Name: Vous habitez chez vos parents?
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1983-08-10
Duration: 1 h 21 min
Rating: 3.5
Cast: Michel Galabru, Madeleine Barbulée, Claire Maurier

Vous habitez chez vos parents - Swimming further into the sea of mediocrity

In my review of "L'été de nos quinze ans", I had given the subsequent films of the "La Boum" actors the name "the sea of mediocrity", since in my opinion they exhibited no special qualities and the performances of the "Boumers" were indifferent, or plain awful. One of those actors, Alexandre Sterling (who played Vic's lover, Mathieu in La Boum) was extremely unlucky with the films he chose to play in. This is not the exception with "Vous habitez chez vos parents?", where he plays the recalcitrant son of Michel Galabru's character.

The story revolves around the conflicts arising from the coexistence of three different generations in a bourgeois family. There is the wealty industrialist father (Galabru), the rebellious yet annoying son (Sterling), his ambitious sister (Grace de Capitani, who had risen to prominence through the film "Les sous doués en vacances" the previous year), and the mother, who was so bland a character that I have no recollection of her role in the story. Let's not forget the hyper-active grandmother, a rip-off of Denise Grey's "La Boum" character, who writes a book by listening to the dialogues within the family through some microphones she has installed throughout the house(!)

None of the performances was funny, something quite detrimental for a comedy. Galabru, who generally has perfect comedic timing (see "Les sous doués" (1980) for further proof of that) is just overacting, while Sterling and Capitani show how necessary a good director is, both of them acting well under the direction of the two Claudes of the 80's, Pinoteau and Zidi, but being bland to embarrassing under the direction of Michel Fermaud.

Speaking of Michel Fermaud, he gave no "direction" to his cast, thus committing the same mistake as Marcel Jullian (of "L'été de nos quinze ans" fame), i.e. Just letting the actors do whatever they wanted. The result of that move is the film looking more like a sitcom, the actors being just stereotypes of family members living in a world where everything is perfect, waiting for inspiration and pausing between the sequences, as if waiting for the laugh track to appear. Only in Jean-Luc Azoulay's reign during the 90's did the sitcom become really successful in France. In his programmes, though, the characters were charming in their inexperience and the plots seemed, at least, quite relatable to teenage high school life. "Vous habitez chez vos parents" seemed to take place in a world like our own, but its heroes had so exaggerated issues that no chance of identifying with them can be found. Azoulay's"Premiers baisers" and Pinoteau's "La Boum" seem like documentaries in comparison.

Although it clearly is sort of a "La Boum" rip-off, the film has no special soundtrack, like the one that the excellent composer Vladimir Cosma gifted to the former film.

In conclusion, "Vous habitez chez vos parents ?" is a totally forgettable film that has none of the liveliness of "La Boum". I only recommend it to researchers of French 80's film history. Maybe they will benefit from this product of "La Boum" admiration raised to the highest power.

French-language cinema, whether in France, Québec, or other Francophone regions, explores cultural identity, social change, and the tension between the individual and society. French cinema is not only celebrated for its intellectual experimentation and auteur traditions, but also its success in mainstream comedy, romance, and commercial entertainment. In Québec, films often focus on questions of language, belonging, and community within a distinct cultural landscape.

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The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

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Vous habitez chez vos parents?

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