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THE WOMEN ON THE SIXTH FLOOR
SUMMARY
Paris, 1962: Wealthy stockbroker Jean-Louis Jouvert (Fabrice Luchini) lives a staid bourgeois existence with his socialite wife (Sandrine Kiberlain), until they hire Maria (Natalia Verbeke) a young, hardworking Spanish maid. Through Maria, Jean-Louis’ eyes are opened to a new and refreshing world of music, culture and the joie de vivre of the other Spanish servants living on the building’s sixth floor (including Almodóvar favourites Carmen Maura and Lola Duenas). Before long the balance of the household ruptures into wild, cross-cultural chaos with unexpected results.
| YEAR: | 2011 |
| DIRECTOR: | Philippe Le Guay |
| SCREENPLAY: | Philippe Le Guay |
| Jerome Tonnerre |
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| STARS: | Patrick Bonnel (Golmard) |
| Laurent Claret (Blamond) | |
| Marie-Armelle Deguy (Colette de Bergeret) | |
| Jean-Charles Deval (Olivier Joubert) | |
| Philippe du Janerand (Piquer) | |
| Lola Duenas (Carmen) | |
| Philippe Duqeusne (Gerard) | |
| Audrey Fleurot (Bettina de Brossolette) | |
| Concha Galan (Pilar) | |
| Camille Gigot (Bertrand Joubert) | |
| Michele Gleizer (Germaine Bronech) | |
| Jean-Claude Jay (Pelletier) | |
| Jeupeu (Boulard) | |
| Sandrine Kiberlain (Suzanne Joubert) | |
| Fabine Luchini (Jean-Louis Joubert) | |
| Jean Massotkleiner (Fernando) | |
| Carmen Maura (Concepcion Ramirez) | |
| Annie Mercier (Mme Triboulet) | |
| Vincent Nemeth (Monsieur Armand) | |
| Berta Ojea (Dolores Carbalan) | |
| Ivan Martin Salan (Miguel) | |
| Nuria Sole (Teresa) | |
| Muriel Solvay (Nicole de Grandcourt) | |
| Natale Verbeke (Maria Gonzalez) | |
| Christine Vezinet (Valentine) |
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DAVE GRIFFITHS'S THE WOMEN ON THE SIXTH FLOOR REVIEW:
The French have done it again! Once again they have been able to release a quirky comedy that you can’t help laughing at. Filled with interesting characters, great one liners and some wonderfully comedic situations The Women On The 6th Floor truly deserves the title – one of the funniest comedies of the year!
Jean-Louis (Fabrice Luchini – Potiche, Les Invites de Mon Pere) and Suzanne Joubert (Sandrine Kiberlain – The Bird, Beur sur la ville) are a conservative couple who has their world turned around with the arrival of a new Spanish maid named, Maria (Natalie Verbeke – TV’S Doctor Mateo & Los Serrano). Maria opens Jean-Louis’ eyes to the plight of the maids that live on the sixth floor and as he tries to help them he finds himself drawn to them more… and discovers he has feelings for Maria.
Unlike most American comedies, director/screenwriter Philippe Le Guay (Du Jour Au Lendemain, The Cost Of Living) makes sure that The Woman On The 6th Floor doesn’t have to work too hard for a laugh. Everything seems to have naturally, and nothing feels forced. The same can be said for the romance between Jean-Louis and Maria. In many films (I’m thinking of Entrapment right now) a relationship between an older male and younger female seems creepy and out-of-place, but here it seems to work remarkable well. You can easily see why Jean-Louis is attracted to Maria, and you see why someone like Maria may find Jean-Louis a viable option for a relationship.
Le Guay makes sure the film doesn’t just centre around the romance though. Looking back he touches on some pretty heavy topics, such as fairness for maids and Spanish politics, but never once do you feel that you are being preached at. He manages to fit in a little message in there about being who you are and not changing for other people, it’s seamless but it is there.
As usual Fabrice Luchini puts in a brilliant effort but the real star here is Natalie Verbeke. More widely known for her work on French TV she makes the step up to feature films with ease. She has a classic style of beauty, and has acting ability to add to her pretty face. She really is a breath of fresh air here and you can only hope that she appears on the big screen more often now. You could even see her making the transition to Hollywood easily as well.
If you’re looking for a delightfully funny comedy that you can’t go past The Women On The 6th Floor, this is one that is guaranteed to make you laugh.RATING:- **** (out of 5)
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