The Spanish Apartment
Encyclopedia
L'Auberge Espagnole is a 2002 French film directed and written by Cédric Klapisch
. It is about Xavier (Romain Duris
), an economics graduate student studying for a year in Barcelona
, Spain
as part of the Erasmus programme
, where he encounters and learns from a group of students who hail from all over Western Europe
.
The film's portrayal is in the first-person perspective of the main character, Xavier, and is hence mainly narrated in French. Some of the dialogue is in English however, and a significant amount is in Spanish, as well as small amounts in Catalan, Danish, German and Italian.
The film has a sequel, The Russian Dolls
.
), a 24 year old Frenchman, who leaves his girlfriend (Audrey Tautou
) and his country for the ERASMUS programme
in Barcelona, a prerequisite for a job with the French government. On the flight over, he meets a young "uncool" French couple who let him stay in their flat while he searches for a place to stay. Xavier manages to find an apartment with other people from all around Europe, including England, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Denmark with whom he becomes good friends. His girlfriend visits him but leaves sad. Xavier eventually has an affair with the wife (Anne-Sophie) of the French neurologist with whom he has been showing the city. One of his roommates, Wendy from London, has a visiting brother named William who is quite abrasive and rude, resulting in some funny dialogues. Xavier's girlfriend has an affair and breaks up with him over the telephone. Xavier becomes somewhat depressed and asks his friend the neurologist for help. Anne-Sophie tells her husband about the affair and he tells Xavier not to see his wife again. Then Wendy has an affair with an American, but her boyfriend Alister makes a surprise visit and William pretends that the American is actually his lover. At the end of the film, Xavier returns to Paris and gets the job at the Ministry but runs away on his first day at work and becomes a writer.
The meaning of the story is based on Erasmus' famous essay The Praise of Folly
which discusses the superiority of folly over conventional wisdom.
Nominations:
Cédric Klapisch
Cédric Klapisch , is a French film director.Klapisch was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Auschwitz. He studied cinema at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle as well as at the University of Paris VIII...
. It is about Xavier (Romain Duris
Romain Duris
-Life:Born on 28 May 1974 in Paris, son of an engineer-architect father, Duris studied arts at university. He was noticed in the street by a casting director whilst waiting in a queue in 1993 and offered a part in the 1994 Cédric Klapisch film Le péril jeune...
), an economics graduate student studying for a year in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as part of the Erasmus programme
Erasmus programme
The Erasmus Programme , a.k.a. Erasmus Project is a European Union student exchange programme established in 1987...
, where he encounters and learns from a group of students who hail from all over Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
.
The film's portrayal is in the first-person perspective of the main character, Xavier, and is hence mainly narrated in French. Some of the dialogue is in English however, and a significant amount is in Spanish, as well as small amounts in Catalan, Danish, German and Italian.
The film has a sequel, The Russian Dolls
The Russian Dolls
The Russian Dolls is a 2005 French-British film, the sequel to L'Auberge espagnole . Cédric Klapisch wrote and directed the film, whose settings include Paris, London, Saint Petersburg and Moscow...
.
Plot
The story follows Xavier (Romain DurisRomain Duris
-Life:Born on 28 May 1974 in Paris, son of an engineer-architect father, Duris studied arts at university. He was noticed in the street by a casting director whilst waiting in a queue in 1993 and offered a part in the 1994 Cédric Klapisch film Le péril jeune...
), a 24 year old Frenchman, who leaves his girlfriend (Audrey Tautou
Audrey Tautou
Audrey Justine Tautou is a French model and film actress, best known for playing the title character in the award-winning 2001 film Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, Sophie Neveu in the 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code, Irène in Priceless and Coco Chanel in Coco avant Chanel...
) and his country for the ERASMUS programme
Erasmus programme
The Erasmus Programme , a.k.a. Erasmus Project is a European Union student exchange programme established in 1987...
in Barcelona, a prerequisite for a job with the French government. On the flight over, he meets a young "uncool" French couple who let him stay in their flat while he searches for a place to stay. Xavier manages to find an apartment with other people from all around Europe, including England, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Denmark with whom he becomes good friends. His girlfriend visits him but leaves sad. Xavier eventually has an affair with the wife (Anne-Sophie) of the French neurologist with whom he has been showing the city. One of his roommates, Wendy from London, has a visiting brother named William who is quite abrasive and rude, resulting in some funny dialogues. Xavier's girlfriend has an affair and breaks up with him over the telephone. Xavier becomes somewhat depressed and asks his friend the neurologist for help. Anne-Sophie tells her husband about the affair and he tells Xavier not to see his wife again. Then Wendy has an affair with an American, but her boyfriend Alister makes a surprise visit and William pretends that the American is actually his lover. At the end of the film, Xavier returns to Paris and gets the job at the Ministry but runs away on his first day at work and becomes a writer.
