The Women on the 6th Floor (2010) User Reviews

Another good work by a winning duo

[guy-bellinger · 8/10 · 25 May 2011]

Philippe Le Guay and Fabrice Luchini, two names that go together well, are more than ever synonymous with good quality comedy. If you want to have a good time, feel free to see the three films they collaborated on: "L'année Juliette" (1995), in which Luchini makes his life awfully complicated by inventing himself a mistress ; "Le coût de la vie" (2003), where Luchini makes his life ... awfully complicated by being too tight-fisted ; and coming now "Les femmes du 6e étage" (2010), with Luchini in yet another funny role in yet another well- written comedy signed Le Guay.

This time Luchini is Jean-Louis Joubert, a Parisian stockbroker. Like Camille in "L'année Juliette" and Brett in "Le coût de la vie", the character he joyfully slips into is very imperfect and his defects and shortcomings are a sure source of laughter but, unlike in the two former films, Camille will evolve and open up to his true self, making him a more engaging hero than usual. The beginning of the movie illustrates to great effect the imperfect Jean-Louis living his regular but restricted life in his spacious luxury apartment. He is married to a stiff-necked socialite named Suzanne and has two arrogant teenage sons who, being boarders, are currently away from home. The climaxes of his life, besides making money out of thin air, are eating a perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg and being bullied by his old Breton maid. But things start changing once Suzanne hires Maria, a charming young Spanish maid. For some reason some day Jean-Louis follows Maria up the stairs to the sixth floor and discovers a "terra incognita", in other words the maid's rooms below the roofs and the strange people who inhabit them, a handful of female Spanish immigrants. Against all odds this reactionary grand bourgeois develops an instant liking for these women and for their civilization. And of course, he will fall for Maria, but not only because she is pretty, mainly because she belongs to the new world he has just discovered.

A feel good movie in a way, "Les femmes du 6e étage" is much more than just that. It is also and none the less a committed film which, although set in the 1960s, denounces evils still plaguing today's society like, for example, the appalling way immigrants are exploited by their employers and ill-thought of by a majority of the natives of their "home" country, the selfishness of tourists who will not know about the political and social situation of the countries where they spend their holidays (1962's Spain can be replaced in the 2000s by Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia and many other countries)... Conversely the film is a call for tolerance and open-mindedness, for listening to one's heart rather than one's interest. But be reassured, this dimension, although crucial, remains underlying. There are no such things as preaching or political slogans, only a fine cocktail of good acting and tender humor. And sincerity. Did you know that for that matter that Philippe Le Guay had a Spanish maid when he was a kid and that his father was a broker just like Jean-Louis? Did you know that the actresses playing the maids are all Spanish and that some of them do not even speak French? That Luchini did not know a word of Spanish before starting the film? All these facts are good points which contribute to a welcome feeling of authenticity that enhances the film.

To come back to Fabrice Luchini, he is at his best in "Les femmes du 6e étage" for two reasons: first because his character is three-dimensional and goes beyond caricature (if Jean-Louis is stiff, haughty and narrow-minded it is because he reproduces the values inculcated in him both by his parents and by his social class, not because he is rotten to the core) ; second because Fabrice shows the necessary restraint quite in keeping with the role. The result is just perfect. And the rest of the cast is on the par with him: Natalia Verbeke, fresh and adorable as Luchini's love interest ; Sandrine Kiberlain, excellent as Luchini's uptight but not so superficial wife ; and the impeccable ensemble of Spanish actresses, including Carmen Maura and Lola Dueñas (two Almodovar fixtures), Berta Ojea, Nuria Solé and Concha Galan, as the servants from Spain. Also to be acclaimed are Annie Mercier as the spiteful janitor and gloomy-faced Philippe du Janerand as Piquer, Luchini's right-hand man.

Intelligent, sensitive and funny, "Les femmes du 6e étage", the third effort of the winning duo Le Guay-Luchini", deserves its success at the box-office and will not disppoint you.

Delightful Fight of Classes

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 2 October 2012]

In the 60's, in Paris, the middle-aged stockbroker Jean-Louis Joubert (Fabrice Luchini) is an uptight man that lives with his wife snobbish wife Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain) on the first floor of a building that belongs to him. Jean-Louis and Suzanne live a boring life and they have two arrogant sons in a boarding school.

When their maid quits the job, they hire the charming Spanish maid María Gonzalez (María Gonzalez) and Jean-Louis is introduced to a joyful Spanish community of maids on the 6th floor of his building. Jean-Louis learns about the Spanish costumes and improves the lives of the immigrants with minor support in their live condition. He also rekindles his own life with Maria and her friends. But when Maria unexpectedly returns to Spanish, Jean-Louis rethinks his life and values.

