While going to school and looking for an apartment, Xavier agrees to explore Barcelona with Anne-Sophie, who is too nervous to go by herself. They go to all the touristy parts and at times it is a little overwhelming for Anne-Sophie who seems to have trouble adjusting to the new city. Xavier finally finds an apartment with five other study abroad students from all over Europe. When the landlord ups their rent, Xavier invites Isabelle (Cecile De France) to live with them.
Isabelle is a lesbian and teaches Xavier how to make love to woman properly. He uses this knowledge to start an affair with Anne-Sophie. Did I mention he has a girlfriend back home that he loves and adores? Well, not anymore. Due to the distance she breaks up with him and he is so depressed that he is unable to get it up. So he goes to Jean-Michel, who is a doctor, to make sure there is nothing wrong with him. After taking all the tests (that show he is fine) Jean-Michel tells Xavier to stay away from his wife.
As if his whole life wasn't complicated enough, his roommate's brother comes and stays with them. But this brother isn't someone people particularly like. He tends to rub people the wrong way with his stereotypical statements about other countries and people. With the year coming to an end, Xavier has to prepare to go back to France and what to do with his life after school.
As someone who has moved around a bunch (not necessarily out of the country though), I could understand what he was going through. I thought they did an excellent job portraying how people are influenced by their environment and the people that they meet along the way and even though they set out on one path, they can be blown in a different direction. At times it felt almost like a season of the Real World with all these strangers in one house (they should do a season with people from all over the world) and it seemed like the movie didn't have a hard plot. But not everything needs a clearly defined storyline.
Rating: ****
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