Zappa was adapted for the screen from the novel by the same name by Bjarne Reuter. It is the first of a trilogy, followed by Når snerlen blomstrer and Vi der valgte mælkevejen. The sequel Når snerlen blomstrer was also filmed by Bille August in 1984 and is known as Twist and Shout in English.
The film was reviewed in The New York Times in 1984, Janet Maslin stating that "Mr. August has made Zappa a suspenseful, moving drama, with concerns that are as troubling as they are universally recognizable."[4]Nathan Rabin reviewed Zappa for the AV Club in 2004, writing that he saw it as a "masterfully bleak coming-of-age drama" and that "the film's unnerving power comes from its realization that everyone is doomed to go through adolescence alone."[5]DVD Talk and AllMovie also reviewed, with the former commenting that it was "a pretty intense piece or work" and superior to its sequel.[6][7]
In a review for Positif, François Ramasse praised the film's intelligence and its shift from gentleness to violence.[8]