"Les Femmes du 6ème Étage" is a delightful romantic comedy based on the fight of classes and cultural differences between the French upper class and the Spanish immigrants in the early 60's in Paris. I loved this film, the cast, the direction, the characters and specially the lovely smile and look of María Gonzalez. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "As Mulheres do 6o Andar" ("The Women of the 6th Floor")

Enjoyable and fun film about some lively Spanish maids and their real influence on a mature broker unhappily married

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 25 November 2013]

The movie plot about the life of Spanish immigrants in France in the 1960s showing experiences of poor maids as immigrants and adequately reflecting us how was the life of that time . In 1960s Paris, a conservative couple's lives are turned upside down by various Spanish maids . The peculiar marriage called Jean-Louis Joubert (Fabrice Luchini) and Suzanne Joubert (Sandrine Kiberlain) carry out a different life , as Jean-Louis is a hard-working executive and Suzanne is a snobbish wife . The affluent man and the selfish woman live a dull life and they have two arrogant children in a boarding school . At least until due to fortuitous events , there appears Maria (Natalia Verbeke) , the beautiful new maid at the service of Jean-Louis' family, makes him discover the servants' quarter on the sixth floor of the luxurious building he owns and lives in . There lives a community (Carmen Maura as Concepción Ramirez , Lola Dueñas as Berta Ojea as Dolores Carbalan , Nuria Solé as Teresa and Concha Galán as Pilar) of likable Spanish maids , they have said goodbye their families and went abroad . There take place the problems to adapt into a new life ; but later on , they discover a new and agreeable existence . The maids will help Jean-Louis to open to a new culture , introducing him a joyful Spanish group and a new approach of life . In their help and more precisely in the company of charming Maria , Jean-Louis to be turned into a good and philanthropist man .

This interesting film is full of humor , drama , touching scenes and good feeling . It is a simple , dramatic and humorous portrait of a time when the Spanish people had to go other countries in order to encounter a work . This amusing as well as funny picture deals about lives of the immigrants with a minor support in their live condition and including a touching and emotive finale . As in Spain of the 50s and 60s ruled by General Franco there's no job , there's no money , and there's no option for the poor people but to emigrate to a foreign country and attempting to encounter work . As it concerns about the Spanish way of life of a crowd of maids , their habits , costumes ; at the same time they improve the serious but uptight stockbroker who lives a steady yet boring life , being suddenly changed when appear the Spanish maids ; as Jean-Louis will gradually become another man, a better man . Actors are frankly magnificent with a first-rate acting for whole cast . Sensational Fabrice Luchini along with the wife played Sandrine Kinberlain and a gorgeous as well as sympathetic Natalia Verbeke . Special mention to the group of Spanish maids magnificently performed by Carmen Maura , Lola Dueñas , Berta Ojea , among others . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Jean Claude Larrieu . Imaginative as well as sensitive original Music by Jorge Arriagada , Raul Ruiz's usual . It was a success among spectators, as well as a hit smash in the various film festivals it took part in ; as it achieved Prix d'interprétation à Natalia Verbeke au festival Sarlat 2010 .

The motion picture was very well directed by Philippe Le Guay . Philippe Le Guay took inspiration from his own childhood , his father was a stockbroker like Jean-Louis Joubert in the film and he himself had a Spanish maid. This was the number one comedy smash hit from this director . He's a good writer and filmmaker who has directed a few movies , many of them starred by his fetish actor , Fabrice Luchini , such as "Cycling with Moliere" , "The Cost of Living" ¨L'année Juliette¨ and this ¨The Women on the 6th Floor" , his best picture .

Highly recommended!

[unavoce03 · 1 August 2011]

A great movie, with wonderful actress and actor, soft, funny, intelligent and deeper as it seems apparently. If you pay attention the flick will let you think upon many things and, in any case, you will leave the theater in a good and serene mood not only in your mind, but also in your heart. Very refreshing!!! Luchini is excellent (as always) in his wonderful character. He recognize the opportunity to change his life and he seize it on. Today maybe it is hard to imagine that a rich man can show that kind of interest for people of a such different social condition. But in the Sixties sometimes that could happen, the social dehumanization was not so advanced like today, in spite of all the contradictions of those years, which are very well represented. Very good also Kiberlain as his wife. She is perfect in her attitude as snooty new rich. The whole cast of the movie and especially the Spanish women are simply great: they show how a change was urgently requested, at that time... and let us understand, today also!

Almost Great

[itamarscomix · 7/10 · 5 June 2012]

The nice thing about "The Women on the 6th Floor" is that it stops itself just short of being an important film with a big statement. I can't help but think of it as a lighter cousin to "The Help"; while "The Help" shoved its self-righteous social consciousness right into the viewer's face, this French comedy chooses to remain a silly romantic comedy and keep the social commentary as subtext. The wealthy protagonist isn't out to change world orders, and he really isn't all that progressive (like Emma Stone's character in The Help), he just wants to get into the Spanish maid's pants. That means the movie got a lot less attention (and would have even if we eliminated the element of Americans' strange refusal to read subtitles) but it's a lot more entertaining, a lot less irritating, and not any more shallow as far as social commentary goes.

