A breezy upstairs/downstairs French comedy centering on an uptight couple living in a swanky Parisian apartment in 1962, blissfully unaware that upstairs the building's servants quarters is overflowing with illegal immigrants, all of whom are hot-blooded Spanish country girls...
"It’s 1962. An uptight middle-class couple – Fabrice Luchini and Sandrine Kiberlain – are barely aware that the servants’ quarters on an upper floor of their Paris apartment building are overflowing with refugees from Franco’s Spain: the sisters and aunts and mothers and cousins of the legal occupant (Carmen Maura). After they hire one of them, the beautiful, mysterious, quietly challenging Maria, to be their housemaid, they are gradually made aware of their own unintentional insensitivity and are drawn out of their tired routines." (Source: NZ International Film Festival 2011)
The idea behind this French farce sounds promising: an uptight man in 1960s Paris discovers there is life beyond an unfulfilling bourgeoisie lifestyle. But guess what? It is the poor Spanish maids upstairs who are truly living! They might not have much other than their mops and irons but they have each other, and a zest for life. We know this because they perform their housework to Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, and make a lot of noise when enjoying what little downtime they have.
What is an occasionally charming upstairs/downstairs comedy that calls to mind last year’s big hit, The Help, is overshadowed by one unintentionally creepy relationship. Star Fabrice Luchini, 60, is a veteran of French cinema whose fortune might explain his distracting set of veneers. Thankfully, the leery smile doesn’t appear while he is watching the much younger maid Maria (Natalia Verbeke) bathe nude. His character Jean-Louis’ desire to improve the lives of his headstrong servant and her hardy Spanish friends could be seen as no more disturbing in terms of power imbalance than My Fair Lady but the romance comes off feeling exploitative, uncomfortable and unconvincing.
That’s not to say The Women on the 6th Floor is completely un-enjoyable. Despite its heavy-handed way of suggesting that the wealthy can throw off the shackles of their status and enjoy life by downsizing, it has a knowing humour and the cast put in good performances.
It fares better when exploring Jean-Louis’ relationship with his wife, Suzanne. Actress Sandrine Kiberlain deftly shows a superficial, flawed woman undergoing an identity crisis. Pity her husband wants to shag the maid.
By Rebecca Barry Hill, Flicks.co.nz
I went along to this film not really knowing much about it, and so I had no real expectations - but, if I had, I'm sure they would have been surpassed! :) The subtitles become relatively easy to get used to, and I found myself enjoying the sound of another language (or two, really!). The Spanish maids were very likeable, and I got pleasantly carried away with their stories. The ending was actually pretty plausible and satisfying, which was a relief - there was a moment near the end of the film where things could have ended really disappointingly, or with a cliche, but this film rose above that. I probably wouldn't actively go out and watch it again, but it was still a great night out :)
Mildy entertaining, maybe ckick flick followers would find it better value.
This is an interesting movie. The women are real life characters (one wonders what the actors in a Hollywood remake would look like) and there is really only one male role in the entire film. The film tracks his life-changing interactions with the Spanish maids in a very plausible way, although it is really quite a light plot. Indeed, the New York TImes described the movie as "lighter than a meringue"! We had Frosty, Les and Pauline off sick, Graeme off to his son's wedding in Queenstown, and Richard went to see "MY Week with Marilyn" on our recommendation, so only 3 of us made it today (all male). It was noticeable that several women in the audience were really enjoying this film (more so than us I thought), so maybe it is a "chick flick" at heart. Nonetheless, we all enjoyed it too. 3.5 stars.
Never digs deeper than its broad generalizations about being poor but happy vs. rich but soulless.
A pleasant movie, even-tempered, a romantic fantasy.
I like films that reveal themselves gradually, instead of following an instantly predictable pattern. That's one reason I was so taken with Philippe Le Guay's The Women on the 6th Floor.
The French have a knack for it. They've been making funny and agreeable movie farces for forever, and seeing "The Women on the 6th Floor" makes you hope they'll never stop.
Lighter than a meringue and as insubstantial... was designed for the gentle laughter it easily earns.
