La Boum (1980) - film review

Newly installed in Paris with her parents, fourteen-year old Vic is more than ready for her first taste of love.  At a party, she meets Mathieu, and it’s love at first sight.  From that moment, her sole preoccupation is to spend a night with him.  Knowing where this first fling is likely to end, Vic’s liberal-minded grandmother Poupette lends a helping hand, contriving to bring Vic and Mathieu together during a stay in Deauville.   Meanwhile, Vic’s parents are having their own emotional crises.  Vic’s father, François, a dentist, is lured by an old flame, Vanessa, into spending a “last night” together.  When she learns about this, Vic’s mother, Françoise, a strip cartoon artist, takes her revenge – by starting an affair with Vic’s German teacher.  As her parents teeter on the brink of an acrimonious separation, Vic realises that Mathieu may not be the one for her after all…

Although it is hardly groundbreaking material, La Boum is one of those inconsequential French romantic comedies which you cannot help falling for.   The film was an enormous commercial success when it was released in 1980 and a sequel, imaginatively titled La Boum 2, was soon put into production.  Sympathetic performances from Claude Brasseur and Brigitte Fossey bring a touch of humour and poignancy to their portrayal of a familiar marital breakdown, but the real star of the film is a young debutante named Sophie Marceau.  The film effectively captures the many moods of teenage puppy love, thanks to some good acting and good scripting, skilfully avoiding the tacky sentimentality that is so evident in American films of this genre.


© James Travers 2004

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One of the best I’ve ever seen, period. Loved it a lot. It’s changed my life forever. So perfect, there is nothing that I would change. Saw it so long ago, it is a blur now. But it had made its mark because it made me who I am. I remember the story. Used to keep an album with Sophie Marceau’s pictures – one of best actress ever!
Kayla (USA)

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