It isn't quite a great film. It's very naive, very unrealistic, and French cinema buffs may point out that it's a throwback to films made over half a century ago. The Spanish characters are extremely stereotypical, and the romance makes less and less sense as the film goes on, most jarringly in the incredibly silly, entirely unconvincing, saccharine ending, which almost ruined the whole thing for me. Nevertheless, it's funny and enjoyable throughout, Fabrice Luchini is superb in the lead, and all the supporting characters (even the stereotypical maids) are wonderfully crafted. And interestingly, it's the ignoble motivation of the protagonist that makes him much more compelling than Emma Stone in "The Help"; as unrealistic as the story is, the character is quite real, and makes for a delightful comedic protagonist, which in turns leads to a delightful little movie.

It's not a must see, but you may spend the 104 minutes worse.

[amucomm · 7/10 · 15 April 2012]

Set in 1962 in Paris, this French/Spanish movie is lighthearted comedy- romance, with some subtle social economic undertones. On one side there is Jean-Louis Joubert (greatly played by Fabrice Luchini) and his neurotic wife, Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain), members of the upscale Bourgeoisie, with two sons that are away in boarding school. After their old maid quits/gets fired, Maria Gonzalez (Natalia Verbeke) gets hired. With her sheer presence and pride, she starts unraveling the social order in this huge apartment complex in Paris. All the laborers (maids) live in small garrets (mansards) under the roof (on the 6th floor) of the building in less than acceptable conditions. Monsieur Joubert, who has lived in this building all his life, as his parents and grandparents have, suddenly starts to realize the "joie de vivre" of all the Spanish domestics who keep the "dead society" on the floors below them tidy and organized. Even with the social undertones, the movie is funny, light, easy digestible even with the subtitles, in case you don't speak French and/or Spanish.

It's not a must see, but you may spend the 104 minutes worse.

I'll give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

More than a comedy

[ferdinand1932 · 6/10 · 20 July 2014]

This moves along very well and the story is charming with all the performances and the whole production working very nicely. That is, until the end. The end is an audience survey wish-fulfillment cop-out. It's not bad, but it might have been better.

Aside from the end, the film is a pleasure of little human comedies; of the things that bind people and also make friendship difficult. It's a fine story and mostly a very good script.

The actors are all good. Luchini usually finds the right role and here he is as good as usual. He's augmented by a largely female cast and all the characters come out well.

This is more than a solid comedy and has many strong moments. There is a little more in the tales of the women on the 6th floor.

Finding a New Reason to Live

[aharmas · 9/10 · 9 October 2011]

Two of the best movies of the year have a great ensemble of women propelling their storyline. Including Carmen Maura in this adds some of the same vibe we encountered in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", and it's not accident that both, "Breakdown" and "6th Floor" are lively, touching, and very enjoyable films. In "6th Floor" the Spanish maids put up with the demands of the upper middle class of Paris, serving as maids, working long hours, and just being glad they can make enough money to eventually reach their dreams.

It's never in doubt they miss their homeland, and through many references we hear they know how to party until late hours, never lose their zest for life, and this becomes the center of main story. A young maid, Maria shows up, to alter the lives of the owner of the building where these women live. After a few days, living conditions change for the better, as the owner discovers there is more to life than investing money.

Infatuation or love soon blooms, and for those jaded members of the audience, many will feel there are ulterior motives to both the owner and his relationship with his maid. Before we reach the ending, we are treated to several minor stories, learn that everyone of these women is a different, complex, and very spirited person, and we get to see a bit of their culture, in direct contrast to the lives of the Parisians.

There is a lot to enjoy in the movie, as we witness the relationships develop, bloom, and change the lives of those involved. We become witnesses to changes, rebirths, what being alive really means. "Women" doesn't really gives new insight about how to live or change our existence, but it entertains us with some material that might be relevant to many, without resorting to vulgarity or clever angles. We see real people deal with matters of the heart, social injustice, and human drama that we can relate to. It's a very good film.

Mister Joubert goes slumming.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 May 2013]

While I felt a bit dissatisfied with a few bits and pieces in "The Women on the 6th Floor", the overall product was quite enjoyable and unique. The film is set in France in 1962. Although I had no idea about this, apparently upper-class French families employed a lot of Spanish women as domestics at that time. For the most part, the maids' lives were pretty tough--with long hours, lousy quarters and little in the way of appreciation. However, with the entry of a new maid into the Joubert household, Mr. Joubert finds himself slowly bonding with her as well as her other servant friends. And, as a result, he slowly starts to appreciate much about their simple lives. All this I enjoyed thoroughly and liked seeing how these folks bonded. But what I had more difficulty with was seeing Mr. Joubert abandoning his family. While his marriage was cold, the film seemed to suggest it best to give up on this instead of working on the marriage. Perhaps I am just being overly analytic and moralistic, but to me this would have made the film more enjoyable.

