The Party (1980)

Boring

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

"La boum" is a French movie from 1980, so it will have its 40th anniversary soon already and it is a mix of all kinds of genres: music, comedy, drama, romance, but most of all it is a coming-of-age movie. But we will get to the details of this 110-minute film soon. First I would like to say that I really really appreciate the fact that films like this one or also the probably even more famous "Belle de jour" are shown again in theaters so many decades after their original release. It would be amazing if more classics could return to the big screen, also especially for the big cinemas that usually only offer the new stuff. I guess the quantity of viewers there to watch this one here as well as Bdj show the demand is there.Now back to this one: It is the story of a teenage girl who discovers love, attraction and also sexuality and we get to be a part of it. Sadly, things on the home front aren't looking too brilliant either for her as daddy cheats on mommy and these are more than busy taking care of themselves and their struggles. What's it she got? 13 years of age. Nice quote there. And I generally liked the film's approach in terms of realism. It never tries to fool us into thinking this was about true love, even if the main character believes so. The final scene/shot is the perfect example. Yes the film does go over the top frequently, like in terms of the old lady bringing sexual talk and comedy or the perhaps too frequent use of a certain song, but it is always likable in doing so, which makes it easier to look past that. Maybe the drama is not always working like the "flight" part or the way too big coincidence of him turning up in her hotel room, but yeah well there is a certain charm to this movie that makes it easy to ignore the weaker moments. It did really feel what growing up in 1970's or 1980's France could have looked like in my opinion and I write this as somebody who wasn't even born when this film was written and directed by the late Claude Pinoteau, probably his most known work. He also returned for the sequel two years later, which shows you that this original film was quite a success here. Maybe I will check out the second film at some point too, preferably at the very big screen as well. As for this one hear, it reminded me a bit of a harmless version of the Lemon Popsicle at times, from the girls' perspective obviously and harmless because the characters here are younger for sure. Only the cinema dick grabbing scene was probably on par with the famous Israeli film series. Overall, I give "The Party" a thumbs-up. It is worth seeing alone for the young Sophie Marceau in her very first performance already and looking at that one it is not surprising at all that she is still enjoying a successful and prolific career these days at the age of 50. Check her out. Her performance and the film and comedy feel pretty modern at times, the story could also be from the 2010s. A good watch and I give it a thumbs-up.

Every year our French class would watch this movie, not because it was especially good, but because it was tradition. There are so many bad parts in this movie: the French curse words, the leading lady, Vic, the title party where Vic and her boyfriend are slow dancing to that annoyingly haunting "Dreams Are My Reality" song while all of the other kids are practically moshing (in a French way, of course), that I really don't know why we insisted upon watching it. Of course, my senior year, some whiny underclassmen complained about part of the movie. I'm not real sure about this part because the TV would usually experience "technical difficulties," which pretty much meant the teacher adjusted the tracking so we couldn't see anything until the scene was over. Nevertheless, sometimes his timing was off, and I know I'll never look at popcorn the same way again! Long story short, it was declared as pornographic and never shown at my high school again, which was a real shame. (Darn Freshmen!)

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...

"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.