Cliché-avoidance is one of this film's main achievements. When you hear a vague outline of the story Erasmus students of mixed nationalities sharing a flat in Barcelona you predict a collection of Euro-stereotypes in a farcical tangle. Pas du tout! In fact, it's a finely judged comedy about a young Frenchman, Xavier, trying to make sense of human relationships. There are some excellently observed minor roles (the arrogant French neurologist, the insufferably irrepressible brother of the English girl, Xavier's forlorn mother) and some fine visual humour, especially in the opening scenes mocking the bureacratic complexity of the application procedure. So what does Xavier learn about relationships? Nothing positive. In place of a conventionally happy ending, there is a regrettably portentous finale about `Identity' Xavier has become' all the friends he made. Nevertheless, this highly enjoyable film deserves its great success. I saw it in Luxembourg with a mixed Euro-audience, who enjoyed themselves hugely and even applauded at the end.
Review of The Spanish Apartment
