L'Auberge espagnole (2002): transnational departure or domestic crash landing?

Abstract

Cédric Klapisch's vision of encounters within the new Europe in L'Auberge espagnole offers a positive account of the new European project. The film's exclusive focus on young European ERASMUS students already underlines the aims and limitations of what is supposedly a broad cultural and educational exchange. The emphasis on learning about ‘other’ national cultures to achieve a more integrated European union quickly dissolves when the students abandon any interest in local culture, history or politics to focus instead on their own sexual and emotional rites of passage. Challenging the film's construction and ostensible celebration of the new European transnational identity, this article questions the validity and implications of constructing a representation of both Barcelona and Europe riddled with cultural clichés and iconic images of a city as a purely aesthetic experience. It also notes the film's failure to engage with the larger social and historical context that injects meaning into the urban fabric of Barcelona itself.