The meaning of the story is based on Erasmus' famous essay The Praise of Folly
The Praise of Folly
In Praise of Folly is an essay written in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in 1511...
which discusses the superiority of folly over conventional wisdom.
Primary cast
- Romain DurisRomain Duris-Life:Born on 28 May 1974 in Paris, son of an engineer-architect father, Duris studied arts at university. He was noticed in the street by a casting director whilst waiting in a queue in 1993 and offered a part in the 1994 Cédric Klapisch film Le péril jeune...
as Xavier - Barnaby MetschuratBarnaby MetschuratBarnaby Metschurat is a German actor. He completed his training at the school Die Etage in Berlin. One of his first television roles was in 1993 as Kaspar Riedel in the German TV series Unser Lehrer Dr. Specht...
as Tobias - Judith Godrèche as Anne-Sophie
- Cécile de FranceCécile de FranceCécile de France is a Belgian actress. After achieving success in French cinema hits such as L'Art de la séduction and Irène , she gained international attention for her lead role in Haute Tension and Hereafter .- Career :Born in Namur, she left Belgium at the age of 17 to go to Paris where she...
as Isabelle - Kelly Reilly as Wendy
- Audrey TautouAudrey TautouAudrey Justine Tautou is a French model and film actress, best known for playing the title character in the award-winning 2001 film Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, Sophie Neveu in the 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code, Irène in Priceless and Coco Chanel in Coco avant Chanel...
as Martine - Cristina Brondo as Soledad
- Kevin BishopKevin BishopKevin Bishop is an English actor and comedian, best known for his own programme, The Kevin Bishop Show, which he co-writes with Lee Hupfield, and the role of Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island.-Life and career:...
as William - Federico D'Anna as Alessandro
- Christian Pagh as Lars
Soundtrack
L'Auberge espagnole features a diverse soundtrack, which includes:- RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
- "No SurprisesNo Surprises"No Surprises" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released as the third and final single from the group's 1997 album OK Computer. It was accompanied by a music video that featured a single shot of singer Thom Yorke's head in a plastic bubble filling with water. The single peaked...
" - Daft PunkDaft PunkDaft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
- "AerodynamicAerodynamic (song)"Aerodynamic" is an instrumental track by Daft Punk featuring a prominent guitar solo. The track was released on March 28, 2001 as the second single from the Discovery album.-Composition:...
" - Sonia & Selena - "Que Viva La Noche"
- Marc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
- "Te DeumTe Deum (Charpentier)Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed his grand polyphonic motet Te Deum in D major probably between 1688 and 1698, during his stay at the Jesuit Church of Saint-Louis in Paris, where he held the position of musical director...
" - Ali Farka TouréAli Farka TouréAli Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...
- "Ai Du" - Frédéric ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
- "Opus 64 No 2Waltz op. 64 no. 2 (Chopin)Waltz in C-sharp minor is the second work of Chopin's opus 64 and the companion to the Minute Waltz , he dedicated this Waltz to Madame Nathaniel de Rothschild...
Waltz in C sharp minor" - Africando All Stars - "Betece"
- Mala Rodriguez - "La Cocinera"
Awards
Win:- César Award for Most Promising ActressCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
— Cécile de FranceCécile de FranceCécile de France is a Belgian actress. After achieving success in French cinema hits such as L'Art de la séduction and Irène , she gained international attention for her lead role in Haute Tension and Hereafter .- Career :Born in Namur, she left Belgium at the age of 17 to go to Paris where she...
Nominations:
- César Award for Best FilmCésar Award for Best FilmThe winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- César Award for Best DirectorCésar Award for Best DirectorThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
— Cédric KlapischCédric KlapischCédric Klapisch , is a French film director.Klapisch was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Auschwitz. He studied cinema at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle as well as at the University of Paris VIII... - César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting RoleCésar Award for Best Actress in a Supporting RoleList of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Supporting Actress .-Winners:Adapted from the article , from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License....
— Judith Godrèche - César Award for Best WritingCésar Award for Best WritingThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Writing .-1975–1979:*1975: Bertrand Tavernier, Jean Aurenche: Que la fête commence...
— Cédric KlapischCédric KlapischCédric Klapisch , is a French film director.Klapisch was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Auschwitz. He studied cinema at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle as well as at the University of Paris VIII... - César Award for Best EditingCésar Award for Best EditingThe César Award for Best Editing is one of the annual César Awards given by the French Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema. Eligible films are usually in the French language.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:...
— Francine Sandberg