Being 17 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Being 17 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 9, 2017

Love and desire hit normal adolescent roadblocks in “Being 17,” the latest from co-writer/director Andre Techine (“Thieves,” “Wild Reeds”). The 73-year-old helmer is an unlikely source for adolescent woes, but Techine taps into something very personal and primal with the picture, which attacks displays of universal dysfunction with raw passion, gifting the feature real spirit as it inspects teenagers and their personal battles. “Being 17” isn’t the sharpest work from Techine -- it actually doesn’t even have an ending. What the director gets absolutely right here are those abyssal feelings and paralyzing concerns that touch everyone’s life, treating arcs of attraction and friendship with the concentration and realism they deserve.

Thomas (Corentin Fila) struggles with his life, trying to help his ailing mother while walking 90 minutes back and forth to school every day, often in arduous conditions, also dealing with his biracial heritage and comforting sense of solitude in the snow-packed mountains of France. Damien (Kacey Mottet Klein) is Thomas’s observant classmate, living with his mother, Marianne (Sandrine Kiberlain), who practices medicine and charitably treats Thomas’s mother, trying her best to help those in need. While struggling with the absence of his serviceman father, Damien lives a comfortable life of routine and communication, but there’s something deep inside that’s yearning to be set free. At first, Thomas and Damien are total opposites, often sampling bully-ish behavior as antagonisms rise between the pair for no real reason at school. However, as time passes, the boys end up building a tentative friendship, with Thomas welcomed by Marianne, who encourages Damien to make a connection to the campus outsider. While Damien tests acts of kindness in public, his secret desire for Thomas intensifies, bringing newfound complications and uneasiness to their burgeoning, almost brotherly bond.

Techine certainly isn’t making a boldly defined John Hughes movie, but he shares a love of juvenile complications and buried yearn with the late, great filmmaker. “Being 17” takes its title seriously, remaining with Damien and Thomas as they figure out their connection during a period of intense judgment. Their meet cute is a violent push, commencing hostilities between the young men that spill over into their math class and homes, finding something about Damien agitating Thomas, though both characters willingly participate in bullying, delivering schoolyard comeuppance that represents mutual interest, but the teens are too inexperienced and too hopped up on testosterone to figure that one out until much later in the feature. They unite as enemies, albeit awkward ones, with Marianne making house calls to treat Thomas’s mother, who’s ill, finding the bulk of her discomfort occurring in the mornings. This is one of many minor twists and turns the screenplay takes, keeping Thomas and Damien as opposites while life pulls them together, forced to relax their hostilities for the greater good.

“Being 17” spends most screen time on the battling boys, with the story taking place over the school year, taking in the long ride toward communication. Thomas and Damien slowly come to respect each other, becoming pals as their futures slide into focus. It’s not an easy relationship, with fighting helping to hash out differences, but the twosome eventually gels. However, for Damien, there’s a sexual element to his side of the friendship he has difficulty processing, getting used to himself while finally spotting his object of desire. There’s plenty of denial going on, and Techine manufactures a darkly humorous aside that finds Damien ordering Thomas to take him to the house of an older online stranger looking for a tryst, only to watch his driver charm the man, receiving a tour of his modern dairy farming facilities. Regardless of their issues, nude swimming wins out in the end, watching Damien dare to expose his feeling for Thomas, unsure what type of reaction he’ll receive.

Being 17 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation delivers wonderful textures on the varied faces it surveys, picking out skin particulars and preserving subtle offerings of emotion. Detail is generally strong throughout the viewing experience, keeping vast distances and set decoration open for inspection, also preserving changes in lifestyle and atmospheric intensity as all seasons are examined. Colors are lively, providing rich primaries on clothing, while greenery almost plays a supporting role in the feature, handling naturalistic highlights with vibrancy. Skintones are natural, enjoying an increasing presence as the film unfolds. The HD-shot effort is more confident in the daylight, presenting a terrific look at production accomplishments. Delineation isn't concerning, but the production's use of day for night photography doesn't translate well to Blu-ray, muddying up a few scenes.

Being 17 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix has a little more opportunity for atmospherics than the average movie. Set largely in the mountains, the track explores wintry weather, with whipping winds and crunchy snow movement. School environments are also compelling, detailing echoed interiors and student bustle, finding group activity precise with voices. Dialogue exchanges are sharp and loud, providing ideal clarity for emotional moments, and argumentative behavior doesn't cause distortion. Scoring cues and soundtrack cuts handle superbly, supporting onscreen action with precise instrumentation, never overwhelming the moment. Surrounds aren't lively, but distances handle with more circular placement.

Being 17 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:32, HD) is included.

Being 17 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Of course, there's more to "Being 17," with Marianne's loneliness stirred gently by the screenplay, leaving her to savor Skype sessions with her husband. The subplot contributes to an overall theme of stunted desires and unwanted isolation, also featured in Thomas's self-destructive attitude about his skin color and illegitimate origins. Grander ideas on psychology bring out riveting drama, but it's the picture's heat that wins out in the end, studying Damien and Tomas as they fight to figure everything out as the year passes. "Being 17" is startlingly humane and realistic at times, refusing melodrama to bleed a little with the boys. Techine's patience and respect pays off wonderfully here, and while he can't secure a finale (the movie basically stops, it doesn't end), the rest of the work is exceptionally observed and performed.