Exactly the kind of film you need to see in order to keep sane...

[ingelaallard · 8/10 · 19 March 2011]

A great review by Robert Beames (coulden't have done it better myself!!) It has been given the more toner-friendly English language title of Service Entrance, but comic French drama Les Femmes Du 6eme Etage translates literally as The Women on the 6th Floor. Shown out of competition in Berlin, the film was very warmly received thanks in part to the performances of its sweet and amiable leading man, Fabrice Luchini, and its beautiful Spanish leading lady played by Natalia Verbeke. These actors combine with the film's leisurely pacing and entertaining scenario to ensure that it is a winsome and inoffensive crowd-pleaser.

The film, set in the 1960s, follows a wealthy, middle-aged Parisian stockbroker named Jean-Louis (Luchini) whose long-standing maid quits following a row with his demanding wife Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain). Unable to clean up after themselves, the couple desperately need a new maid. But when Suzanne's high society friends insist French maids aren't the done thing anymore, she enlists the help of Maria (Natalia Verbeke), a feisty, young Spanish immigrant. Jean-Louis forms an instant and obsessive attraction to her and to all things Spanish, soon striking up unlikely friendships with all the Spanish ladies who live in the servant's quarters above his home – a place he knows nothing about despite living in the building his entire life. Worlds collide and good-natured japes ensue as he helps each lady adjust to life in France whilst himself inheriting a new found love of life.

I don't think it's necessarily a coincidence that both the more shamelessly enjoyable films I've seen here up to now have been broad comedies about cultural difference and histories of mass immigration – with Almanya looking at German-Turks and Service Entrance exploring the relationship, and the comedy that comes of misunderstanding, between the French and their Spanish workforce. Immigration is still a political hot potato issue in these countries, as it remains in much of Europe, and maybe light-hearted comedy is seen as the best way to preach tolerance, reaching a bigger audience than earnest polemic. In mocking bigotry and by setting it in the past (as an old fashioned attitude) perhaps it is felt that people might be less inclined to identify with those views.

In any case both films are funny and have their hearts firmly in the right place. This French offering is gentler and less ballsy than it's Turkish-German counterpart, but no less enjoyable. The character of Jean-Louis is incredibly easy to like, being child-like in his enthusiasm for his new-found interest in Spain. The character of Suzanne is also refreshingly balanced and nuanced. She'd usually be a two-dimensional figure we would be encouraged to dislike in order to make it permissible for Jean-Louis to consider romance with Maria and yet the film doesn't go down that route: she can be annoying and insensitive but she isn't a nasty person. Maria and the other Spanish ladies are also a joy to watch as they interact with one another and fuss over cheerful little Jean-Louis.

Service Entrance is the filmic equivalent of a soufflé and certainly not a tough watch typical of the standard festival fare. Indeed it falls into the dubious realm of the "feel good" movie. But sandwiched, as it is here, between two-hour long Shakespeare adaptations, Bela Tarr movies, Argentinian slow cinema and films about nuclear disasters, it is exactly the kind of film you need to see in order to keep sane. It is difficult to say whether wider criticism in France will be anything like as positive when removed from this context on theatrical release, but here it offered exactly what was needed and nobody appreciated that more than I.

middle age fantasy---feel good movie

[filmalamosa · 7/10 · 24 July 2012]

Jean Louis and Suzanne have to hire a young Spanish maid. The story revolves around domestic maids which were mostly from Spain in mid 60s Paris.

Maria is hired and Jean Louis falls in love with her and all things from Spain. It helps that he is a nerdy stockbroker 60 and she 35... The biggest flaw in the movie is here--it is not just the age difference-- Luchini is so un-sexy it is difficult imagining anyone wanting to shag him except for remunerative purposes.

This is a feel good drama we all know is exaggerated but still enjoy watching the formula unfold to it's end....which has a little bit too sugary a twist at the end.

I enjoyed the 60s recreated in Paris...time travel does wonders-- and it was just exactly the era and culture I grew up in. I did spot one flaw the time editors didn't catch...in one scene in Spain you can see a 747 taking off in the distance--minor item.

The story is fun and somewhat believable...enjoyable watch.

RECOMMEND

Feel-good movie

[castala · 8/10 · 15 September 2011]

Fabrice Lucchini, famous French actor well-known for his flamboyant demeanour, is playing an invisible man in this film, which placed in Paris in the 1960's. He opens up to life while meeting the group of Spaniard maids living above his apartment. His wife, played by Sandrine Kiberlain, disagree with him because he's talking to these people who are not from the same social class. Both Lucchini and Kiberlain are very good in this film. The actress who's playing Maria Gonzalez cast, Natalia Verbeke, is offering a splendid performance. I've never seen her playing before. The end of the movie is quite common and deceiving, but it's doesn't erase the fun we had watching this very niece movie.

