The 1960s bourgeois Parisian household of stockbroker Jean-Louis and his neurotic socialite wife Suzanne is turned upside-down when they hire an effervescent Spanish maid Maria. Maria and the other maids, who live upstairs in the servant’s quarters, reveal a ‘joie de vivre’ which at first baffles Jean-Louis and then inspires him. This is a delightful piece of French pastiche with sparkling comedy and a look back at a period when entrenched notions of class and race were beginning to crumble.
12A cert – France 2011 – Director: Philippe Le Guay
Running time: 104 minutes – Language: French
Cast: Fabrice Luchini, Natalia Verbeke, Carmen Maura