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Special Features
- In French with optional subtitles
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Product Description
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His plans for a secure career, and his mundane and sheltered life comes gradually under attack from his experiences with his roommates in a foreign city he comes to love: An affair with the wife of a French doctor (the excellent Judith Godreche)the same couple he stayed with on his arrival,his lesson of seduction by a lesbian (the gorgeous Cecile de France),who becomes his best friend, a friendship first sealed by their common love of the music of Ali Fakre Toure (I thought what an original way to seal a friendship!),and the love of life in all its colours he soon discovers.
The core of the film is not about some Europeans getting together in the spirit of a new Europe, with all their cultural differences and habits, it is rather about a young man who finally discovers who he really is and what he wants from life! Barcelona could be London or Paris or anywhere else for that matter, and the students could have been from any nationality, it does not matter as much as the fact that it is about a journey of self discovery and change, this is what makes the film a masterpiece.
I first thought that there were too many characters in the film which could have easily done without, especially that some students, like the Italian, German and Danish characters are more than extras and not quite developped, but by the end of the film, you do understand why Klapish wrote them all.
Apart from Duris's charater, I thought the English characters were well written and provide most of the humour in the film (brilliantly played by Kelly Reilly and Kevin Bishop).It is always interesting to see how the English are seen and portrayed in French films, and vice versa-The love/hate relationship of the two countries is legendary ever since William the Conqueror woke up one morning and decided to have Fish'n'Chips for lunch-but Klapish,although falling slightly in the cliche of the heavily drunk who can't take his drink, he has a sympathetic eye for the 'neighbors across the channel'.
Klapish's aversion of bureaucracy is very well emphasized: the fast camera shots of the EU corridors, the endless forms he has to fill, the men in grey suits who think they can tell a joke, a world that Xavier realizes he does not belong to.
So L'Auberge Espagnole is a movie about friendships, about self discovery and it is about rebirth, a film that should on no account be missed.
Directed by Cédric Klapisch, "L'auberge espagnole" tells the tale of Xavier (Romain Duris), a twentysomething Parisian studying economics. Xavier decides to spend a year at the Universitat de Barcelona as an Erasmus student (a university exchange between EU member countries), and along the way he meets an assortment of other European students, locals, and transplanted French (a local at a bar offers to teach him "puta madre" Spanish, which made me laugh out loud.)
Xavier arrives in Barcelona disoriented and brokenhearted at having to leave his girlfriend and the comfort of familiarity behind. Weighted down by a myriad of bags (which brought back plenty of memories of my arriving in Spain similarly loaded down), he wanders the unfamiliar streets, alone and friendless, not speaking either language fluently (Castillano, the official language of Spain, and Catalán, the official language of Catalunya and Barcelona). After ditching the morose boarding accommodations provided by a friend of his hippie mother's, Xavier begins the grueling and expensive task of finding a flat.
His search lands him in a flat with six other Erasmus students: Londoner Wendy (a noted clean freak), Aragonese Soledad, the gorgeous Italian Alessandro, Tobias from Germany, the Dane Lars, and latecomer Isabelle from Belgium. Slowly, Xavier adjusts to his new life: an utter lack of privacy, homesickness for his girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou from Amélie), studying, balanced with the occasional joint and night out clubbing. The seven flatmates generally get along, speaking with each other in English and Spanish. A wrench is thrown into the mix when Wendy's obnoxious brother William (Kevin Bishop) comes to spend two weeks with them and ends up offending everyone.
Xavier also becomes infatuated with the wife of a French doctor working in Barcelona and the two begin an affair. Although he believes himself to be an adequate lover, Xavier is coached by the lesbian Isabelle on how to truly please a woman, and the result, as Xavier says, is "like something from the movies."
The film is beautiful to look at, showcasing the architecture of Gaudí (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell), the swaying palm trees, blue water and sandy beaches of Barcelona, and Paris at intervals as well. The film's humor is reflected in the editing, "you are here" labels, and special effects. The music is an upbeat mix of new and old that perfectly reflects modern Europe, including contributions by Radiohead, Ali Farka Toure, Vicente Amigo, Kouz-1, Daft Punk and the late Arthur Rubinstein.
My only complaints would be the lack of extras (there was a made-for-TV documentary of the making of (or "making off" as you'll see in France and Spain) the film, European Confusion, not included here), and the rather high price. The DVD contains both the widescreen and fullscreen versions.
Overall, a gem of a film that brought back many happy memories of living in Spain (Burgos, in my case) and made me homesick for the many wonderful people and experiences I had while living there (I hope to teach in Barcelona in the near future). ¡Viva España!
With much anxiety over leaving his Paris, his native language, and his girlfriend (the always lovely Audrey Tautou), he flies to Barcelona. There he is befriended by a Neurologist (whose new wife is to become his paramour), and finally finds an apartment shared by 5 of the most refreshing youths ever gathered under one roof - German, Italian, British, Danish, Spanish, and now French. It is the intermingling of these lives that is the joy of the story and we are witness to their foibles, idiosyncrasies, national traits, bonding, affairs, and finally their influence on the refreshed Xavier's world view. After a year of social and intellectual and emotional learning, Xavier flies back to Paris to accept his "new life" as a boring economics executive, only to wake up and return to the city of joy - Barcelona, Spain.
Each of this large cast is excellent, drawing portraits of people we know so well by the end of the that WE could (or could wish to) have as roommates. The photography captures the beauty of Barcelona with lingering glimpses of Gaudi architecture, the ocean, and the vistas. But it is in the end the wonder capturing of our youth (or dreams of same) that makes this movie so special. Highly recommended!
