Director: Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache

Stars: Camille Cottin, Louis Garrel, Simon Boublil, Alexis Rosenstiehl, Pierre Lottin

Soundtracked to period pop, this 1985-set, crowd-pleasing comedy drama, was a huge hit in its native France. Impressive newcomer Boublil is Vincent, a thirteen-year-old boy and youngest member of a family of Sephardim Jewish immigrants from North Africa living in Paris. Vincent’s father Yves (French heart throb Garrel—unrecognizable beneath wig and unattractive glasses) is unemployed but proudly keeps it a secret from his family. His glamorous mother Sandrine (Cottin), a secretary dogsbody to a boorish sexist bosses, is teaching herself the newfangled computer technology so she can move on. While his parents bicker, Vincent locks horns with his older, cooler, indie-music loving brother, Arnaud (Rosenstiehl) who is running a lucrative sideline in live music tapes. The script is broad, contrived and sentimental but the 80s milieu is colourfully rendered by cinematographer Elsa Pharaon and the film is appealingly played by its ensemble cast with Cottin and Garrel cleverly hinting at the love and passion beneath mum and dad’s fighting. The ever-reliable Pierre Lottin is good fun as the lairy but sweet-natured neighbour who flirts outrageously with Sandrine, much to her husband’s disgust. And yes, Imagination’s titular song appears on the soundtrack.

David Willoughby

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