Brigitte Fossey

  • La boum 2 (1982)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, May 2022) Feeling more like an episode than a sequel, La boum 2 takes us back to the family of the first film two years later, now with one extra family member (a mostly-inconsequential baby) and our teenage heroine ready for some serious romance. A young Sophie Marceau (with better hair) plays a fifteen-year-old who, coming back to school after a summer in Germany, gets more serious about dating, even as her parents undergo the sequel-mandated chill in their relationship. Clearly focused on breakout star Marceau, this sequel skimps on the titular parties as well, only awkwardly shoving one such sequence near the end as it to fulfil contractual obligations. Once again, Marceau is likable, Brigitte Fossey looks amazing and Denise Grey steals her scenes. (There’s even a young Lambert Wilson in the cast.)  Still, La boum 2 isn’t much of a film – it pleasantly continues the adventures of the characters from the previous film, so you need to be a fan in order to get the most out of this sequel.

  • La boum (1980)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (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.

  • Jeux interdits [Forbidden Games] (1952)

    Jeux interdits [Forbidden Games] (1952)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (YouTube streaming, July 2020) Kids and war movies make an excellent combination if you’re reaching for posterity, and if this sounds flippant to you, it’s probably because I’m overdosing on the notion at the moment after seeing Come and See, Grave of the Fireflies and such in close proximity. French film Jeux Interdits takes the trope in a slightly different direction (being much heavier on kids than on the war), and operates on a slower, duller, arguably funnier gear. The story has to do with a war orphan being adopted and befriending their boy, then both of them turning to strange hobbies (from pet burial to religious artifact thievery) to pass the time. War almost becomes incidental along the way, as we associate closely with the limited view of the child protagonist (one of them played by Brigitte Fossey, who would have a career in French cinema as an adult). Much of the film’s power comes with opposing things that we know as observers, versus what the children don’t realize. Alas, the ending reasserts reality in a profoundly sad way—especially after the mild humour of much of the film. Perhaps a bit too hard-hitting for some, Jeux interdits is not light entertainment—steel yourself.