La boum

When I watched the film as a teenager, I was instantly falling in love with Sophie Marceau and have watched nearly all of her films later on. I was searching for the films for years, but on ebay in Germany the old VHS version always reached 40 €. But since 6 months we have both parts on DVD her in Germany and of course I bought them and still love them. The song "Dreams are my reality" had been a big hit. I think it was a No. 1 for several weeks. Every woman and man of my age know the song and nearly all men between 30 and 45 I know, get a melancholic smile on there face, when they think about Sophie Marceau in those films... Of course, there exist more intellectual scripts and from a view of the art of cinematography there are a lot of better films, but less that makes you feel so good.

This is the film that launched the film career of Sophie Marceau. The 14 year old star goes through the "growing pains" as an only child of successful professionals. The age where kids are granted to have a "boom" (party) without parent supervision has arrived at last! Nervous fathers are sitting in parked cars, uncertain whether to "see what's going on" in the apartment where the teenagers are celebrating their independence.

This film is not just a series of laughs, but it seriously handles issues such as sibling rivalry, divorce and other situations relevant to adolescents. There are isolated scenes with crude double-meaning, crassly unsuitable for children. Viewing by pre-teens should be at parent's discretion! Otherwise, this is a thoroughly enjoyable "feel good movie".

The love theme "Reality" by Richard Sanderson, a #1 World Hit at the time, is a beautiful song popping up throughout the story, adding to the magic. Lots of European "flavor" make this a great film to enjoy. Capitalizing on the huge success of this 1980 instant-classic is the 1982 sequel, the much weaker "La Boum 2". Enjoy "La Boum" and forget about the sequel

"La Boum", while not being a complicated or serious movie, does have its good points. Sophie Marceau as Vic acts out quite well how Vic reacts to her parents' crumbling marriage and her excitement over developing her relationship with her new boyfriend, Mathieu. There are practical jokes throughout the movie, and also a lot of teenage angst drama. This is basically a movie to watch when you want to be entertained instead of watching a serious movie.

My french teacher allowed my class to watch the entire thing.It's a wonderful movie. There was one slow song that kept playing throughout the entire film, but at the moment I cannot recall the name of it. I give it a ten out of ten because it was funny, shocking, and even a smidge sad at points. Nowadays it would most definitely be rated PG-13 at least, because it does contain profanity and some sexual references. All of the foreign films shown to us in class were loved by all, such as Jean De Florette and Manon De la Source, which are both equally fabulous movies. I must say that I greatly enjoyed the lead female character's haircut. It really looked good on her.

Like many, I recall watching this film as a teenager in French class at a US high school. At that time, the appealing qualities for me were the "kids just trying to have fun" elements: the discotech dance parties, and the effusive French culture which at the time (anyone still remember the Cold War?) showed the affinity of the western world states for their different social values.

I just watched the film again, with Chinese subtitles no less, and was really struck by the fact that much of the story resounds with parents. The scene of the parents huddling around the pay phone, each not wanting to be the one to embarrass their child by showing up first is great. The line, "Je Montre!", is just the feeling of charging into the breach of the unknown that a real parent with a 13 year-old daughter should expect.

I was also struck by how out of place the "cross-culture" elements appear today. The scene socializing a MacDonalds, the "fait un American" dance, the UCLA sweatshirt... I doubt they have much place in today's climate of "freedome fries" and "economic techno-goober globalization". You can watch this film thinking "Vic/Mathew is dreamy", "Boum = fun", but I suggest after you're done, rewind the tape and watch it again looking for the second layer of social observation that abound. Ask yourself whether you will ever see this generation of kids sitting at home on the floor talking on the phone (why bother when then all have cell phones), or even going to a real live Boum (when there are "no consequences" chat rooms, video games, 100+ channels of cable TV, and so much "don't get left behind in the global rat race" anxiety).