Teens are often targeted as an audience, but how honestly are they portrayed in films? Showing the acne, the bad hair, the hormone overdriven lust of the real teenage experience, The French Kissers depicts the 
drama that is being a normal teenager, with amusing realism. Embracing every awkward, embarrassing moment the teen years bring in negotiating relationships with friends, the opposite sex and parents, the film is painfully funny.
Set in a high school in Brittany, France, The French Kissers centres around 14 yr old Hervé (Vincent Lacoste) and his attempts to get a girl to date him. Geeky Hervé is in an almost permanent state of embarrassment whether it be due to his single mother, his changing body or his failing attempts to improve his social status. The film introduces many of Hervé’s classmates like his best friend and heavy metal loving, Camel (Anthony Sonigo) and the objects of their affections, the pretty girls, Aurore (Alice Tremolieres) and Laura (Julie Scheibling).
Director Riad Sattouf describes the film as being “about the secret world of boys, as I experienced it with my friends”. Choosing to cast the film using mainly non-actors and rejecting any overly good-looking teenagers that the casting agents brought along, Sattouf set out to make a film realistic to life, but without the gritty realism of Kids (Larry Clark) or Thirteen (Catherine Hardwicke). Focusing on the humour created by angst-ridden romances and hormone-fuelled behaviour, Sattouf is looking back and superbly capturing the experience of being on the cusp of childhood and adulthood.
The gawky teens of The French Kissers are trying to create their own identities as well as fit into a social system, nice one moment and bratty the next. The film highlights the confusion of being a teenager, skipping from excitement to acute embarrassment and every emotion in between. An ensemble affair with the teenage and adult cast working well together, the film offers more than simple stereotypes.
There are few faults to pick with this film. It is a little slow in places and the performances of the principal 
(Emmanuelle Devos) and her deputy (Roch Amédet Banzouzi) are a little perplexing – perhaps the humour here has been lost in translation.
Adding to the enjoyable cinema experience is a great soundtrack provided by French electro-pop act Flairs. With equal measures of humour and cringe, The French Kissers is easily one of the best films made about being a teenager, as well as one of the best films of 2009. For those of us who find it hard not to romanticise our youth, here is the antidote; The French Kissers is an excellent reminder of why we should all be happy we are no longer teenagers.
The French Kissers is released nationally in Australia on 26th December
Director: Riad Sattouf
Cast: Vincent Lacoste, Anthony Sonigo, Alice Tremolieres, Julie Scheibling, Noémie Lvovsky, Irène Jacob, Emmanuelle Devos, Roch Amédet Banzouzi
Hello everyone,
I went along to check this film out on Saturday with a free pass from the wonderful Trespass.
I must agree whole-heartedly with the “slow in places” observation made by Beth. At the end I felt like it had been a case of a few good moments with a lot of slow filler.
With the exception of Herve’s mother, the adults in the film were generally quite confusing and not especially interesting.
I must confess to LOVING the pimples and general grossness (and desperately wanting to climb into the screen and cut Camel’s ridiculous hair). I was also really perplexed by the fashion and at first I though the film was set in the 80s until all the talk of email and mobile phones. Must be a French thing.
On the whole there were some laugh-out-loud moments but generally I wasn’t too impressed.
Others?
I caught The French Kissers at a screening in Sydney hosted by TwoThousand, and i have to say, the experience of watching it with a couple of hundred people was one of the best movie experiences i had during the year. Simply adored Camel, and the final shot made me want to squeal. Excruciatingly wonderful.
I agree with the first poster – some good moments but lots of space in between.
I really tried to like this film; after all it has so many positive reviews. There were definitely some moments that made me think back to my awkward teenage years. But there weren’t enough to make it a good film. It made me think of someone’s project from first year at uni.
I also disliked the ending. It felt like they ran out of time or money – or both – and jumped to a, fairly confusing, ending.
I love the adults in this film because they are sexual and not opposed to teenagers(it seem to say that one never really grow up!). France is more transgenerational than english speaking countries and there are parties where children mix up with adult, maybe these moments have been lost in ” cultural” translation, but I actually found the parents hilarious as well!