Stars 80

I watched this 18/10/12 " En Avant Première" aka a provincial Premiere, before the official launch nationwide in France, with French friends. We all enjoyed the movie and sang along to our hearts content. The salle/theatre was not packed but the age range of the audience was wide and everyone left with an excellent feel good factor. The artists seemed to have enjoyed themselves as much as the audience enjoyed their performance. It was great to see the original artists redo their 'hits'. As a bonus for me, I liked the astute use of the 'anglophone' sound tracks to link some scenes. It's a pity others who'll hear this music will not necessarily understand the lyrics and the excellent matching that was made. Good French music from the '80's with excellent comédie. If you speak French fine, if you speak English and French you'll understand why the lyrics are so important. Go and spend some time in '80's nostalgia.

In 2012, a film by Thomas Langmann, called "Stars 80", premiered in France. It was all about the 80's; the music, the culture, the general feeling. Despite the country's nostalgia for the period, it failed. Why? There are many answers to this question, that can help one discover lots about the nature of stardom in 80's France, audience preferences, and (of course) nostalgia.

The film's plot concerns two fans of "Les années 80", Antoine and Vincent. These two have the dream of creating a big show with all the stars of the decade in it; but we're not talking about international stars, but French ones. François Feldman, Lio, Jean-Pierre Mader and other unknown singers to the non-accustomed to the French cultural landscape of the 80's (or simply those that aren't from France). After going out of their way to find them, many of them working in odd jobs or just not wanting to take part, they set off in a bus for the land of opportunity - by this I don't mean the US, rather the big stadiums of Paris-. It's up to the public now to make or break the show.

While this film is a comedy, it makes some interesting points about the notion of stardom, and the culture of the period;

The stars (Patrick Timsit and Richard Anconina) were back then two of the new faces of French cinema, so the role of the obsessive fans of the 80's is quite ironic to be played by them.

The singers all had their peak of popularity during the 80's, with most of them being forgotten shortly after. Because of this fact, the film makes plenty of jokes about them being unrecognised and mistaken for others, when asked for autographs. There is a hilarious sequence that shows just that, but the viewer must be acquainted with French culture of the time in order to get the humour.

"Stars 80" continues its obsession with a star's fall from grace with the scenes starring duo Début de Soirée. They rose to fame unexpectedly with the massive hit "Nuit de folie" in 1987, and made the quintessential French summer song, which has remained an evergreen in France ever since. It was maybe due to this success that the other singles didn't attain the popularity of the first one and relegated the duo to the dustbin of music history. In the movie, Début de Soirée work in a fast food restaurant, and are often asked to sing the famous chorus:

"Et tu chantes, chantes, chantes, ce refrain qui te plaît

Et tu tapes,tapes, tapes, c'est ta façon d'aimer

Ce rythme qui t'entraîne jusqu'au bout de la nuit

Réveille en toi le tourbillon d'un vent de folie"

When the two former stars leave their jobs in order to go on the tour, the bemused owner asks his assistant to "go and find David et Jonathan". This is a reference to another former singing duo, that scored a timeless success with the slow "Est-ce-que tu viens pour les vacances ?" in the same year as Début de Soirée. Due to the lower quality of their next songs, they dissolved in the early 90's.

Still, the hits of both duos still live on. And so, when Antoine and Vincent tell Début de Soirée that no one remembers them or knows their first names, they get exasperated. For a star, even the one remembered for the most kitsch of a song, the one almost forgotten except by members of their own generation, telling them they are nothing deals a major blow to their self esteem. No person wants to be forgotten, especially one who has met the trappings of success, even for a short time.

But, besides all that, if we suppose that this film was funny, why did it fail? Because, unfortunately, the target group for such a film is small. It mostly consists of people who grew up in that time, and maybe some of their children. This kind of movie is targeting an audience that is connected to these songs and stars. Essentially, a specific generation, the one that, as children and teenagers would buy the "45 tours" of "Femme que j'aime" or "Macumba", watch "Club Dorothée " on TV, record "Dallas" in video tape and spend their money on tickets for "La Boum ", "Les compères", and "Subway", or maybe on magazines like "OK! Âge tendre" and "Top 50". A generation that, while being nostalgic for the time, didn't go in massive numbers to watch this celebration of their shared cultural memories. Or, actually, it did - around one million people saw it- but the film itself was too ambitious.

