L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE (2002)

Cast

Plot

In what is essentially an ode to the ideal Erasmus (a group who organise exchange visits for European students) trip, the film follows its French protagonist as he leaves his native land and beautiful Parisian girlfriend, to find adventure and a new lease of life in Barcelona. There he shares a flat with a group of seven young people, from all over Europe, and much of the film is made up of vignettes showing life in a shared house. Though the film has a TV travelogue feel to it (it's shot on digital) it does a nice job of showing the process of establishing a life for yourself somewhere new and has some inspired comic moments, especially the scenes with the English girl's visiting brother. Witty, sentimental, idealistic and picturesque, it works both as a love letter to the pleasures of the glorious city of Barcelona while, at the same time, portraying a generation whose cultural identity is in shift. Tres European... Français... Espagnol... Anglais... Italien... Danish... Belgique... Eine sweet-natured, bohemian comedy drama.