Film Review : L’Auberge Espagnole

As an international student at the U. I feel that this film, to a certain extent, represent my life. 

For Xavier, living in a different country with a different culture, language and food are challenging as well fascinating. As a French student who had a really hard time finding job at home, he then decided to do an exchange program through the Erasmus Mundus scholarship in Spain. He thought that by studying in Spain he could improve his Spanish and ultimately fulfill the prerequisite to get a better job in the French government. 

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Long story short, he then arrived at Spain. With not a lot of money in his pocket, he needs to think hard on spending his money wisely. Fortunately, he met with a French couple (a French neurologist and his wife) who let him to stay in their flat while he searches for an apartment.  As an international student, one of the biggest problems is to find a cheap and a decent housing. He then started looking for a place to stay in the city of Barcelona. Finally, he found a decent apartment full with international students, an Italian, an English girl, a boy from Denmark, a young girl from Belgium, a German and a girl from Tarragona. After a series of interview, he finally moved to the apartment. 

After having a place to stay, Xavier starts learning Spanish and trying to focus on his studies, he also tries to learn some slangs in Spanish from his new friend. However, things are getting complicated after a while. Wendy, one of his roommates, has a visiting brother named William who is quite rude and impolite, resulting in some problems between his roommates. Things are getting even more complicated when his girlfriend breaks up with him.

This event made Xavier somewhat depressed and finally went to the neurologist asking for help. However, as time went by, he ended up having an affair with the neurologist's wife, Anne-Sophie. After a while, Anne-Sophie then tells her husband about the affair and he tells Xavier not to see his wife again. This episode of the film made Xavier more depressed, fortunately, his friends able to cheer him up to start a new life as the semester approaching the end. 

Finally, he returns to French and start working at the French government’s ministry. However, he then realized that the job is the not the real job for him. In the end of the day, he becomes a writer and write a book, a book about his life in Spain as an international student.