Les Femmes du 6e Ètage
11/11/15 Filed in: DVD
This is the second of the French films I've watched after buying some previously owned DVDs from the Amazon Marketplace.
One of the reviews on the DVD case for this film says: "Une comédie délicate, enlevée et drôle", which I think describes it quite nicely.
In Paris, in the 60s, Jean-Louis, a stockbroker, and his wife Suzanne live in a grand apartment. Above, on the sixth floor, there are a group of Spanish house maids (les bonnes) who might as well not exist as far as Jean-Louis and Suzanne are concerned.
But when their French maid is dismissed (Suzanne and her didn't get on after the death of Jean-Louis' mother) Suzanne is introduced to the fact that she can find a Spanish maid, and she takes on trial the recently arrived Maria. With a bit of clandestine help from her friends on the sixth floor, the young Maria makes a good impression, and is duly appointed.
Jean-Louis soon becomes infatuated with Maria. His wife suspects something is going on, but misses the obvious and mistakenly accuses her husband of having an affair with an attractive new female client. He choses to admit to this imaginary affair rather than to his real feelings for Maria. Suzanne duly kicks him out.
One of the reviews on the DVD case for this film says: "Une comédie délicate, enlevée et drôle", which I think describes it quite nicely.
In Paris, in the 60s, Jean-Louis, a stockbroker, and his wife Suzanne live in a grand apartment. Above, on the sixth floor, there are a group of Spanish house maids (les bonnes) who might as well not exist as far as Jean-Louis and Suzanne are concerned.
But when their French maid is dismissed (Suzanne and her didn't get on after the death of Jean-Louis' mother) Suzanne is introduced to the fact that she can find a Spanish maid, and she takes on trial the recently arrived Maria. With a bit of clandestine help from her friends on the sixth floor, the young Maria makes a good impression, and is duly appointed.
Jean-Louis soon becomes infatuated with Maria. His wife suspects something is going on, but misses the obvious and mistakenly accuses her husband of having an affair with an attractive new female client. He choses to admit to this imaginary affair rather than to his real feelings for Maria. Suzanne duly kicks him out.
He surprisingly moves into a spare room on the sixth floor (he owns the building) where he starts to 'live again' in the company of the maids, including of course Maria. It proves to be a release from his previously boring day to day existence and, of course, all the time he is becoming more and more infatuated with Maria, something that she also begins to realise. The older women are, however, wary, and we find out that her life is much more complicated than we might have first expected.
Meanwhile Suzanne has something of an epiphany herself, realising that all was not right with their relationship, while being amazed at her husband's transformation.
This is a beautiful film that shows how a couple who on the face of it have everything, in reality have very little. It takes a down-to-earth group of maids to release the hidden desire in Jean-Louis for a life more simple, but with much greater meaning. And what about him and Maria? Well, that would be spoiling things, but all I would say is it's not that simple.
Meanwhile Suzanne has something of an epiphany herself, realising that all was not right with their relationship, while being amazed at her husband's transformation.
This is a beautiful film that shows how a couple who on the face of it have everything, in reality have very little. It takes a down-to-earth group of maids to release the hidden desire in Jean-Louis for a life more simple, but with much greater meaning. And what about him and Maria? Well, that would be spoiling things, but all I would say is it's not that simple.