The film is set in southwest France in 1962. François, a shy young man from the lower middle class, is working towards his high school diploma. He spends most of his time talking about movies and literature with his best friend, Maïté, whose mother Mme Alvarez is François's French teacher. Mme Alvarez and Maïté are communists. At the boarding school, François becomes acquainted with Serge, the sensual son of immigrant farmers. At night, he joins François in the dormitory to chat. Finally, Serge draws François into an erotic relationship. François discovers his homosexuality and develops a deep attraction for Serge, who had only acted out of curiosity. François confides this discovery to Maïté, who swallows her disappointment and encourages him to come out of the closet. When Serge becomes increasingly interested in Maïté, she declares herself to be interested in nobody. Serge's brother Pierre dies while serving in the army in Algeria, and Maïté's mother suffers a nervous breakdown, having previously refused to help Pierre desert. An Algerian-born French exile, Henri, enrolls in the boys' boarding school and aggravates their conflicts, adding a political conflict. He is obsessed with events in Algeria and supports the OAS, which opposes Algerian independence and defends the rights of French settlers there. He treats François without sympathy and bluntly tells him to own up to his homosexuality. His political stance provokes Serge's hatred. Henri finally engages Maïté, his political opposite, and they yield to their mutual attraction. Each member of the quartet develops in the course of the film, shifting repeatedly from stubborn positions to more flexible appreciations of their circumstances, explained in French class by a reading of "The Oak and the Reed", one of Aesop's Fables.
The project was first conceived as part of a television film series dealing with adolescence, Tous les garçons et les filles de leurs âges, entitled Le chêne et le roseau, which made up the first 55 minutes of Wild Reeds. But after completing the script, Téchiné decided to make it a full theatrical release. Based on his own life story, it is his biggest personal success in France and his most intimate film. It is one of limited number of films on the politically delicate subject of the Algerian War. They include The Little Soldier, Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès, and La Question.
The film was met with widespread critical acclaim and holds a rare 100% "Fresh" ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. It was released in the United States on May 10, 1995 grossing $38,192 in 7 theaters its widest release eventually grossing a total of $917,915 in North America. In France the film received limited release playing at a total of 40 cinemas and opening in second place in the French box office gaining 37,688 admissions its opening weekend. In total the film had 589,301 admissions in France and was the 51st highest earning film of the year.
