Rating: 
Summary: European Pudding
Review: "The Spanish Apartment" (L'Auberge Espagnole) is what Xavier is in desperate need of when he arrives in Madrid to study Spanish and to immerse himself in the culture so as to follow his father's footstep and become a Bureaucrat in a Paris-based firm that deals primarily with the Spanish.
And what he finds is more than a proficiency in the Spanish language of course, he finds Love, he finds what appears to be lifelong friendship with his six roommates who come from all over Europe and ultimately...he finds himself. "L'Auberge Espagnole" then is about finding out, after twelve years of schooling, after listening to the where/the why's/the who's from a host of teachers...who we are, who is our core self, what are our dreams, what will we make of our lives?
Pretty basic stuff, n'est pas? But director Cedric Klapisch has fashioned this film in such a way and inhabited it with such interesting and winning actors/characters that we are fascinated and entertained. It is a sunny, compassionate film without one mean bone in its body.
"The Spanish Apartment" deals with the serious issues of relationships and self-realization. Klapisch has just chosen to present them in a truthful, emotionally available, particularly French and slyly humorous manner.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely ..Great
Review: The film gives an overview of what makes the Eramus project (or any exchange program) so special. It's not about the partying but its about having the possibility of discovering yourself far from your natural environment/country. It`s also tolerance and how cultures can actually melt. The movie is probably more for an European audience, but the underlying meaning is UNIVERSAL.
Rating:
Summary: Like chocolate cake!
Review: In the movie, L'auberge espagnol (The Spanish Apartment) is translated as "European pudding" - an apt description of the movie it titles. The plot? Xavier, 24, out of school and unsure of his prospects spends a year in Barcelona. Why? He's studying economics and learning Spanish so he can get a job in stocks back in his native Paris. After three weeks of living on the couch of an acquaintance he met at the airport, our man finds a place with a group of European students in the same exchange program, and the eurpoean mixing commences. The players? Spanish, Belgian, English, Swedish, Italian, French, and German. All are equally chill in a generic, college aged, exchange student way. The story follows everyone as they work, study, play, fall in and out of love, and generally amuse us with their mistakes and foibles. Though fitting seven strangers in one small apartment seems like a Real World setup (with arguments and sex to follow) the players all seem extremely mellow. If there are fights, they're about the obnoxious houseguests...but even this can be either appreciated or ignored. Perhaps it's all the pot smoking they're doing, but the roommates really did get along, and while they were at it they made me believe that anyone could live and play in Spain, even neurotic old me.L'auberge espagnol is a coming-of-age fable set in modern day Barcelona, where the players are hip and the Bohemian rules. The movie is like a piece of cake (or pudding?): fluffy, sweet, and makes you feel good without weighing you down. It's on the edge of being a chick-flick but doesn't have the happy ending you might expect. It's a good film...and even better if you're going on an exchange program and want a morale boost. The whimsical filming and editing smooth the icing quite nicely, and the beautiful locations don't hurt, either.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST film after Amélie...
Review: This film is absolutely beautiful, almost perfect...perfect, indeed! The best film I have ever seen after, of course, Amélie...
What can I say? It's an EUROPEAN film, and that says it all...enjoy this beautiful piece of art...and let you go...Dream...
Rating: 
Summary: like gin and tonic in a hot day
Review: This movie could well be the European version of the American sitcom. Being European means that it's short(er,) sex(-ual perversity some would say) comes as a matter of factly, and with the major theme strongly anchored in the current state of European affairs. New and old national clichés are being illustrated by the characters in an novel setting. The characters, embodying students from different European nations, share (or rather overfill) an apartment in Barcelona. We see the Italian gaffe-ur, the righteous Brit, the history sensitive German, the French rationalist, etc. slowly inventing a common language, (which at times could be English, Spanish, French,) trading-off space and time, continuously testing the(ir) confines, all these and more in order to reach short-lasting yet fulfilling equilibria. There is a funny illustration even for the "extramarital" affair between Britain and the USA... The actors' play is refreshing and casting is appropriate. The whole movie has plenty of color and maintains a sustained rhythm throughout. There will be more ways than one in which one can view/describe this movie, however one can at least enjoy it for its freshness that feels like a gin-and-tonic in a hot summer day. A well deserved 4 star...
Rating:
Summary: An appealing cast in an enormously enjoyable film
Review: I watched L'Auberge Espagnole because of the presence of Audrey Tautou, the luminous star of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's masterful Amélie, but it ended up as a complete surprise. Tautou has a relatively minor role, but the film didn't even need her. I didn't know what to expect, but I found it to be one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a long time. It sucked me right in from the beginning. The main character is Xavier, a French student who goes to Barcelona Spain to study. There he stays in an apartment with about six other people all from different European countries. He's studying economics, but he finds that he learns more from his roommates than he ever may in school. This is a bright, dazzling, lovely film. The cast is excellent with many interesting characters. Several different languages are spoken (mostly French, English and Spanish) and the differences between them provide much of the subject matter. Of course there are many romantic entanglements, both serious and humorous, and subplots and side stories which take us deeper into the lives of the characters. By the end of the film, I really felt like I knew these characters and wanted to spend more time with them. It's a two-hour film, but I didn't want it to end. I could have easily sat through another hour of it. At the end, however, I really felt fulfilled, and much like Xavier in the film, felt that I had learned a little about life and how valuable our experiences are. L'Auberge Espagnole is a wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable film about human relationships and experience that is both comic and poignant. I loved it and I look forward to seeing it a second time. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie - but some scenes were obviously cut from the DVD
Review: I remember seeing the poster for this movie at a movie theater
where it was playing last year - movie sounded interesting but
didn't see it at the time. Forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago, when I saw Around the World in 80 Days - the lead female character was played by Cecile de France. Intrigued by this actress, I did a database search on her and found out she was in L'Auberge Espagnole, along with Audrey Tautou (who I
remembered from Dirty Pretty Things). So I ordered this DVD. Enjoyed this movie, especially de France's character (the lesbian
student). It sort of reminds me of my stays at youth hostels when I travel, where you meet and hang out with others who are mainly from Europe (and Down Under). You also run into exchange
students at these places as well (usually taking a break from
their studies and travelling around their host country). However, it was obvious that the scene where the English sister and brother were arguing in her bedroom was severly cut, evident in the sloppy editing (especially right after she kicks him out of her room, you see a cut and then you see them hugging and making up). The edits were also mentioned by a reviewer from
April 6th - there could be others but I didn't see the movie at a theater, so I'm not sure.
