Being 17

"Adolescence is the only time when you learn something at all"

2016 1h 56m FR

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 389

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Adolescence is the only time when you learn something at all”

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Cast

Sandrine Kiberlain
Dr. Marianne Delille
Kacey Mottet Klein
Damien Delille
Corentin Fila
Thomas Chardoul
Alexis Loret
Nathan Delille
Jean Fornerod
Jacques Chardoul
Mama Prassinos
Christine Chardoul
Jean Corso
Paulo
Rémi Garcia
Le proviseur

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: André Téchiné
Writers: Céline Sciamma, André Téchiné
Languages: French, Spanish
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by André Téchiné, shot by Julien Hirsch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexis Rault. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Albertine Lastera shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sandrine Kiberlain and Kacey Mottet Klein and Corentin Fila carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Adolescence is the only time when you learn something at all".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt4331970 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

André Téchiné directs. Julien Hirsch behind the camera. Alexis Rault scores. Albertine Lastera cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in French, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 10 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Spanish.
3Directed by André Téchiné, shot by Julien Hirsch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Alexis Rault. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Albertine Lastera shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sandrine Kiberlain and Kacey Mottet Klein and Corentin Fila carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Adolescence is the only time when you learn something at all".
8IMDB entry: tt4331970 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "homophobia", "bullying", "male homosexuality", "in the closet".

The technical file

Cinematography: Julien Hirsch
Original score: Alexis Rault
Editing: Albertine Lastera
Production design: Olivier Radot
Costume design: Christian Gasc
Makeup / hair: Jean-Jacques Puchu
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $2,000,000
Original language: FR
IMDB: Being 17 (2016)

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André Téchiné

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2017-09-04
★ 7/10
Rivalry, that's where sometimes it all begins. I don't know why this film has not been watched by many. This is a good film, a good French gay film. Like many reviewers had already mentioned, this is not your typical gay theme. It would have been better if you had tried it without knowing what kind of story is this. Anyway, I mentioned it, but it is not a spoiler if you thought so. It would have landed at you in one way or the other while learning about the film. It was more a drama than the romance. But everything has to have a nicer initiation. So, that's how the film characters take the shape. Only those important characters like the main two and another 2-3 were the all focus. The narration clearly ignores everything else to put the story straight, despite it was not about the straight guys. The tale was told from the perspective of Damien, a new boy moved into the small foothill town with his doctor mother and while his father serving in the army in an away tour. Sometimes, the perspective takes neural to accomplish the other aspect of the story. An unexpected rivalry begins between Damien and his classmate, Thomas, a loner who lives up in the hills in a farmland. As the film progresses, their fight intensifies. But there comes a time to compromise when the developments around them forces them to do so. It's the turning point for them, yet they're not in the mood to shake hands. You could say what comes henceforth, but that's where you might go wrong. This tale breaks the stereotypes and brings a fresh perspective on homosexuality. Although not fully unpredictable narration. ❝I don't know if I'm into guys or just you.❞ Besides, the places where the film shot was magnificent. Takes place in different seasons, and each time the story well exploited the region to blend with the emotions, fierce and other moods in the drama. The two boys were good. Because of the type of their role, the film looks slow in some parts. But overall gets better with its upcoming scene. The first two acts were nothing but the boys and their struggle to get over with their conflict. More like the random acts of normal reaction to such incidents. Only if it had tough guys on both the ends. But where it all leads were well planned that you may slightly disappoint with it. Like I was aware of a couple of things from the story, and it indeed that's how it turned out at the latter part. Otherwise, there's no complaint about it. Despite I enjoyed watching it, not the film that I wanted. I blame my anticipation for having such opinion. I was looking for more and more things to happen, whereas the narration was riding in the simplest manner. Especially the last half an hour brought the best out of it. Yeah, you could say it ended strongly and probably a turning point for the audience to change their stance if they were not happy so far. Firstly, it is worth watching for being a different for such concept, and that's because of the writing. Secondly the cinematography, direction, including the actors made it a better flick. But personally I was not happy about failing to come to the point in the early section. It recovered, almost at very late. And then it ended better. But still I agree it was a perfect portrayal of the older teenagers and their confusing sexuality. The contents were realistic while the film stayed true to cinematic. I hope people watch it with low expectation and patience. 7/10
kinrich302026-08-30
★ 4/10
This was a fairly good movie and for the most part enjoyable. I think it lacked motivation for one of the characters though, he started out as a bully, but we never really learn why, he does give a slight answer for it later, but it just seems like there should have been more to it. The gay part of the story had a happy ending, but the non-gay part did not, so it's kind of a mixed reaction to this one.