Il tempo delle mele

"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.

I saw this movie when I was 15 and instantly developed a crush on Sophie Marceau. But seeing it again as an adult wasn't quite the experience it had been. It's sweet and lovely and teen-age painful, establishing the tone if not the actual plot for 80s John Hughes movies - it's a bit deeper than and not as wacky as "Sixteen Candles" and Marceau has a bit better screen presence than Molly Ringwald.

I was disappointed that it wasn't as wonderful the second time around (I've become jaded) but it was still entertaining.

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.

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

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).