L’Auberge Espagnole (+)
This movie is a depiction of what must be the new European Union right of passage. The principal character is a 24-year-old Frenchman, Xavier (Romain Duris), who when the film opens is deciding what he wants to do professionally with his life. He is living at home with his mother and is in love with his girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou).

Xavier is told by a family friend that if he learns the Iberian stock market, he will be assured of a good job. He applies and receives an Erasmus scholarship to attend a university in Barcelona, Spain. When he arrives in Barcelona, he shares an apartment with newly found friends who are also Erasmus program students and for a year lives the life of a Bohemian.

The other students include a German, Italian, Spaniard, and an English woman and her visiting brother. Their individual personalities are interesting. Epecially interesting is Xavier who has an affair with Anne Sophie (Judith Godreche), who is in Spain with her doctor husband. Xavier learns how to turn on women from a lesbian who is one of his housemates. The movie often has a surreal quality, and there is often the feeling of maturation taking place before your eyes.

This film could become a cult favorite of college students in this country. It is a sweet travelogue, if only of Barcelona with a little of Paris thrown in. I recommend that you see it. It will make you feel better.


The Italian Job (+)
This movie could have been much better if it had not tried to pack an enormous amount of energy into each frame. Nevertheless, it does include some fine caper sequences, particularly during the first 15 minutes.

There are two chase scenes: one by boat in the canals of Venice, and the other in L.A. using cars and electronic gadgets that cause huge traffic jams. Three little British cars perform circus-like tricks, and a helicopter that hovers over traffic is operated as though it were in a Japanese computer game.

The caper starts in Venice with a small gang led by Charlie (Mark Wahlberg), the safecracker John (Donald Sutherland) and John’s daughter Stella (Charlize Theron), who is living in New York City. Stella is honest but has her father’s talented, safe-cracking fingers. Steve (Ed Norton) is the evil guy. You learn that early on, so I’m not giving anything away. There are three additional gang members: Left- Ear (Mos Def), an expert on dynamite; Rob (Jason Statham), a handsome, super driver; and Wrench (Frankie G), an electronic genius. A limited very discrete romance exists between Charlie and Stella. The acting on the part of all was acceptable, but no more than that.

The caper to steal $37 million in Italian gold is a lot of fun. After it is stolen, a double-cross takes place, and the gang sets out to track down Steve in L.A. and do him in. All the excitement and suspense you would expect exits the film. But, the director got carried away with the script and let it get out of hand.

The introduction of a Ukrainian crime lord gives some added interest to the film, but nothing comes near to equaling the excitement of the first 15 minutes. The film is, however, far better than 85 percent of the films released during the last three weeks.

“A Woman is a Woman” (-)
As I entered the theater, I asked two couples who were emerging what they thought of the film. The first woman, about 60 years old and from Connecticut, said, “Mayor, don’t go in. You will be wasting your time,” and the second woman, about 50, said, “It is absolutely terrible.” After seeing the film, I agree with their opinions. My movie companion (AS) said to me, “My God, that is the worst film I have ever seen.”

I went to see this flick because the New York Post critic, V.A. Musetto, gave it four stars and described it as “Loads of fun.” This 1961 film, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, has nothing going for it other than the acting and its bright colors. It is an attempt to break out and do something really different in the same way that “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” did, only the latter film was sensational. If you haven’t seen it, rent the video.

The plot of “A Woman is a Woman” involves Angela (Anna Karina), her live-in boyfriend Emile (Jean-Claude Brialy) and Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo) a second man with whom she is involved. Angela wants a child, and Emile refuses to have children. Alfred would love to have a child with Angela, but his love for her is unrequited. The music, intended to add to the dialogue, was instead very jarring.

Avoid this film, unless you are a masochist.