Casse-tête chinois

This film tells the story of a French man who moves to New York because his ex partner takes their two children there and remarry an American man.

The premise of the film is very interesting, as I haven't thought about how globalised we are. I've been taking weekend overseas breaks for granted, watching foreign films, listening to foreign songs, keeping on touch with foreign friends with much ease. And the film reminds us that life back then was not as complicated. The comedy aspect is done quite well, especially the immigration inspection scene which is quite funny. However, the film takes a long time to reach that comedy stage, and actually the first half of the film is rather boring. One thing I'm truly impressed by is Audrey Tautou's pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese. It's very clear that she took a lot of effort in learning the words, because she even got the tones of every character right!

It's great even if you haven't seen the 2 first movies! But if you have, know that it brings you the same kind of lightness and fun. Makes you want to enjoy life to the fullest! Each character is perfectly built up, and you get attached to all of them (I feel like I know them personally and would happily move in with them!)

Of course, this movie builds up on the story that started 20 years earlier, so it's great to see how each of these people evolved, how life changes, and how it's still linked to the past. It's hard not to fall in love with these people! Each of the 3 movies happens in a totally different place. So let yourself be carried away!

Your partner leaves you after she found new love in a far away land. You want to be close to your children so you relocate and become prepared to take any crappy job and live in any type of shithole in order to get by. Sounds complicated?

In case the above is not an intricate enough, you become a sperm donor to help a same sex couple have a child.

In the midst of all this, an old flame comes into town but how can you think about romance? Then again why not? After all, our character does not lead a complicated life, he just...lives.

Incredibly witty with a mixture of European/American sense of humour, it provides a refreshing angle to life itself and how it keeps going with its ups and downs.

It's very watchable and, at 7/10, a definite, must watch for people who like gentle human comedy. It loses on an 8+ score from being slightly disjointed.

For those that have seen the previous movies this will definitely be an 8+, though ...

For starters, Audrey Tautou finally appears for more than 5 minutes. Raomin is, at last, not cast as a brainlessly immature asshole - even though he remains a zanily unpredictable persona. Jill, erm Kelly, actually comes across as if she almost finally grew up. And Ju is as adorable as ever as the eternal mother figure.

Humorous sarcasm aside, this film has all the qualities of its predecessors in being utterly human in its portrayals of the characters and wittily, if somewhat cynically, insightful in its portrayal of their circumstances.

If you want to watch a film that makes you more inclined to like humanity than to hate it, then you will smile your way through this one.

This movie really surprised me. Having loved L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE and connecting with the characters and then re-connecting with them in fun- filled Russian DOLLS, I was expecting the third film to slowly wind down their stories. After all, the characters are boring grown ups now, with kids and responsibilities, so how much more fun can they be. But to my surprise, this film was just as much fun, was just as full of joy and energy as the first films,

Having lived a life pretty close to the age of these characters, I felt an even deeper connection with these characters in this film. True, their lives have become much more complicated, but their stories have become richer, their worldview bigger and their lives deeper and so much more meaningful. Klapisch uses many of the same devices, many similar situations that made the first films memorable, but because the central characters are now so well fleshed out, we journey with these characters as fellow travelers, not only thru New York City (as we did in Barcelona and St. Petersburg) but thru life.

I hope this is not the end of the series. It would be a wonderful to travel to more places with these characters and wonder where Klapisch will take them (and us) next.