This ambition is indicated by the fact that the budget of the movie reached ten million euros (!). How else would the audience-filled shows be created? While this may be true, it just goes to show the director's ambition that a film with such a restricted audience base would be able to make a profit from such an expensive budget. One million admissions is a respected number of tickets for a French film, but the movie ultimately flopped because it didn't gross enough money to surpass the budget's huge costs.

All in all, "Stars 80" is an indicative example of what happens when a film targets a specific demographic, which doesn't respond as enthusiastically as expected, and when the director is too ambitious to see that the movie's extravagance doesn't help in anything but make the feature even more ridiculous.

Still, this is a nice kind of ridiculousness. For all its faults, the embarrassing performances of the stars, the dated references, the weak plot, it's a film that at the end of the day succeeds in its goal: Have us all tapping our feet and having a great time with the eternal hits of the 80's, this decade that has remained a synonym for the kitsch and the old-fashioned, but also the innocent and the fun.

This is a true masterpiece. The filmmakers proved that you can still create an original and never-seen-before concept for the big screen. Two producers close to bankrupt try to find a last idea to escape their financial problems : find as many ex-stars from the 80's as possible to make concerts all over France... Most of these stars are known only in France (except Patrick Hernandez and Sabrina) but I think you can enjoy the movie even without knowing them all. True : if you lived this period, then the film becomes fascinating. A real cult movie. But you might also do the travel backwards : from the movie on going back to explore this incredible decade. All the stars are acting as themselves : that gives to the film this amazing impact. The worst are acting OK (most of them to be honest), the best are stealing their scenes (Jean-Luc Lahaye, who was a superstar in France and even had a TV-show to help poor children and wrote a all time best-seller about his childhood). The main duet is fantastic : Richard Anconina is one of the most natural actors of french cinema and Patrick Timsit launches every dialog like a bomber, they even manage to be very (very) moving towards the end. There's just one scene (at the hotel) that seems to be directed by french ed wood Max Pecas, all the rest is pure genius. I was convinced this could become one of the greatest hits in french cinema history. Sadly it's becoming a flop, completely unexpected and undeserved.

Vincent and Antoine's entertainment company is going to the dogs. To save it, they have an idea, to bring back on stage forgotten song stars of the 1980s. The tour they organize, although quite eventful, reaches its triumphal conclusion at the Stade de France.

« Stars 80 » is pure junk. With a pathetic humor, that pedestrian hymn to the most corny singers of the 1980s, is not recommended, to say the least. Its only real quality: the so-called stars know how to make fun of themselves. Not the film.

The film is in French without foreign subtitles although you can read the French subtitles for the hard of hearing. The film is therefore difficult for non-French speakers. Is there anything of interest for people from a non-French background? Yes. The 1960s were a golden period for British music. The 1980s were a golden period for French music. Just like the British in the 1960s, the French moved from cover versions of American songs to producing their own original songs. If you want to hear this music, language is not a problem. You'll know if you like it or not. Here is some -François Feldman Rien Que Pour Toi. François is in the film. Julie Pietri Eva Lève Toi, mentioned and sung in the film. Lio Amoureux Solitaires. Lio is in the film. Desireless Voyage, Voyage,. Other examples, Hugues Hamilton Totalement Fou d'Elle, Elsa Jour De Neige, Corynne Charby Boule De Flipper, Lova Moor Et Je Danse, Niagara Tchiki Boum, Etienne Daho Tombé Pour la France/Epaule Tattoo. Now you know if you like 1980s French music.

In the film Back to the Beach Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon show that they can still have a good time even if they are over forty. Stars 80 is a bit like that but the events in Stars 80 actually happened, unlike the events in Back to the Beach. I recommend the film. There are two trailers, one with people singing around a piano. That is not the music of the 80s. Go to the other trailer, where the two concert organisers try to get a loan to finance their idea. A the end of the trailer Lio signs an autograph for someone who believes that she is Julie Pietri the singer of Eva Lève Toi. The stars laugh at themselves. I'd like to see a sequel.