À nous les garçons (1985)
Directed by Michel Lang

Film Review

The charm and observational flair that made Michel Lang's first directorial feature À nous les petites Anglaises! (1976) so fresh and appealing are somewhat lacking in this similarly themed romantic teen comedy. À nous les garçons comes across as a pale imitation of Claude Pinoteau's La Boum (1980), and was not the first film to attempt to cash in on the success of this box office hit, resorting to cheap gimmicks to make up for a threadbare narrative and lack of character depth. Lang's audience-grabbing hook consists mainly of extensive shots of teenage boys standing about in their birthday suits - judging by the film's performance at the box office (it attracted an audience of one million - probably teenage girls) it seemed to work.

Unlike Pinoteau's far more likeable and authentic film, Lang's inferior offering fails to engage with its subject and, lacking substance, it merely resembles a cliché-riddled exploitation film, although the performances are generally of a higher standard than you might expect. Franck Dubosc made his screen debut in this film and his obvious charisma is just about the only thing preventing it from collapsing under the weight of its sublime drabness. After this misfire, Lang would direct only two subsequent films for the cinema - L'Étincelle (1986) and Club de rencontres (1987) - before devoting the rest of his career to television.

Film Synopsis

Stéphanie and Véronique are two teenage girls who couldn't be more dissimilar.  Whilst Stéphanie is a believer in free love, to the extent of using it to wear out members of an opposing ice hockey team, Véronique is still a virgin, although she is just a susceptible falling in love.   Stéphanie's behaviour is perhaps a reaction to her parent's marital breakdown and her father's incessant philandering.  By contrast, Véronique comes from an apparently normal family, with parents who are still on speaking terms.  Whilst Stéphanie and Véronique fight it out over Cyril, a handsome young man who has managed to light both their candles, Véronique's father somehow arrives at the conclusion that his wife is having an affair with Stéphanie's father Alex.