Hall struggle (tv)

[leplatypus · 7/10 · 8 April 2014]

I didn't expect it but in a way, this movie is a bit like « Dark Water » as it got under my skin and strike where I hurt :

First, it shows how a decent accommodation is a fundamental human right and how Paris, the city of lights can be indeed a famous place for those kind of violations. Those Spanish maids and I live exactly the same way, that is to say, in very small rooms (mine 14m2) owned by wealthy landlord.

As i got to know this kind of privileged people, this movie is accurate when it depicts them to be as empty as their pockets are full : they think they are bright but they stick to uniformity and they think they are cultured just because they do parties and exhibition. In other world, in the usual french movie, this world is blindly praised while here it's rather questioned. The shameful habit of the "master's privilege" is also put to study but very, very shyly or at least with too much saccharine. So, if the conclusion leaves a bit dizzy, it doesn't betray the spirit of the story as it tells what's the right attitude down on this earth : a fortune is not to amass but to share !

This unusual movie was all the more interesting as it features Lola Duenas, my favorite Spanish artist after Penelope.

Cute but flawed

[kapkaesk · 5/10 · 24 January 2012]

This movie raises looks as if it might explore, at least partially, interesting issues around class, nationality and gender relationships in a feel good packaging. It doesn't. Actually, that wouldn't matter as much as it does if it truly was a feel good movie, but it's not quite that either – the old dude / beautiful young woman pairing isn't believable (in this case anyway – other movies like The Girl In The Café, The Girl on the Bridge, Le Divorce manage it, at least partly because Bill Nighy, Daniel Auteuil and Thierry Lhermitte can do sexy. I can't imagine anyone wanting to shag Jean Louis) . Jean Louis comes across as pleasant and well meaning but creepy. When he gets the horn after perving on the maid in the bathroom and starts kissing his wife's neck instead, the audience seems to collectively shudder. We are encouraged to see him as finding his freedom and his true identity away from his stultifying bourgeois life and constrictive family – but, deliberately or not, his wife is in some ways a more sympathetic character than he is, and doesn't seem to deserve what she gets. It's not just that he is physically unattractive, he seems morally problematic as well - it looks as if he's helping the Spanish maids more out of a desire to get in Maria's pants at least as much as a genuine compassion for their plight. The power relationship is hinted at, but explicit: he has the money and the status.

And that's just it. Chemistry has to be believable. A feel good ending has to feel good. This one doesn't quite make it

Absolutely delightful in every way

[robert-temple-1 · 6 October 2011]

This is a pure delight. The director, Philippe Le Guay, has the perfect touch, never too light, never too heavy. And he is supported in this delicate balancing act by a marvellous cast, whose timing, tone and style are all perfectly attuned. The central performance in the film is given by the French comic actor Fabrice Luchini, an intelligent simpleton, a naïve bourgeois who has unexpectedly been let loose on Life. Luchini is a true marvel, a world class talent at understated comedy. He has at times the innocent puzzlement of silent comedian Harry Langdon come over his face, a kind of infantile bewilderment, but he is equally capable of snarling arrogantly as a domineering bourgeois buffoon and demanding that his boiled egg must boil for precisely three and a half minutes. He even admits that if he gets the correctly prepared egg in the morning, the rest of his day is glorious, but if he gets an egg which is too hard, his day is ruined. The task set to his maid is therefore going to determine his every day's mood! Luchini owns a large house in Paris (apparently, from what I could glimpse of a park scene, intended to be within walking distance of the quiet and sleepy Parc Monceau). He has inherited it and a prosperous brokerage and investment management business from his father. The film is set in 1962. Every day he goes to work to advise rich people how to invest their money. One of his clients is a glamorous rich widow, played unexpectedly in a cameo performance by the dazzler Audrey Fleurot from the police series ENGRENAGES (SPIRAL, 2005 onwards). Some wonderful laughs come from this association. Fleurot is reputed to be a man-eater, and Luchini's wife is worried that she will steal him from her, but little does she realize that he has barely noticed Fleurot (if you can imagine anyone not noticing Fleurot, which I cannot). This is a mere side event to the main tale. Much of Luchini's huge 19th century house is rented out to other families, and the maids of all of these haute-bourgeois people including his own live together in squalor in small servants' rooms on the sixth floor, hence the title of the film. Only one maid is of the traditional sort, an elderly Bretonne maid from Britanny, and she departs near the beginning of the film. All the rest are gabbling and gregarious Spanish women, who evidently in the 1960s were flocking to Paris to earn money to send home. They form their own tightly-knit sub-culture, invisible to their employers. Anyone who has been to Hong Kong will be familiar with the myriads of Philippino maids who are strewn all over Central every Sunday chattering away to each other in Tagalog. It is very much the same phenomenon. Luchini is married to the ultimate bourgeoise wife, formerly 'a country girl', who is now ruthlessly climbing the social ladder and, wallowing in spoilt self-pity, 'exhausts' herself every day having lunch with her friends and buying expensive dresses. She is played to perfection by Sandrine Kiberlain, veteran of 48 films, who is so often cast as a wife. Admirers of the classic L'APPARTEMENT (THE APARTMENT, 1996, see my review) will recall her waiting at the airport for her husband at the end of the film, with her wan smile and her freckles. But the main action of this film concerns the Spanish maids. While their spoilt rich employers below live lives of stultifying boredom and pointlessness, these impoverished maids, when they are not rushing off to mass and crossing themselves devoutly (all but the sullen one who has become an atheist because her parents were murdered in front of her by Franco's men), have tremendous fun, play the guitar, cook paella, dance a bit of flamenco, and live a vivacious life of their own in their rarified micro-climate on the sixth floor. When his Bretonne maid, who had served the family for thirty years, leaves, Luchini and his wife desperately need a replacement. The dishes are piled high in the sink, the lazy Kiberlain does not know how to work a washing-machine, and Luchini is desperate because he does not have a clean shirt left to wear to work. What can these poor suffering spoilt rich people do? A miracle occurs: one of the Spanish women has just had her niece turn up from Spain, a beautiful thirty-something played with inspired vivacity and satirical demeanour by Natalia Verbeke. She is an amazing actress, born in Argentina in 1975, moved to Spain was she was eleven, lived with a bullfighter, and has appeared in many Spanish TV series and films. When she becomes the new maid, a new life opens up for Luchini, and he realizes that he prefers the maids on the sixth floor for company to his own boring wife and his empty life. And he begins to fall for Natalia, which is hardly surprising, as she is so alluring. The film is at once a tasteful satire on the vacuities of the empty lives of the upper middle classes, a hilarious comedy, a sad commentary, a poignant insight into the silent suffering of people without any money, and the shattering clash of cultures which occurs when someone steps out of the one world and into the other. The film is such a joy, and its satire is so affectionate and gentle (which perhaps makes it all the more devastating), that we learn a lot about Life. And Life is in short supply these days. But prepare to laugh yourself silly, while crying sometimes. Those are the best films, aren't they?

