17/03/2022 - Laurie Lassalle revisits the Gilets Jaunes crisis from an original angle, exploring the ups and downs of a case of love at first sight between one Saturday protest and another

"I’m shaking, my heart’s beating hard in my chest, I don’t know if it’s the effect of the crowd or if it’s you. I only know that being here with you makes me feel happier and more alive than I’ve ever really been." Extensively covered by the media, the Gilets Jaunes movement which set France ablaze in 2018/2019 has already given rise to numerous documentaries, ranging from David Dufresne’s multi-award-winning The Monopoly of Violence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Dufresne
film profile] to François Ruffin’s A Place in the Sun [+see also:
trailer
film profile], not to mention Emmanuel Gras’ recent work A French Revolution [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

But Boum Boum, Laurie Lassalle’s first feature film unveiled in the French competition of the 44th Cinéma du Réel Festival, takes a somewhat unexpected route to explore the protests which took place on Parisian asphalt, amidst hazes of tear gas, disparate demands, skirmishes with the police and, regrettably, significant numbers of casualties, unfolding across a series of Saturdays during a tumultuous French winter (which feels like old news now, swept away by the whirlwind of the pandemic and the clamour of the war in Ukraine). Indeed, it’s the thread of loving passion and unreasonable bewitchment that the filmmaker has chosen to pull upon, as a mirror to the fiery, revolutionary hopes of a social movement gathering together individuals from very different horizons every week on the streets of Paris, who are united in the ups and downs of a collective and deconstructive case of love at first sight which becomes increasingly incompatible with reality.

It all began on 1 December 2018. Director Laurie had randomly met handsome Pierrot a few days earlier ("I needed to go to the hairdresser’s and you ended up cutting my hair") and here she is now with her camera, a stone’s throw away from the Champs-Elysées and the explosive epicentre of the Arc de Triomphe where Act 3 of the Gilets Jaunes movement is being broadcast across screens all over the globe as it slips into the destructive, incendiary chaos of an urban guerrilla campaign. The filmmaker immerses herself in the action in order to fully capture the event, but it’s also the beginning of a rather special romance for her, as demonstrated in a voice-over: "I’m sending you a message: I’m on Avenue Kléber, everything is on fire (…) I’m looking for you in the crowd, I hope to see your vast silhouette."

It’s a level of sentimental elation lined with revolutionary fervour which will carry on along its path until the spring, punctuated by weekly protests, a gradual change of mood (there’s an increase in tension, violent clashes with the authorities and vandalism, but also fear), and individual stories which paint a composite portrait of the movement (the social precariousness of some, the political motivations of others, etc.), all amplified by the agitated emotions that come with love (Pierrot has another woman in his life).

"Love letters, like coded spy letters, must tell the truth". Quoted in the film by Pierrot, this extract from the correspondence between Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht goes some way to setting the tone for Boum Boum, which conveys (in a very raw and filter-less fashion) the incendiary chaos of these events whilst delivering an equally spontaneous emotional self-analysis. It’s a juxtaposition which tries to establish comparative links between the two layers (unexpected love for the orgasmic, revolutionary intensity of the early days which we continually try to replicate, wilting desire, full, productive time and empty time, partners who don’t necessarily want the same thing, etc.) and which, much like passionate love, is at times slightly disconnected and a touch self-centred, but which isn’t short on charm or originality.

Boum Boum is produced by Les Films de l’Oeil Sauvage and Mouvement, in co-production with Vià93. The film will be released in French cinemas by JHR on 15 June.

(Translated from French)