The Women on the 6th Floor (2010) Les femmes du 6ème étage (original title)

Director:

Philippe Le Guay

Writers:

Philippe Le Guay
Jérôme Tonnerre

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Help is on the way.

Plot:

In 1960s Paris, a conservative couple's lives are turned upside down by two Spanish maids.

Plot Keywords:

1960s | Caretaker | Plumber | Toilet | Spain

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Fabrice Luchini	...	Jean-Louis Joubert
Sandrine Kiberlain	...	Suzanne Joubert
Natalia Verbeke	...	María Gonzalez
Carmen Maura	...	Concepción Ramirez
Lola Dueñas	...	Carmen
Berta Ojea	...	Dolores Carbalan
Nuria Solé	...	Teresa
Concha Galán	...	Pilar
Marie-Armelle Deguy	...	Colette de Bergeret
Muriel Solvay	...	Nicole de Grandcourt
Audrey Fleurot	...	Bettina de Brossolette
Annie Mercier	...	Mme Triboulet
Michèle Gleizer	...	Germaine Bronech - la vieille bonne bretonne
Camille Gigot	...	Bertrand Joubert
Jean-Charles Deval	...	Olivier Joubert
Philippe Duquesne	...	Gérard, l'employé du traiteur
Christine Vézinet	...	Valentine
Jeupeu	...	Boulard - le plombier
Vincent Nemeth	...	Monsieur Armand
Philippe du Janerand	...	Piquer
Patrick Bonnel	...	Golmard
Laurent Claret	...	Blamond
Thierry Nenez	...	Le poissonnier
José Etchelus	...	Le prêtre
Jean-Claude Jay	...	Pelletier
Joan Massotkleiner	...	Fernando
Ivan Martin Salan	...	Miguel
Olivia Algazi	...	Une Espagnole
Alicia Robledo Fiestas	...	Une Espagnole
Patricia Morejon	...	Une Espagnole
Raquel Teliet	...	Une Espagnole
Charlotte Burnett	...	Une Espagnole (as Anne-Charlotte Burnett)
Maria De Goyeneche	...	Une Espagnole
Sophie Nicollas	...	Une Espagnole
Sophie Piccioto	...	Une Espagnole (as Sophie Picciotto)
Victoria Sáez	...	Une Espagnole (as Victoria Saez)
Miriam Velazquez Tris	...	Une Espagnole
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lauriane Escaffre	...	La conférencière

Directed by
Philippe Le Guay

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Philippe Le Guay
Jérôme Tonnerre

Produced by
Etienne Comar	....	producer
Philippe Rousselet	....	producer

Original Music by
Jorge Arriagada

Cinematography by
Jean-Claude Larrieu

Film Editing by
Monica Coleman

Casting by
Tatiana Vialle

Production Design by
Pierre-François Limbosch

Set Decoration by
Sabine Delouvrier
Laura Musso

Costume Design by
Christian Gasc

Makeup Department
Michèle Constantinides	....	key makeup artist
Marthe Faucouit	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jean-Jacques Albert	....	production manager
Jacquot Clotilde	....	assistant unit manager
Frederic Jupin	....	post-production supervisor: Eclair Numérique
David Paté	....	additional assistant unit manager
Antoine Théron	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gabrielle Hanne	....	third assistant director
Joseph Rapp	....	assistant director
Dylan Talleux	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Aude-Line Duliere	....	second assistant art director
Geraldine Laferte	....	assistant set decorator
Jessica Lamarque	....	assistant decorator
Cédric Maserati	....	props
Thomas Morange	....	scenic painter
Christophe Offret	....	property master
Edouard Pallardy	....	head painter
Julie Ridremont	....	painter
Olivier Wojcik	....	painter

Sound Department
Emmanuel Croset	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jacques Descomps	....	sound assistant: auditorium
Vincent Guillon	....	supervising sound editor
Grégory Lacroix	....	assistant sound
Cyrille Lauwerier	....	adr mixer
Michel Monier	....	dolby consultant
Laurent Poirier	....	sound
Hubert Teissedre	....	foley recording engineer
Malo Thouément	....	sound assistant

Special Effects by
Piotr Styczen	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Olivier Blanchet	....	visual effects artist
Jean-Antoine Lacolle	....	digital compositor
Arnaud Ortmann	....	digital artist
François Poupon	....	visual effects artist
Amélie Rey	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Julien Andreetti	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Camille de Chenay	....	camera trainee
Alexandre Ferrini	....	assistant camera
Bertrand Follet	....	camera operator
Sarah Gouze	....	electrician trainee
Thibault Grabherr	....	still photographer
Perrotte Lara	....	camera operator
Jean-Marie Leroy	....	still photographer
Farès Messaoud	....	second assistant camera
Mathieu Poudevigne	....	electrician
Xavier Renaudot	....	gaffer
Yannick Ressigeac	....	first assistant camera
Alexandre Ricco	....	grip
Daniel Traini	....	generator operator