A light comedy replete with superficial charm - *spoilers*

[groundfisher · 6/10 · 27 December 2011]

A light comedy, good fun, but not for those seeking something intellectually compelling.

*Spoilers* Wealthy French professionals are serviced by maids living on the 6th floor of their building. Our main character, the owner of a stock broking firm, accepts an attractive Spaniard as his family's new maid. He finds himself emotionally inspired by the lively maids on the 6th floor and by Spanish culture, casting a disappointing shadow on his somewhat insipid lifestyle, which is dominated by routine. Experiencing something like a 'mid-life' crisis, he falls in love with the young maid.

As other reviewers say, this is a feel-good movie, because all our wishes regarding the two lovers come true. However, that also means that the characters do not have to deal with the consequences of their actions in any meaningful way, and this last point is the movie's chief weakness. Big decisions are made, but the main character is not accountable. After the main character makes his big decision, important minor characters are cast aside by the director, which is a shame, as it considerably narrows the scope of the film.

Joie de vivre recovered

[frankde-jong · 7/10 · 9 July 2023]

In "Les femmes du 6e étage" the man of a rich couple visits the 6th floor of his apartment building. This is the floor where the housekeepers live. Immediate cause are complaints about overdue maintenance. As a consequence of this vist the man sees the difference between his own sterile marriage and the community spirit and joie de vivre between the housekeepers.

In "Toto le héros" (1991, Jaco van Dormael) a poor boy is jealous of a rich boy and at the end of the film discovers that the opposite is also true. The rich boy thinks that the poor boy has less formalities to adhere to.

I thought that after the financial crisis of 2008 the jealousy of rich people towards poor people would have disappeared. Two films from a couple of years after the financial crisis suggests otherwise. Apart from "Les femmes du 6e étage" (2010) I am talking about "Intouchables" (2011, Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano). In both films rich people have to meet poor, immigrant people to recover their lust for life.

Both of these films are comedy's and feel good movies, but "Intouchables" at least shows us a shred of the reality of the poor, situating a few scenes in the banlieus of France. Also the rich person in "Intouchables" is more credible, partly because he is based on a real person. The rich man in "Les femmes du 6e étage" is such a good guy that it is hard to belief that he is a securities trader for profession.

All in all "Les femmes du 6e étage" is good for a plaesant evening, but it is too tame and too much feel good to be great.

Friends with benefits: A Parisian Upstairs Downstairs

[gradyharp · 9/10 · 31 March 2012]

THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR (Les femmes du 6ème étage) is a delightful bit of French pastiche that entertains while it also provides insight into several problems - immigration, class distinction, rich controlling poor, and the polar extremes of between the wealth and the working class. Fortunately the story as written by Jérôme Tonnerre and writer/director Philippe Le Guay takes place in the 1960s, offering the audience to glance back at period when social reforms were in the gestational phase and in doing so the film allows the comedy to reign - a fact that makes the reality eventually more poignant.

