I think that one never grows up emotionally. We grow up physically, intellectually, socially, and even morally but never emotionally. Recognition of this fact can be either terrifying or deeply moving. Everyone handles it in their own way. --Andre Techine
 

Hôtel des Amériques (1981) - The beautiful Helene (Catherine Deneuve) works in a hospital as an anesthesiologist and so when she accidentally hits Gilles (Patrick Dewaere) while driving her car, she can jump out and know exactly what to do to make sure he is not seriously hurt. The two start off a relationship based on this "chance" meeting, though the inauspicious beginning should have served as a warning. Gilles does not do very much except live in a room in his family's hotel and hang out. His lethargic approach to life is an anesthetic in itself, and since Helene is still mourning the death of her former lover a few years before, she is not overly anxious to start a new romance. The two of them go back and forth in a cat-and-mouse game until Helene tires of going nowhere and decides to leave for Paris. Considering how difficult it is for Gilles to rise to any action, it seems that Helene may remain alone unless she runs into someone else.

~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

J'embrasse pas - I Don't Kiss (1991) - The innocent country boy has come a long way since arriving with high hopes of making it in the big city. His only contact (with equally vulnerable middle-aged widow Vincent) provides a bed to sleep in, but under impossible conditions. Film producer Noiret offers 'no sex' overtures of friendship, which he only later realises are more predatory than they seemed. Auditions end in humiliation and flight from his tentative ambition to become an actor. Only tart-with-a-troubled-heart Béart seems honest in this world without pity.

~  Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Ma saison préférée - My Favorite Season (1993) - Despite having taken three years to make the trip across the Atlantic, Andre Techine's Ma Saison Preferee is surely one of the best films of the summer, if not the year. After its release in France, Ma Saison Preferee was unable to acquire an American distributor; however, following the modest art-house success of the director's subsequent effort, Wild Reeds, the door was opened for the movie's U.S. showing. For those who enjoy rich, complex character dramas, the arrival of Ma Saison Preferee is a cause for celebration.

Ma Saison Preferee is about relationships and communication. It's about sacrifice and misunderstandings. And, above all, it's about the ties of family and how the passage of time constantly distorts and re-invents our relationships with those we are closest to. Techine's masterful story probes these issues, constantly digging deeper to uncover hidden motivations. In the process, a pair of multi-dimensional, completely believable personalities are created. These characters get under our skin and stay there.

Excerpt from James Berardinell'is Reelreview located HERE 

Les Roseaux sauvages - Wild Reeds (1994) - Winner of four 1994 Cesar awards (best picture, best director, best screenplay, and best female newcomer), Wild Reeds beat out such big-name, high-budget productions as Queen Margot. Originally commissioned by French television, but first released theatrically, this story of four youths struggling with the pressures of becoming adults in 1962 France presents an honest look at all the angst and uncertainty of finding oneself.

If Wild Reeds was just another coming-of-age story, it wouldn't be worth more than a cursory glance. However, Andre Techine's semi-autobiographical look back at his final year in boarding school possesses more depth and realism than many similar films. Nostalgia does not tint this narrative with its warm sepia tones. Essentially a character study of the four corners of a romantic quadrangle, Wild Reeds examines adolescence from the point-of-view of those who feel themselves to be "outsiders", and shows that while the political and social climate may affect a person's development, other factors -- such as friendship and love -- are often more dominant.

Excerpt from James Berardinell'is Reelreview located HERE