This isn’t that well known a film and it’s Rotten Tomatoes rating is only average. I heard about it because The Economist cited it as a rare example of the EU being praised in a cultural work during a time when no European country seemingly supports it. The premise about a house full of exchange students from all over Europe rather grabbed me and I also knew that it would likely be an easy watch.

Xavier is a French economics student who enrolls in the ERASMUS student exchange programme after a friend of his father advises him that if he does he can help him get a government job. He leaves for Barcelona, leaving his distraught girlfriend Martine behind. He befriends a French doctor who works there and frequently accompanies the doctor’s wife, Anne Sophie, who feels lonely in a city and country she doesn’t know. Eventually he finds an apartment occupied by numerous other exchange students from all across Europe. Though they speak different languages and come from different cultures, they somehow manage to get along. When his relationship with Martine deteriorates due to the distance, he becomes interested in Anne Sophie and seduces her with advice from his lesbian housemate. He is not the only one however as his housemates are similarly unfaithful to their partners back home while they are abroad.

With the exception of Audrey Tautou as Martine, no one here is recognizable and the acting is only average. Visually this film is mediocre as well, with poor color balance giving it at times an almost home video level of amateurishness. It does try a few creative tricks to liven things up, like a janky, unfocused camera to capture a night out when the housemates are all shitfaced drunk, and a picture in picture mode to depict all of them rushing home at the same time. In this case, these visual tricks fit in with the theme of immature and emotionally high strung young people but most good filmmakers refrain from such shortcuts for a good reason. This film is definitely not a high quality production.

The main plot is nothing special either. How Xavier’s relationship with Martine develops is something all of us can see coming from the very beginning. His affair with Anne Sophie feels a little off-theme that given that he doesn’t seem to love her at all isn’t the emotional center of the film. Where the film does shine is the delightful dynamics of the household with the occupants from different countries. As my wife noted, small details like Xavier having to sheepishly exchange endearments with Martine on the phone while his housemates mock him ring true. The ways that they come up with to cope with the different languages they speak and to make life work in a crowded house are great as well. They even work in a dig at the English with a British girl who is a decent housemate but has an extremely annoying brother. Their interactions are fantastic but they’re more like a series of amusing anecdotes on top of the main story.

Despite its many flaws, I rather enjoyed this one. Films about young people are usually enjoyable to watch and I appreciated the intended message here about Europeans sharing a common European identity on top of their individual national ones without conflict. Still this is more wishful thinking than any serious examination of the EU dream and even this film can’t muster up any enthusiasm for the EU bureaucracy. The director apparently made an entire trilogy featuring the same set of characters and I confess that I’m quite eager to see how their lives turn out. This may not be great cinema but it is good enough and I do like how it goes against the current trend of emphasizing only nationalistic values.