The story takes place in Paris in 1963 in an elegant neighborhood where Jean-Louis Joubert (Fabrice Luchini) is a serious but uptight stockbroker, married to Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain), a starchy class-conscious woman and father of two arrogant teenage boys, (Camille Gigot and Jean-Charles Deval) currently in a boarding school. Jean-Louis lives a steady yet boring life while Suanne busies herself with luncheon appointments, hair appointments, charities, etc. Jean-Louis' mother had been living with the Jouberts until her recent death and now Suzanne forces Jean-Louis to move all of the deceased woman's things to the attic on the 6th floor, an act that infuriates the longtime French maid Germaine (Michèle Gleizer) who leaves the household in disgust. Naturally everything deteriorates an Suzanne must find a new maid. She encounters Maria (Natalia Verbeke) recently immigrated from Spain, offers her a trial employment, and Maria, who becomes friends with the group of maids who live in the disgusting squalor of the 6th floor of the building: naturally these Spanish maids bond and help Maria bring the Joubert household to a state of perfection. Jean-Lois is thrilled with the new maid and discovers the other maids, hears their problems with the sewer and other poor conditions, and sets out to befriend these wonderful ladies who are living in his building : the redoubtable Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Berta Ojea, Nuria Solé, and Concha Galán. These lovely and deeply appreciative lively Spanish maids help Jean- Louis to become open to a new civilization and a new approach of life. In their company - and especially in the company of beautiful Maria - Jean-Louis will gradually become another man, a better man.

The acting is first rate, the subplots embroider the main story with fine finesse, and the sense of the transformation of one wealthy but emotionally vapid man into the loving charmer he becomes makes for a very fine comedy. The ending (three years later) is a bit vapid and cheapens the story quality, but by that time the audience is so entranced with this new vision of camaraderie that it matters little. This is a refreshing, well made, exceptionally entertaining film that boast a particularly fine cast of ensemble actors. In French and Spanish with English subtitles. Grady Harp, March 12

A true delight.

[eyeintrees · 8/10 · 30 October 2015]

Thank goodness I got tired of the trash that Hollywood tips out like churned mince through a mincer and decided to begin watching foreign films!

French movies, in particular, seem to have a knack for producing a love story that doesn't leave me puking with either boredom or the sheer stupidity and bad acting.

This is one such little gem. Delightful, understated, charming. When a Spanish maid moves to France she takes a job with a wealthy businessman and his detached wife. As the wife listens more and more to her malicious, gossipy society friends, she becomes suspicious of her husband having an affair.

Her husband certainly is up to many things, but he's a lovely man, played delightfully, and he's falling in love alright... with a whole new way of life.

I enjoyed every minute of this!

Not only hilarious, but sweet and romantic as well!

[TinyDanseur27 · 9/10 · 30 June 2013]

I was pleasantly surprised however, when Les femmes du 6ème étage turned out to be not only hilarious, but sweet and romantic as well. Les femmes du 6ème étage is about a wealthy Frenchman in the 1960s who, upon hiring a Spanish maid, comes to find himself through getting to know all of the Spanish maids that live on the 6th floor of his building. This quirky group of women not only educate him in their ways of life, but influence him to loosen up and start really living for the first time.

What a wonderful film! It was funny and heart-warming with just the right touch of drama. The characters were all incredibly well-developed and likable, and the acting was superb! I highly recommend it! This was the best film I've seen in ages!

Traditional French comedy

[stensson · 5/10 · 21 August 2011]

How many French movies don't take place in these tenant Parisian houses, complete with a concierge and some gentle class struggle? Here we are in 1962. The Spanish are the underdogs and especially these maidens who live upstairs. On the sixth floor.

Under much more fancy living conditions, we find this stock-broker and his wife. The marriage and their lives are pretty cold, on the contrary to that of the under-paid maidens.

The stock-broker finds out all of that, but it all goes on into a nice and little banal comedy, with lots of stereotypes. A feelgood movie, which perhaps makes us feel a little too good.

If Other Movies Were A Sixth As Good

[writers_reign · 2 October 2011]

We have of course been here before, many times. Nevertheless this is a feelgoods feelgood movie. Fabrice Luchini is arguably the best actor currently working to take on this kind of role, the slightly uptight, stuffed shirt businessman who discovers before it too late that life is for living. Jack Lemon brought this off brilliantly in Billy Wilder's Avanti and you don't compare actors with Lemon lightly. Natalia Verbeke - a name totally new to me - is also just right as the catalyst who brings out his dormant humanity. Yes, there is an element of sloppy writing - for example, at an early point in the proceedings Luchini tells Verbeke (who he has hired to replace his old maid, who quit in the first reel, triggering the rest of the film) that the building in which he lives with his wife, Sandrine Kimberlain, and two sons, has been owned by his family for generations and he himself was born there yet surely in all that time he would have ventured up to the sixth floor and seen the squalor in which the Spanish women who live there exist. He is rightly horrified when he does so and immediately pays a plumber double his fee to unblock the communal toilet. This was clearly necessary as a plot device for Luchini to reveal his genuine humanity and befriend these Spanish cleaners but something not so unlikely would have been preferable. Nevertheless this is a DELIGHT though I thought that Sandrine Kiberlain - an actress I've long admired - looked slightly unwell, possibly the result of her recent separation from husband Vincent Lindon. Apart from that I can't wait to buy the DVD.

