THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR
February 29, 2012 AT 2:00PM + 7:30PM
(France, 2011 – Rated PG – 104 min – subtitled)
Directed by Philippe Le Guay
Cast: Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Kiberlain and Natalia Verbeke
A stellar cast serves up this riotous upstairs/downstairs comedy in Philippe Le Guay’s charming box office hit THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR (Les femmes du 6e étage). The saucy French-Spanish farce follows the well-worn story pathway about relationships between bosses and servants, but with a sense of genuine joy.
Set in 1962 Paris in the somewhat rundown but still impressive apartment building owned by a stuffy stockbroker and his socialite wife, the rich live on one floor and the domestics on another. In fact, the entire sixth floor is a dorm of sorts. It’s a residence for the mostly cheerful Spanish housekeepers of various ages who have left friends and families behind to toil for the Paris bourgeoisie in the neighbourhood. They rent tiny rooms from the owner who knows little about his tenants.
Director Philippe Le Guay uses grey midwinter Paris as an ideal backdrop to showcase the colourful lives of the Spanish maids, matching it with a score that combines traditional French and Spanish music, along with a cheeky French pop hit that works to great effect. Like salty jamón on crusty French baguette, The Women on the 6th Floor is a simple enjoyment that blends two cultures in a delicious little dish
“The distance between the bourgeoisie and the working class has never been
so delightfully measured as in this delicious upstairs downstairs comedy.”
Louise Kellar, Urban Cinefile
