L'auberge espagnole (2002)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Cédric Klapisch

Writer:

Cédric Klapisch (writer)

Release Date:

19 June 2002 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

They came from Paris, Rome, London and Berlin to... l'Auberge Espagnole ...where a year can change a lifetime.

Plot:

A strait-laced French student moves into an apartment in Barcelona with a cast of six other characters from all over Europe. Together, they speak the international language of love and friendship.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Apartment | Language | English | French

Awards:

8 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Romain Duris	...	Xavier
Judith Godrèche	...	Anne-Sophie
Audrey Tautou	...	Martine
Cécile De France	...	Isabelle
Kelly Reilly	...	Wendy (as Keilly Reilly)
Cristina Brondo	...	Soledad
Federico D'Anna	...	Alessandro (as Fédérico D'anna)
Barnaby Metschurat	...	Tobias
Christian Pagh	...	Lars
Kevin Bishop	...	William
Xavier De Guillebon	...	Jean-Michel
Wladimir Yordanoff	...	Jean-Charles Perrin
Irene Montalà	...	Neus (as Irène Montala)
Javier Coromina	...	Juan
Iddo Goldberg	...	Alistair

Also Known As:

Pot Luck (Canada: English title) (UK)
Euro Pudding (International: English title)
L'auberge espagnole (USA)
The Spanish Apartment (USA)
Una casa de locos (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content.

Runtime:

122 min | Finland:117 min | Turkey:111 min (TV version)

Country:

France | Spain

Language:

French | Spanish | English | Catalan | Danish | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Bac Films

Trivia:

In the English subtitles, several sections are purposefully translated incorrectly. The list of strange names around Paris is changed to "Honolulu, Punxsutawney, Piccadilly, Massachusetts, Saskatoon and Machu Picchu;" and during the scene in which Wendy mispronounces "Xavier n'est pas ici..." the English subtitles say "Xavier eez not here..."

Goofs:

Factual errors: Next to the telephone, on the board indicating how to say a roommate is not there in many languages, the colors on the German flag are wrong. (It looks like a Belgian flag rotated 90 degrees clockwise.)

Quotes:

Xavier: He was just like the jerks I always try to avoid. Why was he so desperate to talk to me?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les poupées russes (2005)

Soundtrack:

La Cocinera

The real life Europe is more complicated

I'm scratching my head thinking about which language I should use to write here, American English, Castilian, Catalan, Danish, English, Flemish, French, German, Italian??? They are all spoken at least once in the movie. Cinch, I just adopt the official language of the housemate recruitment meeting: English.

The Eramus apartment in Barcelona is absolutely a microcosm, a miniature replica of EU where the Europeans are now moving around studying, working, having romance, breaking up, having affair, getting married. However, they may not respect one another, they may not speak one another's language, they may not understand or want to know about the culture and history of other countries, otherwise, William would not so carelessly think that German Nazi, Adolf Hitler are objects for making fun of.

Is EU offering benefits or battles? Xavier was in a loss, every part of his life after leaving Paris for Barcelona: cultural shock, the linguistic misunderstanding, loss of mother tongue (identity, culture, wow means very much here), loss of the relationship with his girlfriend, loss of friendship (after the affair with the physician's wife Judith Godrèche disclosed). Nevertheless, he gained European friends from all European housemates. How they help Wendy to avoid being seen by Alistair when she is having fun with an American man in bed, they act unanimously to run towards their apartment.

Xavier's study is symbolic: Economics. Why the establishment of EU? One of the reasons is to build up power to balance the one that the US has been enjoying for too long in both political and economic arenas. And the film states it pretty clearly which country wants to be the boss of EU. Wendy is the leader of the house who always clean, keep the apartment and "discipline" the other while the serious Xavier successfully gains the trust of the "foreign" landlord. Wendy (UK) is the Minister of Internal Affairs and Xavier (France) is the Minister of Foreign Relations. Anyway, Wendy got a "W" initial which is a few steps ahead of Xavier's "X".

Clever and observant movie about the Europe and its people today. The apartment should take in four more people: British Indian, Swiss Korean (North Asian), French Mauritanian (Arab Muslim) and Spanish Moroccan (Muslin) etc to make a even wider world stage. It will be far more an unexpected intrigue than the real world we experience. Both warming (the people) and warning (the people's relationship).

J'adore this pelicula very much. Vive l'Europe! Viva Europa!