This is
the first time I’ve done a Good/Bad/Ugly write-up for something that’s not a
Buster Keaton MGM film, so make of that distinction what you will. However, I rewatched this film lately and was
reminded of how massively flawed it is, and yet how there’s something about it
I just love.
Xavier
is a Parisian grad student who, wanting to make himself more employable,
decides to spend a year in Barcelona going to school and becoming fluent in
Spanish – global economy and all. Along
the way, he shares an apartment with an eclectic gaggle of international
students, and somewhere in the multicultural hodgepodge, he starts to find
himself. Coming-of-age story on
overdrive, it’s more of a journey than a story, but while it doesn’t always
know where it’s headed, the vivid characters keep that journey engaging.
Because
I have a lot more to say about the successes and sins of this movie than the
likes of Speak Easily or Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, I’m dividing
up my review over several days, and we’re starting with the best feet forward. The direction is crisp and eye-catching, which
goes a long way toward helping it stand out from other films of its kind. I really like the creative audio/visual
techniques thrown in; they give the film a lot of personality.
Xavier’s
position as the film’s narrator is strong.
Sure, he has plenty of mid-20s identity angst, and he has his share of
poor qualities (more on that another day,) but he’s supposed to be sort of
searching and rudderless. I like the way
he gradually becomes part of Barcelona, the way the city adopts him and he
stops being just a Parisian. When his
girlfriend comes to visit, it’s clear that they’ve already drifted – he’s
changing so much so fast, and she’s stayed behind.
Without
a doubt, though, I love this movie for its ensemble. When Xavier is first interviewed as a
prospective roommate, he’s enchanted by the other students, thinking, “It was
like I’d always lived in this mess.” He
loves the noise of it all, the love and the squabbling, the multilingual
mishmash and cultural potpourri that permeates the apartment. Though most of his friends are drawn lightly
without much shading, the whole experience feels so specific and lived-in. Like Xavier, I can’t get enough of their
camaraderie, and I love the confused way their conversation flits between
languages. I also like the many little
touches to film paints of their dynamic, like the way their fridge organization
system descends into entropy, or the cheat-sheet by the phone which says
“So-and-so isn’t here” in each roommate’s native language. Scatterbrained Alessandro, industrious Wendy,
fastidious Tobias, lively Soledad, serious Lars, and outspoken Isabelle are
absolutely the reason to see the film.
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