La boum

I'm not so sure what to say about this movie, it's not a masterpiece, there were many other movies like this made before but on the other hand it is a good teenage movie. Teenagers who go party and have fun. Love stories on the side. Good soundtrack. I enjoyed it.

Every French girl between the age of 15 and 35 knows this classic movie by heart!

La Boum takes place in Paris (Saint Germain des Prés) in the early eighties. 13 year-old Vic and best friend Penelope are dealing with high-school life, first loves and the problems in their parents' couples. The first half of the movie is about Vic trying to convince her parents to let her attend her first "boum" (home party), with the help of her hilarious grand-grand mother. Of course, Vic falls in love at the party, and the second half of the movie focuses on the relationship.

"La Boum" is a beautiful movie about adolescence, with great comedy moments and fabulous actors. Any teenage girl or anyone who's into the 80s culture should see it. It also has a very parisian touch that I love. We see so many movies taking place in american high schools, kids driving to school, playing fields, cheerleaders, etc etc... "La Boum" shows the life in Paris as it really is, for a change. This was the first role of Sophie Marceau (later to be a James Bond villain).

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).

I grew up in the 1980ies and didn't see the movie until now. I have to admit that, despite the hype at the time, it's a decent coming-of-age movie which ended up setting the script for all the teenage romcoms to come. To my surprise, the travails of young Vic are buffeted by the adventures of her patchworkish family, with her philandering father, her economically struggling mother and her funky grandmother. Unusually it depicts the (naturally rather tame) love adventures of 11 to 14-years-olds, in other words the deal is the first kiss on the mouth here, whereas modern movies either cater to kids or senior to college level young adults, where much more risqué humour is viable.

What makes the movie worth watching today is the enormous cultural gap between then and now. It all seems so dull, grey and dusty, just like I remembered the era.

Some things I found especially noteworthy:

* the characters eat noodles all the time; even steak with noodles

* the movie makers had a thing going for Germany; we have sexy German teacher monsieur Lehman, in part two Vic goes to summer school near Salzburg and heart throb Pierre sets off for exotic Stuttgart

* Denise Grey (grannie Poupette) was 84 years old when the movie was released; she had her first acting appearance in 1913 and died at the age of 99

* the family car, a Talbot-Matra Rancho in the luxurious Grand Raid edition (with headlights which look like cop cruiser searchlights); basically a R4-class ride styled to look as if it had just won the Camel Trophy

* the eponymous "boum" (party) is incredibly lame by modern standards, essentially kids standing around a record player, listening to unbelievably cheesy music and sucking on a Coke

* the product placement: while the teens eat generic "super chips" all the time (obviously, a lucrative contract didn't surface here), there are constant placements for Lacoste and Talbot-Matra

* the fashions look unbelievably tame and stuffy, with the girls wearing almost no makeup

* the movie makers were very clever in marketing the music, they managed to scout unknown British musicians and got them to write a suitable song, played it constantly throughout each movie and thus created fairly solid hits in the process ("Dreams Are My Reality" by Richard Sanderson in the first part, and, to a lesser degree, and using virtually identical harmonies, "Your Eyes" by Cook Da Books (what??) in the second episode)

* the school Vic goes to, the lycée Henri IV, is a prestigious Parisian high school

"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.