L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)

Today, I decided to share with you an amazing French movie, about the life of an Erasmus student in Spain : L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment). It was made by Cédric Klapisch and broadcast in 2002, which makes me realize that I was only 8 years old back then !

Still, this movie, mixed between French, English and Spanish, marked my mind and was my leitmotiv : I was determined to do an Erasmus in my early 20’s. Which is exactly what I am doing now !

Xavier, a French student in Economics, has to spend one year in Barcelona in order to obtain a job in the Ministry of Finance. Younger, his dream was to become a writer but the life decided otherwise. 

Then, he left his city, girlfriend and family to live in Barcelona for one year, in a flatshare with multiple nationalities. Even if it’s hard to leave and go in an unknown place,
Xavier relates its story between anecdotes, clichés and funny stories with a lot of self-mockery. He loses its serious side and becomes the guy he have always wanted to be and does what he has always wanted to do : writing.

In the end, the movie is very realistic, with the typical messy fridge and the cleaning issue (inherent to all student flatshare!) but also the parties and bar crawl. It is also funny in every ways : the story in itself, how it is told, the characters and languages,… Overall, the movie is so touching, as you follow the characters’ lives and the changes they are going through, that the spectator can very easily identify himself in Xavier’s messy world ! That makes it fantastic.

This movie definitely is worth a watch…

If I didn’t convince you, well, I have failed but maybe the English trailer will not ! (I am very sorry for this quality...)

The collaboration between Cédric Klapisch and Romain Duris has never stopped and the producer often cast Romain Duris (Xavier) as the main role. “L’Auberge Espagnole” became a saga and two other movies followed : “Les Poupées Russes”, “Casse-tête chinois”.

Have you seen this/these movie(s) ? Did you like it or them ? Did it make you, like me, wanna live the same experience ?

Enjoy !

K.