La boum (1980)

(On TV, May 2022) I can’t say I enjoyed La boum all that much, but as far as “French slide-of-life” films go, it’s relatively painless, maybe even amusing at times. Focusing on a thirteen-year-old girl (the film debut of a young and nearly unrecognizable Sophie Marceau, underneath an unflattering haircut) having to balance school, life and love as her parents near separation and divorce, the film is resolutely low-stakes as it follows its family of three (or four if you include the pleasantly uninhibited great-grandmother played by Denise Grey) as they go through quotidian episodes. Occasionally, a scene makes an impression – for instance, the revenge scene of the female lead (the superb Brigitte Fossey) on her husband’s mistress, in which she thoroughly smashes a perfume store. At other times, we’re simply left to contemplate the characters in their imperfections and quirks. La boum, despite being as low-octane as possible, does have the advantage of being likable and watchable – which is a great deal more than one can say about many, many navel-gazing character-driven French films.