So compelling and full of real-life tension that it will make you forget you're watching a work of fiction.
Strayed (2004)
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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:41
Rotten:15
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Understated but compelling wartime drama.
Theatrical Release:May 14, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $397,871
Synopsis: The friendship and trust that develops rapidly between a 17-year-old homeless boy and a young mother with two children is the basis for Andre Techine's STRAYED. They find each other during a... The friendship and trust that develops rapidly between a 17-year-old homeless boy and a young mother with two children is the basis for Andre Techine's STRAYED. They find each other during a terrifying WWII bombing as they are escaping Paris for the countryside. Yvan (Gaspard Ulliel) is a recluse hiding in the woods. Odile (Emmanuelle Beart) is a widow trying to get her children to safety. Together, the group finds a magical abandoned chateau hidden far back in the forest, and they take shelter there. Settling into a nearly idyllic secret existence as the rest of the world endures the hardships of war, their situation is fairly surreal. Yvan is resourceful and self-sufficient, instantly taking on the role of the man in the family. He hunts for rabbits, delights the children with his youthfulness and curiosity, and even ignites a romantic spark in Odile. But there is always a sense of urgency and doubt, as if the temporary paradise they've stumbled upon will come to a rapid halt and fall into the shadows of some looming dark event. A beautiful film that takes a carpe diem approach to survival--and loving life life--during wartime, STRAYED is rich with substance while also being a visually enjoyable and entertaining film from talented director Techine. [More]
Starring: Emmanuelle Beart, Gaspard Ulliel, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, Clemence Meyer
Starring: Emmanuelle Beart, Gaspard Ulliel, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, Clemence Meyer, Jean Fornerod, Samuel Laberthe, Eric Krekenmayer
Director: André Téchiné
Director: André Téchiné
Screenwriter: Gilles Taurand, André Téchiné
Producer: Jean-Pierre Ramsay Levi
Studio: Wellspring
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Reviews for Strayed
All this unfolds against the backdrop of war, but it's Techine's characters who create the tension, not the prospect of bombs or invading soldiers.
Odile and Yvan change and grow as we watch them -- and without any whimpering or whining, they break our hearts.
It's not a major statement about anything, but for anyone who knows how conflicts affect lives, it's a complete one.
A wartime drama that's more about the drama than about the war - you keep thinking you know where the story's going, but it keeps surprising you by taking a different turn.
What's interesting about the reserved, delicate Strayed is that it's satisfied to imply its themes rather than spell them out for us.
Andre Techine, maestro of the French New Wave directors, tells a seductively simple story of survival set on the outskirts of German occupied Paris in June of 1940.
Andre Techine's film has true feeling for France in 1940, but is too intimate to be called a war film.
The story is dramatic and Béart gives one of her best performances, even if Téchiné's style has its usual sense of distance.
Techine creates a considerable degree of suspense with minimal ingredients here, and he has been judicious in his casting choices.
As with Téchiné's best work, Strayed is a peculiar, lingering blend of robustness and delicacy -- a movie with hardly a single wasted frame, incongruous word, or false gesture.
A picture-book French film that's pretty and trite, rather than edgy and moving.
The film provides some sort of closure at the historical point in which conventional WW2 film would only begin.
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