Albergue Espanhol

I think anyone who when young has moved to a foreign city, especially alone, would immediately recognize and appreciate the truths apparent in this film. Certainly everyone's experiences are different but some things, the initial disorientation, the difficulties and pleasure of adapting to a new and very different set of friends, the joys of eventual acceptance and adaption of a new routine; these are probably universal. This film depicts all of this very well.

The Spanish Apartment rings especially true for me. Almost ten years ago I moved from NYC to Antwerp for one year then on to Barcelona, where I am living still. I was a bit older than the film's characters (late 20 's) but my experience was eerily similar. I lived just blocks away from their apartment, in Raval, and recognized many of the streets and locales. Myself, a Slovak girl I was dating, three male apartment mates from Bolivia, France and Italy. I made tons of expat friends from all over Europe (many of whom departed long ago) and eventually Spanish friends as well.

I'm older now and settled down but watching this, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and wished that I could travel back in time if only to relive one of those glorious weekends.

If you've never done anything like this watching The Spanish Apartment may be the next best thing.

The Barcelona tourist office should probably pay me for this.

friendship, ages, community, small human map of E.U., French style to present a world far of limits , delicate feelings, reflection in the others, love, adventures, common existence, trips, joy, search of sense, invention of experiences and sentimental connections. a film about evolution and self definition. nothing complicated. but profound analyse of escapes, dreams and importance of gesture as skin of words. a picture of young people as picture of a very strange and, in same measure, common, Europe. a message of hope. with crumbs of courage, sentimental complications, personal problems, need of friends and importance of meeting. the first virtue - its fresh seductive air. the second virtue - its art to be perfect mirror of a generation. the last virtue - unspoken words, mixture of realism and poetry and the waters of emotions. a love story. for a continent as part of its citizens.

In France, Xavier (Romain Duris) is a young economist of twenty and something years, trying to get a job in a governmental department through a friend of his father. He is advised to have a specialization in Spanish economy and language to get a good position. He decides to apply in an European exchange program called "Erasmus" and move to Barcelona to improve his knowledges in Spanish culture and language. She leaves his girlfriend Martine (Audry Tautou), promising to keep a close contact with her, and once in Barcelona, he is temporarily lodged by a French doctor Jean-Michel (Xavier de Guillebon) and his young and lonely wife Anne-Sophie (Judith Godrèche) he had met in the airport. Later, he moves to an apartment with international students: the English Wendy (Kelly Reilly), the Spanish Soledad (Cristina Brondo), the Italian Alessandro (Fédérico D'anna), the Danish Lars (Christian Pagh) and the German Tobias (Barnaby Metschurat). Then the Belgium Isabelle (Cécile de France) and Wendy's brother William (Kevin Bishop) join the group, and Xavier learns Spanish language, and finds friendship and love in his experience living abroad. "L' Auberge Espagnole" is one of those movies the viewer becomes sad when it ends. The story is a delightful and funny tale of friendship and love, in a globalized world and an unified Europe. This very charming movie made me feel good and happy, although I have never experienced to live in a republic of students. The newcomer William provokes the funniest situations along the story, with his big mouth and short brain. Further, it great to see a fresh approach of students living together different from those dumb American fraternities and their stereotypes, common in American movies. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Albergue Espanhol" (Spanish Auberge")

There are a few things in life that we can't experience more than once and the college experience is one of them. Especially if we're living in a foreign country and in a apartment with 6 wackos from 6 different countries. Xavier the main character leaves his tidy life in Paris, his ex-hippy mother and his beautiful girlfriend and goes to Barcelona to study spanish in order to get a job at the embassy. He falls in love with the wife of a french doctor and he makes friends that make him look at things differently. When Wendy's brother (Wendy is one of the room mates) comes from England the film starts to become a lot funnier. Well anyway, Xavier starts to see things differently with all his new friends and he probably lives something he will never forget and will change his life forever. Overall a very nice nostalgic film, which becomes even more interesting because of the multinational cast. I thought it was very interesting that you could see all these kids from different countries, all of them speaking different languages and having different cultures get along with each other and fun. I gave it a 9 out of 10 because I left the theatre with a smile on my face and thinking about things I haven't done yet while I'm still in college and would want to do before it's too late.

I have long been torn between Madrid and Barcelona, the former a dignified repository of old Spanish architecture and customs (a Catholic parade at 11 PM!) and the latter a Ramblas-rambunctious splash of youth and energy (Oh, that Olympic harbor!). Cédric Klapisch's `L'Auberge Espagnole'(`Euro pudding') now tips the scales to Barcelona for me as I watch a group of 20 somethings negotiate life in a communal apartment. They represent the emerging melting pot of Europe, learning each other's language and purging themselves of racism and sexism. The film is alive with change.

Protagonist Xavier (Romain Duris) is moving from Paris (a city against its type here-repressive and decidedly unromantic) to Barcelona for a year in order to qualify for a business job that demands immediate experience in Spain. Leaving his girlfriend (Audrey Tautou) and his hippie mother behind, he witnesses love in forms his shy French persona would have never encountered, including adultery and lesbianism. That he will be different, more urbane and wise, is preordained by the decision to move; that the director wishes us to see the allegory of a polyglot Europe is all too obvious.

But the photography through the narrow streets, even in the barrios, is muscular and lyrical, especially when it takes us all to the top of the Gaudi Cathedral to survey the messy world below (Xavier eventually comments the world is `badly made').

Beyond my affection for Spain, this film reaffirms for me the salutary effect travel has on the uncertain heart. After one year on his own, Xavier is ready to make a serious decision, but not about Paris vs. Barcelona-it's whether the corporate world that started this string of events is the one he wants or the artful one in his heart. Tennyson's Ulysses says, `I cannot rest from travel.' Xavier, on the other hand, found his rest in travel.