The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997)
"La femme de chambre du Titanic" (original title)

Horty, a French foundry worker, wins a contest and is sent to see the sailing of the Titanic. In England, Marie, saying she is a chambermaid on the Titanic and cannot get a room, asks to ... See full summary »

Director:

Bigas Luna

Writers:

Cuca Canals (scenario), Jean-Louis Benoît (scenario),

Stars:

Olivier Martinez, Romane Bohringer, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Olivier Martinez	...	Horty
Romane Bohringer	...	Zoe
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón	...	Marie
Didier Bezace	...	Simeon
Aldo Maccione	...	Zeppe, Actor
Jean-Marie Juan	...	Pascal
Arno Chevrier	...	Al
Marianne Groves	...	Mathilde
Didier Bénureau	...	Simeon's Secretary
Alberto Cassadie	...	Giovanni
Giorgio Gobbi	...	Manu
Yves Verhoeven	...	Gaspard
Vincenzo De Caro	...	Lacroix
Salvador Madrid	...	Leon
Barbara Lerici	...	Blanche

Storyline

Horty, a French foundry worker, wins a contest and is sent to see the sailing of the Titanic. In England, Marie, saying she is a chambermaid on the Titanic and cannot get a room, asks to share his room. They do, chastely; when he awakens, she is gone, but he sees her at the sailing and gets a photo of her. When he returns home, he suspects that his wife Zoe has been sleeping with Simeon, the foundry owner. Horty goes to the bar, where his friends get him drunk and he starts telling an erotic fantasy of what happened with him and Marie, drawing a larger audience each night.

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Plot Keywords:

foundry | titanic | french | bar | contest | 

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Taglines:

There was more than one love story on the Titanic.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France Italy Germany Spain

Language:

French English

Release Date:

14 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Chambermaid

Filming Locations:

Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,902 (USA) (14 August 1998)

Gross:

$244,465 (USA) (18 September 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

UGC YM, La Sept Cinéma, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the Titanic is seen leaving the dock, smoke is coming from four funnels. On the real ship, the fourth smokestack was a dummy.

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Soundtracks

"Gypsy Csardas"
Extracto de "Austria Central Europe Greece" - Bruton Music BRR31
Written by John Leach (as J. Leache) and George Fenton (as G. Fenton)
Courtesy of E. Warner Music

User Reviews

Erotic Fantasies of Love

In Lorraine, the worker Horty (Olivier Martinez) wins an internal competition promoted by Simeon (Didier Bezace), the owner of the foundry where he works, and the prize is a travel to Southampton alone to see the departure of the Titanic. Once in the hotel in England, a woman called Marie (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) knocks on his door telling that she is a chambermaid of the Titanic and the hotel is completely booked and she has no place to stay. Horty invites Marie to share his room; on the next morning, Marie is gone but Horty gets her picture with a street photographer. When Horty returns to his French town, he is promoted and his colleagues insinuate that his wife Zoe (Romane Bohringer) had had an affair with Simeon. The upset and jealous Horty goes to a bar with his friends and while drinking, he shows the picture of Marie and tells erotic fantasies about his one nightstand with her. His erotic tales become famous, drawing more and more people in the audience every night in the bar and changing the sexual lives of his friends. His fame reaches the actor Zeppe (Aldo Maccione) that proposes a business with Horty.

"La Femme de Chambre du Titanic" is a totally original romance that blends the tragedy of the Titanic with the lives of ordinary people, developing an intriguing and erotic love story. The truth about the night of Horty and Marie is disclosed only in the very end, and the viewers are never sure whether Horty is fantasizing because he believes Zoe has betrayed him, or if his affair with Marie had really happened. Surprisingly there are bad reviews in IMDb about this good film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Camareira do Titanic" ("The Chambermaid of the Titanic")