Neuilly Yo Mama!
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''Neuilly Yo Mama!'' ( ) is a 2009 French comedy film directed by . It stars Samy Seghir as a teenager who moves from the housing projects to the upscale neighbourhood of
Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...
. Because of its use of social inequality as a comedic device, it has been compared to the 1988 French comedy ''
Life Is a Long Quiet River ''Life Is a Long Quiet River'' () is a 1988 French comedy film directed by Étienne Chatiliez. Through the age-old question of nature versus nurture, the film takes a satirical look at society in the industrial north by contrasting the precarious l ...
'' (). A sequel, titled , was filmed in 2018. A word-for-word translation of the film's title is "Neuilly his/her mother!". The title is a play on the vulgar French insult ("screw your mother"), in which ''Neuilly'' effectively serves as a
euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
.


Plot

Fourteen-year-old Sami (Samy Seghir) is a ''
beur ''Beur'' (), or alternatively ''rebeu'', is a colloquial term, sometimes considered pejorative, in French to designate European-born people whose parents or grandparents are immigrants from the Maghreb. The equivalent term for a female ''beur' ...
'' (a French person of
Maghrebi Maghrebi Arabic, often known as ''ad-Dārija'' to differentiate it from Literary Arabic, is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb. It includes the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Hassaniya and Saharan Arabic di ...
descent) living in
Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectu ...
, a relatively poor city in the
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
region. When his widowed mother ( Farida Khelfa) takes a job working on a boat, she sends Sami to live with her sister Djamila (
Rachida Brakni Rachida Brakni (born 15 February 1977) is a French actress and producer. Biography In 2001, she joined the Comédie Française, as a member of which she won a Molière Award for her performance in ''Ruy Blas''. In 2002, she was awarded the C ...
), who is married to Frenchman Stanislas de Chazelle (
Denis Podalydès Denis Podalydès (; born 22 April 1963) is a French actor, scriptwriter, and theatre director of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in '' The Officers' Ward'', which was ente ...
). They live in the upscale neighborhood of
Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...
, an affluent suburb of
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, with Stanislas' two children from his prior marriage: Charles (Jérémy Denisty), who aspires to be a politician someday, and Caroline (Chloé Coulloud). At first Charles resents Sami's presence in his house, but they gradually become friends. Sami enrolls in classes at Saint-Exupéry, a private school there. Sami is made fun of by many of his classmates at school, particularly Guilain Lambert ( Mathieu Spinosi). He impresses the blonde violinist Marie ( Joséphine Japy), however, with his tender side: during a music class one of the pieces moves him to tears by making him think of his friends back in Chalon. He and Marie become friends. Guilain, who also has his eye on Marie, gets revenge by tricking Sami into eating pork (which Sami cannot eat, as it is ''
haraam ''Haram'' (; ) is an Arabic term meaning 'taboo'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowledge; or, in direct cont ...
''), and Sami retaliates by beating up Guilain. Marie chides Sami, saying she will not tolerate violent boys, but they soon make up. Later, though, when Guilain and Charles end up running against one another in the class elections, Guilain hires a local thug Malik (Booder) to mug Sami and Charles. They manage to escape from Malik and his thugs, but Malik gives Sami a black eye in the process; when Marie sees the black eye, she becomes angry with Sami, thinking he got in a fight again. Sami and Charles decide to throw a party in their house, to try to win votes for Charles for the class delegate election. Marie comes to the party and has forgiven Sami, but before they can talk Malik and his friends show up to trash the house. Some friends Sami invited from Chalon (Shaiko Dieng and Pierre Louis Bellet), however, soon arrive, and with their help the partygoers give Malik a beating and chase him and his thugs away. Malik finds Guilain and, thinking Guilain set him up, gives him a beating that sends him to the emergency room. Guilain and his mother encounter Sami's aunt Djamila and uncle Stanislas at the hospital, and tell them that the beating was Sami's fault. Djamila, enraged, returns home and tells Sami she is sending him back to his mother. Marie finds Malik and pays him to tell the school headmistress (Josiane Balasko) that he is responsible for Guilain's beating, however he refuses the cash and told her that he had already told the story to the headmistress. The Headmistress informs Djamila, and she forgives Sami. Charles wins the election with the help of a well-written letter to the class, and goes on to meet all of Sami's friends back in Chalon, urging them to remember his name and vote for him in the future. Sami stays in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and begins a romantic relationship with Marie.


