Les poupées russes

I like this movie quite a bit. I think the movie has succeeded in depicting the life, the love that intertwines with it, the things that make us different, and those that transcend our cultural and personal differences.

When I first saw L'auberge espagnole, I was embarking on an education journey that would span two continents in the cohort of people from all around the world. L'auberge espagnole was a great prequel to my experience.

In this sequel named "Les Poupées Russes", I find myself again firmly planted in the midst of the characters. In his thirties, Xavier and others' confused relationships reflect a bewilderment in that age group, as some choose to settle down, and some continue to seek the ephemeral.

As for national boundaries, it is interesting that the story now depicts a different set of frontiers for Europe (before the recent constitutional crisis), the UK and Russia. The countries are very different but the people are very similar if you let look beneath the surface. Everyone is looking for a better life with love and happiness.

Ultimately, what makes it all work is what William has done in the movie. We need to make an effort, whether in life or in love, to rise above the walls separating us, perceived or real.

As for the individual characters, Wendy has indeed become quite a fox. If I were Xaiver, I am not sure I would be that interested in Celia. Your mileage may vary, of course. :) Cheers, and enjoy the movie.

Russian Dolls (2005)

You have to like such an inventive, fast, witty, and all the same convincing movie. This is funny in that fast, off the wall way "Amelie" was funny, though here I think it gets another level of complexity that not only makes you pay attention, but rewards your attention.

Leading man Romain Duris is subtle and charming (and what American girls would call "cute"), and he the thread through time in a long multi-tasking flashback with lots of editing and framing liberties. He seems to fall in love but not know what love is. He is a struggling writer who finds enough success to work on scripts that also become part of the movie. Though we start firmly in Paris, the story takes us many times to London, and to Russia, which makes for a tale of four cities in the best way.

The whole cast is pretty amazing, both comic and touching and convincing at the same time. People are chic and cool but flawed and quirky, too. And the cast is large, with a final party scene that brings most of them together (and for a little too long). It's a love story, and a good one.

In the same way that L'Auberge Espagnole dealt with the difficulties of career, school, and growing up in general, Russian Dolls deals with love and growing older. I think the great thing about both of these movies is that so many people can look at these characters- especially Xavier- and say, "Yes! I'm not the only one going through this stuff then!" During both movies there were certain phrases and quotes that made me stop and say, "Wow! That is dead on!" Like in L'Auberge when Xavier talks about how life seems less complicated for everybody else, more organized. Or the final line in Russian Dolls about the search for that special someone. Great movies, entertaining, but most of all they speak to those of us who are still trying to figure it all out!

If "L'Auberge espagnole" was" Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," "Russian Dolls" is "Wilhelm Meister's Travels." As someone who has actually suffered through those novels, which have to be among the dullest ever written, I can appreciate these modern film renditions, both of which convey the same basic points and are far better to sit through.

A point worth considering, one that was hammered home with the architectural analogy, is that the ideal woman is not a woman, but art itself, something Goethe referred to as the "eternal feminine."

These movies are smarter than they're given credit for. They allude not only to a cosmopolitanism crudely expressed in the term globalization, but also to a cosmopolitanism at the heart of modern Europe, one that Goethe recognized first if not best.

Hi there ! I saw Les Poupées Russes yesterday, and first of all : ouch ! my poor eyes were stricken by all these beautiful girls bursting the screen A.Tautou, C. De France, K. Reilly etc... OK let's stay cool and let's describe this movie. I'll do it short : it's about love ! love and what it means for us, mere humans, perpetually lost in the whirlwind of these damn feelings we made up... Humm i don't want to spoil the story, but let me tell you that when you come out the theaters, you'll understand why this movie's called " Russian dolls" ^^ Xavier's life is a mess, he is us ! us in front of life's dilemma : who to love and why... The Spooky band ( i just made that name up, don't bother searching )is back, even if certain characters do only figuration, sort of " i put this one too in the movie". Some scenes denote a very intelligent humour. Of course, the movie does not avoid "love-clichés", but they are quite rare and it deserves to have l"Auberge Espagnole" as a father. Voilà ! Merci encore mister Klapisch. I gave that movie a 10.

( Sorry for my poor English ^^)