User Reviews

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

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

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.

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).

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.

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 suspect that most Americans have become acquainted with this movie through their High School French classes. I know I did. It became a bit of an in-joke among a number of my class-mates that would cause us to laugh a bit when recalling the theme song. It is essentially a teen comedy about a young girl's daily life and her first relationship. The movie also has a subplot about the main character's parents marriage falling apart but there is never addressed with serious depth. It seems to be tossed in there at the last minute to fill the time. An interesting minor character is the girl's Grandmother who encourages her romantic relations and is kind of a kindred spirit to her while her parents are having difficulties. It isn't a great movie by any means but it is fun and I think for many teenagers it is something to relate to. A girl is finding independence by attending to slightly more adult parties, having a boyfriend and all of the emotions that go with it and dealing with parents. I think most recall the film with a touch of nostalgic fondness if it is first seen when one is a teenager. Definitely fluff, but amusing French fluff.

Saw this movie in my high school French class - a typical teenage, coming-of-age flick, with all the sappiness, rebellions, dating, and semi-raunchy stuff. It stars future Bond girl Sophie Marceau in her first film feature.

I remembered that the film got quite the laughs from my class, but I myself found it just mildly entertaining with its slow plot, average acting, and uninhibited-ness.

Grade C

Not even naturally gifted Sophie Marceau and Claude Brasseur can save this film from crashing.

Then only good thing I find about it is the "social character" of Parisian teen life in the early 80s. And I thought only my school mates were corny :). It was the same at chic Saint Germain des Prés :). The morals of this story are awful, the storyline is at times erratic, at others it just doesn't make any sense, but overall I wanted to turn off the TV about 20 times before it finally ended. "Marriage survives all difficulties", "men can fool around, women can do something out of spite, but they always come back to their man", .

I agree with vyto34 on IMDb that "Brasseur is a most unfortunate choice for the dentist ..." in that he looks more like a gangster than a dentist & family man and so on. Brigitte Fossey is miscast as the wife of Brasseur, she's just too beautiful and intelligent for a man who seems to have no ability for anything. Pénélope's sister, precocious little blonde "Samanta" fancying François Beretton is just one of the very stupid choices this film has. One of the few "lovable" characters is Denise Grey' Poupette (the avant-garde harp playing great-grandma (??) who has all the answers), she is just stereotyped. Bernard Giraudeau is Lehman, stud German lycée teacher does what he can with the cardboard plot he's given. He did the extremely funny "Viens chez moi..." with M. Blanc, which proves he can star a brilliant comedy and also took part in "Ridicule" with Fanny Ardant. I mean, some of the actors have done great movies, in spite of this one :). By the way, in one of the most unbelievable scenes of this illogical movie, he, who is young and fit, is being held up by 2 men until, out of nowhere, Mr. Beretton sends the 2 thieves away and later hits the teacher on his face without resistance. Another of the silliest scenes is the comeuppance of Mme. Beretton and her husband's lover, and then Poupette finishes it. No sight of the police, of course. Worse of all, she did nothing her beloved husband didn't agree with. But those are the bourgeoise morals: the harlot has to suffer financial loss, but the pater familias is always welcome. The ending is particurarly devoid of meaning, but maybe "it wants to show how teenagers change of love like a t-shirt".

I found this film umbearable, but have to accept it's very popular. Particularly with Americans who took French somewhere in their education. The electrical piano version of "Dreams..." (slow music) is particularly jarring, veering on mental idiocy, specially after being hammered on all through the film. Paris is nice, thou, but I guess no director can harm it :)!

Watching a former Bond villain like Marceau as an early teenager with blossoming sexuality is not entirely a happy experience. Teen language and high school are interesting, but the film doesn't let us focus even on those moderately interesting topics. Instead it forces us to watch the stupid parent's fights and predictable redemption of the male figure. The only funny scene was, perhaps, the botched sex scene with Mr. Beretton and his last lover. Maybe it's just outdated.

Overall... avoid it.

"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.

The script for this film is no better than for low-rent, American TV shows--unimaginative, predictable, telegraphed way in advance. Basically there are two stories, a teenage girl's coming of age, and a dentist's philandering. But neither story is developed enough so the viewer would care. No involvement is created with the characters, because the characters undergo no significant changes or growth. The cinematography is attractive, but the acting is variable. Marceau does not get to do anything beyond staring from underneath her bangs. Fossey is gorgeous and highly likable, but she does not get to do anything significant either. Brasseur is a most unfortunate choice for the dentist...he seems to have wandered in from the set next door where he was playing a Marseilles gangster. It is just too difficult to visualize him as somebody who nominally graduated dental school and not as a waterfront thug. Denise Grey is charming as the grandmother, but her part, again, is predictable and introduces nothing new.

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.

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).

Not exactly deep philosophical concepts, but this film doesn't need all that. It is the timeless tale of teens coming of age and parent-teen relations.

Sophie Marceau burst on the scene with a great performance here. I wanted to become a teen again so I could fall in love with her character Vic and slow dance with her. So pretty, nice, sweet, wearing her heart on her sleeve, trying to cope with teen angst, first love, going to a new school, her parents' marital problems, dealing with her parents' rules, it's all there. Yes it is billed as a comedy and there were some very funny moments, like the one with all the fathers outside of the party trying to figure out how to get their kids out of there, when really the party is pretty mild. The great grandmother was a hoot, as she did her best to help Vic navigate through her first love, among other life issues.

It is a fair snapshot of an era in Paris that has come and gone. The eternal generation gap is played out, but people are forgiven and move on, which is a sign of hope for the current generation of endless cynics to perhaps learn from.

