Tagline: They came from Paris, Rome, London and Berlin to... l'Auberge Espagnole ...where a year can change a lifetime. (more)
Plot Outline: A straight laced French student (Duris) 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. (more)(view trailer)
User Comments:
Good Idea but boring result - could have been much better
(more)
Date: 8 February 2003 Summary: Good Idea but boring result - could have been much better
The "Idée de Départ" for this film was a very original one - the trials
and
tribulations of students in a Foreign Country on the Erasmus Exchange
Scheme. Unfortunately, apart from a few funny moments, and the nostalgic
pleasure of seeing all these foreign students speaking their own and other
languages together, the plot of the film is absolutely hopeless and
uninteresting. No clear direction is shown and the film follows its course
aimlessly through 1h 50m with a few interesting things on the way but also
a
lot of totally boring and shallow moments. It's a shame because the
subject
matter could have produced something far more original. Also the film
could
have taken place in Barcelona from beginning to end. Useless to have part
of
it taking place in Paris.
The other thing which annoyed me was the stereotyping - Anne-Sophie is
portrayed as a stuck-up French bitch and Wendy as a typically sex-mad
unfaithful English girl. The German is portrayed as "typically" having no
humour when the English Girl's brother makes jokes to him about the
Germans.
This sort of stereotyping is all well and good but it could be done more
intelligently. Also, certain others of the characters we learn little
about
- the Italian, the Dane. I thought the Belgian lesbian had her character
developed a little more. The central character the Frenchman had, I
thought
a very weak and diluted character and seemed just unable to take it all in
(
too much pot, I suppose ). Audrey Tautou's tantrums were unnecessary and
she
was nowhere near as interesting as in "Amélie Poulain". All in all, a bit
of a washout ( I had higher hopes before discovering the film ) and I
can't
really see it having much success internationally mainly because the plot
and acting are so poor. It's main redeeming features are the linguistic
aspect, its original starting idea and the fact that it may bring
nostalgic
memories to those ( like yours truly) who have mixed with foreign students
abroad. I did in fact spend 2 months in Spain
( in Tarragona - not far from Barcelona (and Sitges !) to
follow
a "curso de verano" or Spanish Summer school where there were pupils of
all
nationalities - but the reality was not quite as "baba-cool" as depicted
in
this film ...............
company.
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