Russian Dolls (2005)
"Les poupées russes" (original title)

Five years after their summer together in Barcelona, Xavier, William, Wendy, Martine and Isabelle reunite.

Director:

Cédric Klapisch

Writer:

Cédric Klapisch

Stars:

Romain Duris, Kelly Reilly, Audrey Tautou

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romain Duris	...	Xavier Rousseau
Kelly Reilly	...	Wendy
Audrey Tautou	...	Martine
Cécile De France	...	Isabelle
Kevin Bishop	...	William
Evguenya Obraztsova	...	Natacha
Irene Montalà	...	Neus
Gary Love	...	Edward
Lucy Gordon	...	Celia Shelburn
Aïssa Maïga	...	Kassia
Martine Demaret	...	Mère Xavier
Pierre Cassignard	...	Platane
Olivier Saladin	...	Gérard
Pierre Gérald	...	Grand-père
Zinedine Soualem	...	M. Boubaker

Storyline

Xavier is now thirty. No longer a student, he is not yet a well-balanced, fulfilled adult either. His career is unsatisfying: Far from being the renowned novelist he aimed to be he must be content with little jobs such as reporter or ghost writer. His greatest "achievement" in "literature" is his collaboration to the script of a corny TV soap! His sentimental life is not much better, rhythmed by one night stands and unfinished romances. It looks as if when he seduces a woman beautiful outside and inside such as Kassia or Wendy he can't keep them. Will he ever bring his life into focus?

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Plot Keywords:

one night stand | novelist | ghost writer | writer | imperfection | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [us]

Country:

France UK

Language:

English Russian French Spanish Italian

Release Date:

15 June 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Russian Dolls

Filming Locations:

Bolshoi Prospekt, St. Petersburg, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$12,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,333 (Chile) (2 June 2006)

Gross:

$323,331 (USA) (22 September 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lunar Films, StudioCanal, France 2 (FR2)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Kookai store where Cassia works is at 155, Rue de Rennes in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.

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Goofs

In the stylized sequence in which Xavier imagines he is following Célia in the "Street with Perfect Proportions," the shadows don't match: The shots on Celia show almost no shadows, but in shots on Xavier, the street is almost completely in shadows.

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Quotes

William: Yeah. So, come on, Xavier, what about you?
Xavier: It's uh... well, uh, it's complicated. I-I have to rewrite a script in English, so I'll probably have to work with some English writers I don't know.
William: You know, I know the best writer in London.
Xavier: Really?
William: Yeah. She's very very good. And she's fit.
Xavier: What - what is "fit"?
William: It's very very sexy.
Xavier: What's her name?
William: Her name's um... Wendy.
Xavier: Wendy? Your sister Wendy?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, each main character is portrayed with both a scene from the current movie and from the original one, 'L'Auberge Espagnole (2003)'.

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Connections

References Amélie (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Body Language"
Performed by Da GrassRoots Featuring Saukrates & Choclair
Written by R. Perryman and Mr Attic

User Reviews

Don't hesitate, but let yourself be surprised by it.

When I decided to watch this movie in the cinema with one of my friends, I didn't really know anything about it. All I knew about this film was what he told me. He said that it was directed by the man who made "L'Auberge espagnole", which he liked a lot, but he didn't think that this movie would be a sequel to that one and I believed him. If I had known that it was a sequel, I would probably not have given it a try, because in my opinion there are only few sequels worth a watch and when you haven't seen the first one, it's almost always impossible to know what exactly they are talking about. But despite what we thought, this was a sequel.

Even though I hadn't seen the first movie, I could easily understand the story. Xavier is about to celebrate his thirtieth birthday and he is on a turning point in his life. He's no longer a student, but he hasn't yet got a regular adult life either. He's single, works as a reporter and ghost writer instead of being a renowned novelist,... and to make things worse, his love life is a gigantic mess. He's afraid of not finding the right one, because all he has are unfinished romances and one night stands. When he finally finds a girl that he likes, he always believes that there is something better out there and not knowing when to stop looking for more, he is unable to keep them with him...

I really liked this movie a lot and I guess there is a very good explanation for it. When watching this movie I had the feeling that it was me they were talking about. I'm a bit too much like Xavier than what I sometimes would like to admit. I'm in my late twenties, haven't got a terrific job, I'm still single, sometimes don't feel ready for the steady adult life, but still want to enjoy my youth... Even the friends from all over Europe are the same since I've studied in a similar project. But even when you can't completely identify yourself with one of the characters, I believe there is something good in it for everyone. The story on itself is very well written and thanks to the different places never feels the same. They have filmed in Paris, Saint-Petersburg and London and those three cities and the situations that take place there are different enough to keep you interested from the beginning until the end. Next to the story, this movie also offers some very fine acting by all the actors, but what else can you expect from people like Audrey Tatou, Cécile de France,...

As a conclusion I would like to say that everybody who is about to turn thirty will probably like it, but even the others will find enough good and interesting things in this movie. There is some very intelligent humor, a lot of fine acting and a lack of too many romantic movie clichés to be found in it. And although I'm sure it will never become a very popular movie (there were only 12 people in the audience when I went to see it on a Sunday evening), I'm sure that those who will give it a try, will not regret it. I know I didn't, I even give this movie a 9/10. If I had seen the first movie and understood from the beginning what was going on, it might even have been a 10/10. This movie should be cherished by all.