Strayed
Review by Lee Shoquist for Reel Movie Critic
HHH
Cast
Emmanuelle Beart	Odile
Gaspard Ulliel	Yvan
Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet	Philippe
Clemence Meyer	Cathy
Directed by Andre Techine. A drama. Not Rated (violence, language and some sexuality). Running time: 95 minutes. In French with English subtitles.

I couldn't help but think about Andre Techine's masterpiece coming-of-age, wartime drama "Wilds Reeds," while watching "Strayed," his latest film traversing similar ground. Though the two films deal with different protagonists, both in age and background, they both have a melancholy, bittersweet desperation that springs from the sadness of forging impermanent bonds of love and friendship during uncertain times.

"Strayed" tells the heroic story of young widowed mother and schoolteacher Odile (Emmanuelle Beart), protecting her two children in awful wartime circumstances during 1930s France. After fleeing German occupied Paris, the family comes under attack (a thrilling opening scene) and ultimately find themselves connected to brash teenager Yvan (Gaspard Ulliel), who's street smart enough to settle down with them in an abandoned house, and lonely enough to fall in love with Odile.

Techine doesn't do anything revolutionary here, but the central story - another of the endlessly fascinating wartime survival yarns - is low-key, appealing and mainly compelling because Beart, who over time has blossomed into one of France's best actresses, is fine in a complex role that allows her to be mother, protector, friend and lover. It's a well-developed character, and we care about her.

"Strayed" is a story of hiding, surviving and falling in unlikely love. It's told in Techine's lyrical style with the weight of a memory. An effective war film, survival story and romance that employs the utmost subtlety in exploring each one, it never keeps us more than arm's length away from the knowledge of an impending tragedy. When something devastating does happen at the end of the film, it's swift and sad - and the reality of Beart's reaction speaks volumes about mothers, children and hearts broken by love and war.