Housewarming (2005)
"Travaux, on sait quand ça commence..." (original title)

Chantal, an advocate involved in defending homeless illegal immigrant, decides to refurbish her flat. Following her convictions she calls Columbian workers led by an unforeseeable architect... See full summary »

Director:

Brigitte Roüan

Writers:

Éric Besnard, Philippe Galland,

Stars:

Carole Bouquet, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Didier Flamand

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carole Bouquet	...	Chantal Letellier
Jean-Pierre Castaldi	...	Frankie
Didier Flamand	...	Thierry
Françoise Brion	...	Mamika
Marie Moute	...	Julie (as Marie Mouté)
Gisèle Casadesus
Aldo Maccione	...	Salvatore
Marcial Di Fonzo Bo	...	L'architecte
Alvaro Llanos	...	Luis
Carlos Gasca	...	Jesus
Alejandro Piñeros	...	Pacho
Lassina Touré	...	Condé
Geovanny Tituaña	...	Betamax
Shafik Ahmad	...	Rachid
Giulia Dussollier	...	Pulchérie

Storyline

Chantal, an advocate involved in defending homeless illegal immigrant, decides to refurbish her flat. Following her convictions she calls Columbian workers led by an unforeseeable architect. In the mean time a former client decides he is in love with her, her son and daughter are becoming nearly homeless since the flat's walls are demolished, the architect has new plans every day, an irregular workers fall in love with Chantal too and dance with her daughter, Martin (the son) still continue to roller blade around... Could the works go forward in this mess?

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Plot Keywords:

flat | barrister | paris france

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France UK

Language:

French

Release Date:

1 June 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Housewarming

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$970,318 (UK) (3 June 2005)

Gross:

$2,084,280 (France) (17 June 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ognon Pictures, arte France Cinéma, Augustine Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Humbert Balsan, producteur rebelle (2006)

User Reviews

Light and fluffy as only the French know how

If you don't expect too much other than an enjoyable care-free 90 minutes, Housewarming will deliver in bucket loads. The basic premise is a single mum cum lawyer cum human rights activist who works so hard she ignores how dilapidated her apartment is until her mother suggests she should take advantage of her now departed squatters in the upstairs apartment and do some renovating. She hires a rather dubious Colombian architect to do the designs and he in turn hires some equally dubious Colombian builders. What can go wrong, does go wrong, with walls falling down, baths being cracked, fires burning, dodgy electric wiring, etc, but the whole way through Chantal (the ever charming, ever gorgeous Carole Bouquet) just about manages to hold on to her sanity, even when trying to dodge the amorous businessman she saves from prison at the beginning.

The film is an absolute riot, and in case you think it's a complete farce, it also touches on the increasing problem of illegal immigrants in Paris and how badly treated they are. Don't let that put you off though, this is a real gem of a movie.