Very entertaining, and a very fun ride. Just watched it twice but will watch it many more times. They keep playing the same music but if they are going to do that they picked a really nice song. One that will kind of stick with you.

Make no mistake about it, though, this is Sophie Marceau's movie all the way. I just can't find the words to say how wonderful she is, as a beautiful woman, here a pretty teen, her great and versatile acting ability which even though we know she had some good training later on, here it seems like she was just born to act. Now it is 40 years later and she is just as enchanting as ever. And this movie has really lasted all these years without losing its appeal.

We watched this movie in my french class with English subtitles. It's hysterical, we couldn't stop laughing, a must see for the 80's french enthusiast! With great characters, odd themes, and the funniest one-liners ever, this is a can't miss, even 20 years after it came out!

To be honest, I was surprised to read that so many other Americans had watched this film in French class--I also experienced it in my high school French class and thought it was ridiculously entertaining (and was surprised we were even allowed to view it!).

For the fans of the 80's genre as well as of foreign films this is a must-see! It's goofy, risque and just plain bizarre sometimes, but it is completely worth a watch.

I first saw this film in my French class in the early '90s, and I LOVED it. My friends and I would rent this film voluntarily because it was just like the American 80s film we loved, but it was in French and often better. When I looked up this movie, I was surprised to learn that Vic was played by Sophie Marceau (I guess she hadn't starred in any American films back then, so I'd never heard of her). This movie is wonderful and I highly recommend it!! I think I'm going to have to go out and see it again soon!!!

Well, I can only say that this movie perfectly shows growing up and teenage-problems, without 'big dramas' and such things. Plus, I have to give compliments to Vic (Sophie Marceau). Besides she's pretty, she also acts quite good. This is a movie that I've seen about 100 times, and it still didn't bore me.

Someone please explain to me how a silly film like "American Pie" can get a higher rating than this one? What does that say about IMDb and its users?

But perhaps that's cultural differences as well? I'm European and I spent one year at an American college. After that, "American Pie" seemed more like a documentary to me. But well, I can see lots of Americans can relate to this film as well. So that can't be it.

I could not relate to "American Pie" as a teenager and I cannot now.

"La Boum" I could very much relate to as a teenager and I watched it again now and have to say that it's more than just nostalgia.

Where "American Pie" (wikipedia seriously uses the term "coming-of-age") presents being a teenager as being all about sex and has the silliest jokes one could imagine, "La Boum" takes teenagers seriously and is actually about first love, not about sex. It's not about cheap laughs either. Yes, you have comedy elements, but mostly, it's a coming-of-age film. Not a coming-of-age drama, no. It's not a deep film. But it's about being a teenager. First love, the whole emotional rollercoaster, trouble with your parents etc.

I also think that it has a great soundtrack. I like listening to it, just not "Reality". That's a song that belongs in the movie, fits perfectly. It is a big part of the film, sets the tone (= first love, not first sex). And the headphones scene: Yes, to me that's a depiction of falling in love I can feel.

Music-wise, what I enjoy listening to without watching the movie are the Rock N Roll and Ska songs though.

I recommend to watch this film if you want to watch some coming-of-age film that is not too deep but still takes the protagonist and her feelings and problems seriously, while at same time being diverting and charming.

If your teenage years were focused on getting laid, you won't be able to relate and will not like this film.

It's very 80s but I think it has aged very well, because the topics are as relevant as ever. At least my experience of being a teenager I do see represented here. I can relate.

A bit of my youth. Always feel a bit nostalgic watching this. 6 or 7 /10 for the film, 10/10 for the nostalgic part of me.

Sing with me people :

Met you by surprise, I didn't realize that my life would change forever Saw you standing there, I didn't know I cared there was something special in the air Dreams are my reality, the only kind of real fantasy Illusions are a common thing I try to live in dreams It seems as if it's meant to be Dreams are my reality, a different kind of reality I dream of loving in the night And loving seems alright Although it's only fantasy

If you do exist, honey don't resist show me a new way of loving Tell me that it's true, show me what to do I feel something special about you Dreams are my reality, the only kind of reality may be my foolishness has past And may be now at last I'll see how a real thing can be Dreams are my reality, a wonderous world where I like to be I dream of holding you all night and holding you seems right perhaps that's my reality

Met you by surprise, I didn't realize that my life would change forever Tell me that it's true, feelings that are cue I feel something special about you Dreams are my reality, a wonderous world where I like to be Illusions are a common thing I try to live in dreams although it's only fantasy Dreams are my reality, I like to dream of you close to me I dream of loving in the night and loving you seems right Perhaps that's my reality

I've seen Sophie Marseau for the first time in another film, but there she is more of age and her beauty there is a beauty of an adult, not of a child, who am I. Even in Boum2 she's older and not that wonderful. With pretty music of Richard Sanderson the film becomes something that makes you dream of love, of kissing your girl, dancing with her all night through. Dreams are my REALITY, too...

Movie of my childhood.I think this movie is the best about teens(for teens).At first time i've seen it when i was 11 or 12.Now i'm 23 y.o. and "La Boum" and his sequel "La Boum 2" are my favourite movies that i've ever seen.10/10

Well, I'm very glad to write some words about this film. So, I've already seen this films so much times and I have never bored it. It's youngly, great and my favourite casts are Pouppet and of course VIC!! When I've seen it first, I was littlebit touched. And of course I have watched the La Boum 2 where VIC!! was nicer than ever. I think Sophie Marceau is the nicest woman and she has to start in the Miss World, ‘cos she would win it!! Well, this was what I wanted to say. Thank you and have a good day for the IMD!