L’Auberge Espagnole | Review

Simplified film about a foreign exchange of ideas is more than just a ‘Um poquito’ good.

Somewhere, tucked away inside your brain is a package of experiences and a road map of abilities. Learning new languages, playing a romantic version of tag and remembering one’s childhood memories is found in this fruit bowl of life experiences. Stemming from our cognitive life responses and backpacking experiences, writer/director Cédric Klapisch brings us a purely enjoyable pain, love and joy story set inside the cultural melting pot of Barcelona.

In a ‘get a job’ and ‘do something with your life’ type of world, apart, from being yourself, the film’s protagonist (Romain Duris- Le Divorce)-, a young bud from France, sets off for one year in Spain knowing that he will change even if the city streets rarely do. He is not a particularly good looking kid, but he seems just average enough to leave his uber-cute girlfriend behind (Audrey Tautou-Amelie). With a ‘shit happens’ narrative logic, he finds himself in a flat apartment which includes several other euro-flavored cultured personalities. This pot luck shows the cute differences in language, (University in French sounds like the commonly used f-word) and plenty of Heineken beer drinking as we watch his memorable passage in the Catalan way of life with late night suppers and partying until the early dawn with beautiful sunny colors and smelly alleys that are the make-up of the center.

With authentic characters, authentic encounters and authentic life experiences, this romantic-light comedy with a modest thematic message of self discovery speaks volumes about the sights and sounds found in x-generation activities, such as the first drunk scenes that I’ve seen in a while that actually looks good without overdoing it in a visual sense. Shot in beautiful high-definition digital video Klapisch captures the colors of Barcelona and the emotional states and shades of the characters and there is something about that Radiohead song which aptly captures the mood of the main character.

L’auberge Espagnol is a catchy, smart, energetic portrait of young adults which could have easily become pretentious filth, except the characters experiences become some of our own, and the simplicity found in the witty situational humour makes us want to back up our bags and catch the next flight out into this psychological oasis of emotions.

Rating 3.5 stars