Spanish workers in France didn't have an easy life

[Red-125 · 9/10 · 28 September 2013]

The French movie Les femmes du 6ème étage was shown in the United States with the title The Women on the 6th Floor (2010). The film was written and directed by Philippe Le Guay.

Fabrice Luchini plays wealthy stockbroker Jean-Louis Joubert, who lives with his wife, Suzanne, (played by Sandrine Kiberlain) on the fifth floor of an elegant apartment building in Paris. In the opening scene, the Joubert's long-time French live-in maid quits. The family needs a new maid, and they find one in María (Natalia Verbeke), a newly-arrived Spanish immigrant. Maria is intelligent, hard-working, and beautiful, so you get a sense of where the story is heading right from the start.

However, although this is a romantic film, it's also a film about social inequality and class struggle. That's because the Spanish domestic workers--including María--live on the sixth floor of the apartment building. They have no heat, no running water in their rooms, and no clean toilet facilities. The contrast between the elegance of the fifth floor and the horrible conditions on the sixth floor is the central theme of the movie. The plot revolves around this discrepancy, and how each of the three main characters responds to it.

The director is clearly sympathetic to the domestic workers, although his portrayal of them borders on stereotype. We have to accept the portrayal of all these women as industrious, cheerful, devoutly pious, and willing to accept the conditions under which they work.

One very positive aspect of the film is the great sense of solidarity that saves the women from unrelieved boredom and drudgery. They don't get much from employers or society, but they derive real strength and pleasure from their support of each other.

Some specific points to note. The events are taking place in the 1960's or early '70's. The director tells us this by inserting several references to Generalissimo Franco, the Fascist dictator of Spain, who ruled until his death in 1975. I'm not sure why the movie is set in this period. Maybe the situation has changed for Spanish domestic workers in France. In fact, maybe they have been replaced by workers from another part of the world. I don't have the answer. Also, watch for the great Spanish actor Carmen Maura, who has a supporting role as one of the maids--Concepción Ramirez.

We saw this movie at the Dryden Theatre as part of the excellent Rochester Labor Film Series. It will work very well on the small screen. I don't think it's worth turning heaven and earth to seek it out. However, I believe it's definitely worth watching if you have the opportunity.

Simple yet very heart-warming gem of French cinema.

[sarahilayda1 · 9/10 · 23 September 2017]

I absolutely adored this film.

I didn't have much of an expectation when I started watching this film but by 5th minute, I had a smile on my face and I knew I was absolutely going to love this film, and I did.

This film is very straight-forward plot-wise. Spanish housekeepers in a French building and their relationship with the owner of the building. But it is undoubtedly one of the most heart-warming and happy films I have ever watched.

The women are simply brilliant and all the actresses did an amazing job. Fabrice Luchini is also not any less when in comparison, we can really see all the actors and actresses embraced their roles and had fun while shooting.

It also really captures the clash of the two cultures and the vibe of those years. It does not forget the historical events that had happened and how it effected these people and shows the believes and culture of both French and Spanish people.

I thought it was a brilliant film and I added to my favorites list immediately. I am sure that I will watch it again and probably again in the next years.

If you like a heart-warming, simple yet brilliant film, this is for you.

9/10.

Like "Spanglish" (except the guy's a lot older) or "Sabrina" (but without so much of a yuck factor)

[The_late_Buddy_Ryan · 8/10 · 22 July 2014]

A feel-good French comedy/fantasy, set back in the 60s to maximize the contrast between the fubsy stockbroker (Fabrice Luchini) and his uptight family, on the one hand, and the soulful, earthy, flamenco-dancin', paella-eatin' Spanish criadas who live on the top floor of their Paris apartment building. It's kind of a retro version of "Spanglish," I guess, but some care has been taken to offset the potential creepiness of a romcom involving a wealthy guy played by a 60ish actor and a working-class woman played by a 35ish actress (Natalia Verbeke—she's Argentinian, not Spanish, btw). It's sweet, charming, funny, more than a little sentimental; the cast is just about perfect—Sandrine Kiberlain, one of my favorite actresses, does a great job as the stockbroker's insecure wife (a bit of a Betty Draper type, if that's not stretching a comparison). I admit that this is a fairly hackneyed comedy genre and that a number of silly and outdated national stereotypes are on display here, but somehow we still enjoyed this one very much.