Being 17

French writer-director André Téchiné's evocative coming-of-age tale centers on two antagonistic classmates who are drawn to one another after being accidentally thrown together. Damien (Kacey Mottet Klein) is a brainy misfit who knocks heads with Thomas (Corentin Fila), a more rugged but less studious teen who was adopted by a childless family. When Thomas's mother becomes pregnant, Damien's mother, Marianne (Sandrine Kiberlain), who is also the local doctor, suggests that Thomas move in with them to spare him the long trek to school. The boys initially resist any sort of brotherly feeling, but in time Damien will confess his attraction to Thomas, and although their complicated relationship continues to be marked by tension—even violence—as well as physical intimacy, the pair grow closer, especially after an incident involving Damien's father (Alexis Loret), a military man who keeps in touch via Skype. Being 17 never becomes a simple story of gay sexual awakening—Téchiné even leaves open the possibility that Marianne might be harboring feelings for Thomas in her husband's absence—and it refuses to turn Damien into a nerdy victim (he practices boxing with a neighbor, and can hold his own in a fight). Ultimately, the combination of emotional complexity, a striking setting (the French Pyrénées, snow-filled in the winter sequences), and fine performances make this a film that both surprises and satisfies. Recommended. (F. Swietek)