Casting Department
Rosa Estévez	....	casting: Spanish actresses (as Rosa Estevez Ramos)
Brigitte Fourcade	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Fabienne Margolliet	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Giulia Rodino	....	assistant editor
Alex Seery	....	digital cinema mastering
Philippe Tourret	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Mathilde Van de Moortel	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Karim Ferrero	....	production driver

Other crew
Sylvie Koechlin	....	script supervisor
André-Paul Ricci	....	press attache

Production Companies

• Vendôme Production (co-production)
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• SND (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• France Télévision (participation)
• Banque Postale Image 4 (in association with)
• Cofinova 7 (in association with)
• Uni Étoile 8 (in association with)

Distributors

• SND Groupe M6 (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• SND (2011) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Albatros Film (2012) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Archibald Enterprise Film (2011) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2012) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Best Film (2011) (Poland) (theatrical)
• CDI Films (2011) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (2011) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Filmtrade - Spentzos Film (2012) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Mares Filmes (2012) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Palace Films (2011) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Praesens-Film (2011) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• SND (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Strand Releasing (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Homescreen (2011) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mozinet (2012) (Hungary) (all media)
• Savor (2012) (Spain) (all media)
• Zon Lusomundo Audiovisuais (2011) (Portugal) (all media)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Neuflize OBC  bank
• Tapages  sound equipment
• Ville de Paris: Mission Cinéma  thanks

Also Known As:

"Les femmes du 6ème étage" - France (original title)

Runtime:

France:104 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:Btl | Germany:o.Al. (f) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Japan:G | Argentina:13 | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Chinchón, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Vendôme Production

Trivia:

Opening film and 2011 Audience Award of the 16th COLCOA "A Week of French Film Premieres in Hollywood" in April 2011.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the street, most (if not all) men wear hats, caps or Basque berets. In France, most men stopped wearing headgear in the 1950s (in cities at least). By 1960, the vast majority of men were hatless.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Special Collector's Edition: Metrópolis (Montaje de 1984) (#5.2)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini

Exactly the kind of film you need to see in order to keep sane...

A great review by Robert Beames (coulden't have done it better myself!!) It has been given the more toner-friendly English language title of Service Entrance, but comic French drama Les Femmes Du 6eme Etage translates literally as The Women on the 6th Floor. Shown out of competition in Berlin, the film was very warmly received thanks in part to the performances of its sweet and amiable leading man, Fabrice Luchini, and its beautiful Spanish leading lady played by Natalia Verbeke. These actors combine with the film's leisurely pacing and entertaining scenario to ensure that it is a winsome and inoffensive crowd-pleaser.

The film, set in the 1960s, follows a wealthy, middle-aged Parisian stockbroker named Jean-Louis (Luchini) whose long-standing maid quits following a row with his demanding wife Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain). Unable to clean up after themselves, the couple desperately need a new maid. But when Suzanne's high society friends insist French maids aren't the done thing anymore, she enlists the help of Maria (Natalia Verbeke), a feisty, young Spanish immigrant. Jean-Louis forms an instant and obsessive attraction to her and to all things Spanish, soon striking up unlikely friendships with all the Spanish ladies who live in the servant's quarters above his home – a place he knows nothing about despite living in the building his entire life. Worlds collide and good-natured japes ensue as he helps each lady adjust to life in France whilst himself inheriting a new found love of life.

I don't think it's necessarily a coincidence that both the more shamelessly enjoyable films I've seen here up to now have been broad comedies about cultural difference and histories of mass immigration – with Almanya looking at German-Turks and Service Entrance exploring the relationship, and the comedy that comes of misunderstanding, between the French and their Spanish workforce. Immigration is still a political hot potato issue in these countries, as it remains in much of Europe, and maybe light-hearted comedy is seen as the best way to preach tolerance, reaching a bigger audience than earnest polemic. In mocking bigotry and by setting it in the past (as an old fashioned attitude) perhaps it is felt that people might be less inclined to identify with those views.

In any case both films are funny and have their hearts firmly in the right place. This French offering is gentler and less ballsy than it's Turkish-German counterpart, but no less enjoyable. The character of Jean-Louis is incredibly easy to like, being child-like in his enthusiasm for his new-found interest in Spain. The character of Suzanne is also refreshingly balanced and nuanced. She'd usually be a two-dimensional figure we would be encouraged to dislike in order to make it permissible for Jean-Louis to consider romance with Maria and yet the film doesn't go down that route: she can be annoying and insensitive but she isn't a nasty person. Maria and the other Spanish ladies are also a joy to watch as they interact with one another and fuss over cheerful little Jean-Louis.

Service Entrance is the filmic equivalent of a soufflé and certainly not a tough watch typical of the standard festival fare. Indeed it falls into the dubious realm of the "feel good" movie. But sandwiched, as it is here, between two-hour long Shakespeare adaptations, Bela Tarr movies, Argentinian slow cinema and films about nuclear disasters, it is exactly the kind of film you need to see in order to keep sane. It is difficult to say whether wider criticism in France will be anything like as positive when removed from this context on theatrical release, but here it offered exactly what was needed and nobody appreciated that more than I.