Cast

* Samy Seghir: Sami Benboudaoud *
Rachida Brakni Rachida Brakni (born 15 February 1977) is a French actress and producer. Biography In 2001, she joined the Comédie Française, as a member of which she won a Molière Award for her performance in ''Ruy Blas''. In 2002, she was awarded the C ...
: Djamila *
Denis Podalydès Denis Podalydès (; born 22 April 1963) is a French actor, scriptwriter, and theatre director of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in '' The Officers' Ward'', which was ente ...
: Stanislas de Chazelle * : Charles de Chazelle *
Chloé Coulloud Chloé Coulloud is a French actress, known for her role in the 2011 French horror movie ''Livid (film), Livide''. Filmography References External links

* 1987 births Living people French film actresses 21st-century French actresse ...
: Caroline * Joséphine Japy: Marie * Mathieu Spinosi: Guilain Lambert *
Valérie Lemercier Valérie Lemercier (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress, screenwriter, director and singer. Life and career Born in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime as the daughter of farmers, Lemercier grew up in Gonzeville and then studied at the Rouen Conservat ...
: Brigitte *
Marie-Christine Adam Marie-Christine Adam (born 24 September 1950) is a French actress. Filmography Theatre External links * References 1950 births Living people French film actresses French television actresses Place of birth missing (living people) ...
: Guilain's mother * Farida Khelfa: Nadia * Ramzy Bedia: Aziz * Shaiko Dieng: Mam * Pierre Louis Bellet: Jason * Anne Duverneuil: Sophie Bourgeois *
Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko (born Josiane Balašković; 15 April 1950) is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice. Career One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is ...
: The director of Saint-Exupéry * François-Xavier Demaison: Father Dinaro * Armelle: Madame Blanchet *
Olivier Baroux Olivier Baroux (born 5 January 1964) is a French actor, comedian, writer and director who has acted both on stage and on screen. He first became known in forming with Kad Merad Kad Merad (born Kaddour Merad, ; 27 March 1964) is a French-Alger ...
: Monsieur Boulegue *
Booder Mohammed Benyamna better known by his stage name Booder, born is a French-Moroccan actor and comedian. Life Booder was born in Bouarfa, Morocco. He joins France in 1979 and grew up in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. He discovered comedy at ...
: Abdelmalik ("Malik") * Reem Kherici: Rislem *
Éric Judor Éric Judor (; born 25 July 1968), sometimes simply called Éric, is a French actor, director, screenwriter and comedian. He gained notoriety by forming, together with Ramzy Bedia, the comedy duo Éric et Ramzy. After several feature films with ...
: Table tennis player * Julien Courbey: The sport teacher


Soundtrack

The film's title track was recorded by Faf Larage and
Magic System Magic systems in games are the rules, limitations, abilities, and characteristics that define magic in a game. Magic points A magic point, sometimes known as a mana point, often abbreviated to MP, is a unit of measure that indicates either or ...
.


Reception

Cyril Perraudat, reviewing for cinema-france.com, gives the film a score of 5 out of 10, calling it "a pile of
cliché A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...
s" ("''un tas de clichés''") and saying it will not be remembered ("''ne restera pas dans les mémoires''"), although he praises Seghir's acting in the role of Sami. Cine'Magic, in that blog's review, states that the film is boring and too "'' déjà-vu''". Marwan Chahine of ''
Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...
'' magazine, on the other hand, praised the film's political jokes and allusions to political personalities.


References


External links


Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neuilly sa mere! French comedy films 2009 films 2009 comedy films Neuilly-sur-Seine Films directed by Gabriel Julien-Laferrière 2000s French films 2000s French-language films French-language comedy films