Rating:
Summary: A Quirkly Look at How Eurpeans See Themselves.
Review: First of all don't be mislead by the DVD Cover. Although Audrey Tautou (Amelie) was used to boost this movie to American audiences she plays a minor role.
I found the movie interesting however in how Europeans (as told from a Parisian French point of view) see themselves. In applying to a graduate school in Barcelona ( part of the EU in which they use the same currency) you would think he was going to study on a different continent. I mean what is it 400 or 500 miles to Barcelona? That's about the distance from San Franciso to Los Angeles. Saying good-bye to his girlfriend (Tautau) Xavier sheds tears like he is some modern day Columbus leaving for the new world.
Having studied overseas in Japan I was amazed that my experience was far less complex and paperwork requirments were far more lax than what was required to study in a neigboring country. However once arriving in Barcelona Xavier has to deal with an apartment full of one each of a Brit, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, and a Belgian Lesbian who gives him pointers on how to seduce women. What was interesting was how they all find a lingua franca in which to communicate with. Of course the usual stereotypes appear; the comparison of a sloppy Italian student with the very precise and orderly German; the biggoted Brit doing Hitler impressions, and the proud Spaniard who screams that Spain is more than flamenco, Picasso, and happy people screaming Ole!
There is an overall story however; and that story is that in the end you must do what makes you happy. As for Xavier; being one tiny cog in the large French bereaucracy is not what he sees for his future. An entertaining and quirky movie about how your Europeans view themselves and all of their differences.
Rating:
Summary: An apartment that welcomes everyone...
Review: L'Auberge Espagnole has a double meaning. The literal translation, "the Spanish Apartment" can be interpreted as the place where Xavier, the protagonist played by the Frenchman Romain Duris, finds himself during his stay in Barcelona. The other meaning refers to a type of pudding whereby people bring their own ingredients and mix them together to form the main dish, which is particularly applicable in this movie, which details the lives of international students living in Spain for a year.
Xavier is the son of divorced parents, his father is a person with connects with French bureaucracy, and his mother is a hippie. Xavier is dating Martine, played by the luminous Audrey Tautou of Amelie and Dirty Pretty Things. Contrary to the DVD cover, Ms. Tautou only plays a minor role, with less than 15 minutes total screen time. Xavier feels trapped by his current condition, his love for Martine slowly fading away and without many prospects for a career after school. His father pulls some strings and finds a job for Xavier in the bureaucracy, but they require that he study Spanish and economy. Xavier decides to enroll in the Erasmus program, which is a foreign student exchange system whereby students in the European Union can go to member countries and learn the local language and take classes as well.
He finds himself in Barcelona, temporarily living with a young French doctor and his wife, whom he met on the trip. After some mishaps, Xavier moves to the titular Spanish apartment, where he rooms with an eclectic mix of students, British, German, Dutch, and Italian. With these fellow strangers in a strange land, Xavier will learn much about life, love, and himself.
L'Auberge Espagnole is hard to categorize, and much like its title, it has layers of meaning. On one hand it is a comedy, with many funny situations taking place, including fun with words, situational comedy and even broad slapstick; particularly memorable is a desperate dash that occurs when the boyfriend of the one of the roommates decides to make an unannounced visit at the precise moment that she is occupied with another man. On the other, it is a drama, touching on issues of meaning, the pursuit of happiness and the crossroads that we all find ourselves as we finish college and must embark on "adult" pursuits of job and family. It seems surprisingly real in many levels, especially in relation to the feeling of alienation that we all feel when we find ourselves in a new environment. The acting is natural and unforced; the characters themselves have layers of personality; no one is simply the hero or the antagonist, the characters have conflicts and flaws within themselves, and that makes them that much more real. As a matter of fact, possibly because I'm not familiar with this particular cast, I was drawn into their lives that much more, so much so that when Ms. Tautou is onscreen, it jarred me a bit, seeing her famous face in this mundane environment, taking me out for brief moments from the immersion of the movie.
The movie starts mainly in French, but switches over to English, French and Spanish in Barcelona, as Xavier gains fluency in the local language. Subtitles might turn off some viewers, but highly recommended to everyone else.
Rating:
Summary: great slice of Europe...
Review: This is a movie that I originally purchased merely because Audrey Tautou is in it. However she has essentially a cameo. But I loved this movie despite the "Tautou shortage". It's great! I was left hoping for a sequel...seriously.
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