 children)
Judy Nye (23 June 1960 – 1964) (divorced) (2 children)

[asked what his personal motto was] Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise!

One summer I made $50 a week, and my father charged me $25 a week rent. I asked him if that wasn’t a little high. He said that if I could do better than that for food and lodging seven days a week I could move out.

[on the 2008 government bailout saving car companies instead of the restaurant industry] People would rather eat than drive cars!

 

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Happy Birthday: Larry King

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larryking.jpgLarry King

Born: November 19, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, USA

Married to:
Shawn Southwick (5 September 1997 – present) (2 children)
Julie Alexander (7 October 1989 – 1992) (divorced)
Sharon Lepore (25 September 1976 – 1984) (divorced)
Alene Akins (19 April 1963 – 6 December 1966) (divorced) (1 child)
Mickey Sutphin (1963 – 1963) (divorced)
Annette Kaye (1960 – 1961) (divorced) (1 child)
Freda Miller (1952 – ?) (annulled)

I never think of access or good will. I just want a good interview. I want guests to be informative and entertaining. I’ve never been concerned about someone’s liking me tomorrow.

I’m from Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, if you say, ‘I’m dangerous’, you’d better be dangerous.

 

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Happy Birthday: Charlie Kaufman

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charliekauffman.jpgCharlie Kaufman

Born: November 19, 1958 in New York City, New York, USA

Scripts usually feature reluctant protagonists who start out in the story as downtrodden or self-doubtful, frustrated with life or love or their professions.

Worked alongside Stephen Colbert and Louis C.K. on the writing staff of The Dana Carvey Show (1996).

Kaufman has a reputation for avoiding interviews with the media, but this is a fallacy, as demonstrated by the scores of interviews you can find online. He has rarely been interviewed on TV; he was interviewed by Charlie Rose at the end of March 2004, and by Stephen Colbert in December of 2008.

 

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Happy Birthday: Kathleen Quinlan

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kathleenquinlan.jpgKathleen Quinlan

Born: November 19, 1954 in Pasadena, California, USA

Married to: Bruce Abbott (12 April 1994 – present) (1 child)

When not much is happening and there seems to be nothing you can do to change that, you do wonder. But I am an actor, like it or not. I stuck with it and took what was offered.

The heavy spacesuits are spectacular to look at but very hot. Putting one on was like going from chilly London winter weather to the Bahamas in just minutes.

MOVIETHE HILLS HAVE EYES
2006
dir. Alexandre Aja
Starring:
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AIRPORT 77Airport 1977
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Cast
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Kathleen Quinlan
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Directed by Paul Weiland
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Michelle Monaghan
BREAKDOWNBreakdown
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dir. Jonathan Mostow
Cast
Kurt Russell
JT Walsh
MOVIE POSTERTWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE
1983
dir. by Joe…

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Happy Birthday: Gene Tierney (1920–1991)

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genetierney.jpgGene Tierney (1920–1991)

Born: November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died: November 6, 1991 (age 70) in Houston, Texas, USA

Jealousy is, I think, the worst of all faults because it makes a victim of both parties.

It was the fashion of the time, still is, to feel that all actors are neurotic, or they would not be actors.

THE LEFT HAND OF GOD
1955
dir. Edward Dmytryk
Starring:
Humphrey Bogart
Gene Tierney
LAURALaura
1944
dir. Otto Preminger
Starring
Gene Tierney
Andrews
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Happy Birthday: Sandrine Holt

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sandrineholt.jpgSandrine Holt

Born: November 19, 1972 in London, England, UK

I started acting when I was 17. I started modeling when I was 13. It helps in the way that you don’t get fazed by cameras too much.

It’s difficult because usually when they cast things, the main characters are Caucasian in absolutely almost every situation.

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dir. Måns Mårlind
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Best of the NETFLIX show
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Happy Birthday: Jodie Foster

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jodiefoster.jpgJodie Foster

Born: November 19, 1962 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to: Alexandra Hedison (20 April 2014 – present)

[on Taxi Driver (1976)] I think it’s one of the finest films that’s ever been made in America. It’s a statement about America. About violence. About loneliness. Anonymity. Some of the best works are those that have tried to imitate that kind of film, that kind of style. It’s just a classic. I felt when I came home every day that I had really accomplished something.

[on backing Mel Gibson after his 2006 anti-Semitic comments while drunk to a cop he thought was Jewish] Is he an anti-Semite? Absolutely not. But it’s no secret that he has always fought a terrible battle with alcoholism. [Mel] was a shining example of how low you can go when you are young and still pull yourself up. He took his recovery very seriously…

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Happy Birthday: Allison Janney

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allisonjanney.jpgAllison Janney

Born: November 19, 1959 in Dayton, Ohio, USA

[2011, on The West Wing (1999)] The most impactful role I’ve ever played. Life-changing. A life-changing role, in terms of my notoriety, if you want to call it that, opening doors to meeting the kinds of people I never would’ve met in a million years. Going to Washington and being invited to the White House, going to the Foreign Correspondents’ Dinner. It just opened a million doors and broadened my life so much, and brought so much to me. I was so proud of being a part of a groundbreaking show like that. It was life-changing, and I’ll be forever grateful for it.

10 Things I Hate About You
1999
dir. Gil Junger
Starring
Heath Ledger
Julia Stiles
FINDING NEMOFinding Nemo
2003
dir. Andrew Stanton
Lee Unkrich
Cast
Albert Brooks
Ellen DeGeneres
Hairspray
2007
dir. Adam Shankman
Starring
John Travolta
Michelle…

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