The Chambermaid on the Titanic
Encyclopedia
The Chambermaid on the Titanic is a 1997 French drama film directed by Bigas Luna
, starring Oliver Martinez, Romane Bohringer
and Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
. It is based on the novel La Femme de chambre du Titanic by Didier Decoin
. The film is known variously by its French title, La Femme de chambre du Titanic, and also by the shortened English title The Chambermaid, which was adopted in late August 1998 to avoid the impression that it was trying to cash in on the success of James Cameron's popular film, Titanic
, which was released the year before The Chambermaid on the Titanic made its US debut.
to see the sailing of the Titanic.
The night before the Titanic departs, he meets a beautiful young woman named Marie. Marie explains that she is a chambermaid aboard the Titanic but has nowhere to sleep because all of the local hotels are full. Horty allows her to sleep in his bed whilst he sleeps in the armchair. However, in the middle of the night Marie tries to seduce him. Whether or not she succeeds is ambiguous and she is gone when Horty awakes. When Horty returns home he finds he has been promoted but that rumors are circulating about an affair between Zoe and Simeon. Horty goes to a local bar to drown his sorrows. He tells an erotic fantasy about his night with Marie to his friends and co-workers at a local bar, earning him free drinks and tips.
Horty catches the attention of a traveling entertainer named Zeppe. Zeppe offers Horty the chance to escape his dismal dreary life. Horty agrees and begins to work with Zeppe, converting his story into a play. One night Zoe attends and Horty explains his tale as a work of fiction. However, Horty's story becomes more elaborate and romantic attracting a larger audience for each re-telling steadily driving a wedge between him and his wife. Eventually Zoe demands a part in the performance, playing the role of Marie poignantly fighting against the waves after the Titanic sinks. The film ends by revealing why Marie would sleep with Horty.
based on 16 reviews. Mick LaSelle of the San Francisco Chronicle
praised Chambermaid for what he felt was a rare honest portrayal of male sexuality. He also called it "a tribute to longing itself" saying that that made it "unique." Bill Gallo of the Dallas Observer
called it "beautiful, complex [and] occasionally overwrought" and "a rich meditation on the uses of imagination and the power of desire". However, Stephen Holden of the New York Times felt that the film "never finds a visual vocabulary to match the elegance of its ideas". Richard von Busack of Metro Silicon Valley criticised some of the casting, finding Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
as Marie too obvious a temptress and never quite believing that Romane Bohringer
as Zoe could have been unfaithful. However, he compared Chambermaid favourably to James Cameron's film Titanic saying The Chambermaid on the Titanic "is a smarter and far more elegant film" and that "it gets into the heart of the matter. The central question is not why did the great ship go down? but why do we love to tell stories about it?" Peter Keough of The Phoenix
agreed saying, "[Chambermaid's] treatment of the same themes of love, catastrophe, and the redeeming power of fantasy is a lot more subtle and satisfying." Jeff Vice of the Deseret News was unimpressed with the film feeling that the ending was "contrived" and that many of the cast seem "unsure of [their] motivations". He also felt that "the set pieces are bound to pale in comparison to those in [James Cameron's film] Titanic."
Bigas Luna
Juan José Bigas Luna is a Spanish film director. He began his professional career in the design world, creating the Estudio Gris with Carlos Riart in 1969. In his earlier exhibitions, at the beginning of the sixties, he showed a great interest in conceptual art and the emerging visual technologies...
, starring Oliver Martinez, Romane Bohringer
Romane Bohringer
Romane Bohringer is a French actress, film director, screenwriter and costume designer. She is the daughter of Richard Bohringer and sister of Lou Bohringer. Her parents named her after Roman Polanski....
and Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón is a Spanish-Italian film actress.Best known for playing dramatic roles in Spain, Sánchez-Gijón is known in the United States for her portrayal of Victoria Aragon, a pregnant and abandoned Mexican-American winegrower's daughter who is helped by travelling salesman Paul Sutton ...
. It is based on the novel La Femme de chambre du Titanic by Didier Decoin
Didier Decoin
Didier Decoin is a French screenwriter and writer awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1977.-Biography :...
. The film is known variously by its French title, La Femme de chambre du Titanic, and also by the shortened English title The Chambermaid, which was adopted in late August 1998 to avoid the impression that it was trying to cash in on the success of James Cameron's popular film, Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, which was released the year before The Chambermaid on the Titanic made its US debut.
Plot
Set in 1912, the protagonist, Horty, lives an uneventful life as a foundry worker in the north of France. His wife, Zoe, is the most beautiful woman in the town and the owner of the foundry where Horty works, Simeon, lusts after her. One day, Horty wins a company athletic contest and is given by Simeon, as a prize, a ticket to SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
to see the sailing of the Titanic.
The night before the Titanic departs, he meets a beautiful young woman named Marie. Marie explains that she is a chambermaid aboard the Titanic but has nowhere to sleep because all of the local hotels are full. Horty allows her to sleep in his bed whilst he sleeps in the armchair. However, in the middle of the night Marie tries to seduce him. Whether or not she succeeds is ambiguous and she is gone when Horty awakes. When Horty returns home he finds he has been promoted but that rumors are circulating about an affair between Zoe and Simeon. Horty goes to a local bar to drown his sorrows. He tells an erotic fantasy about his night with Marie to his friends and co-workers at a local bar, earning him free drinks and tips.
Horty catches the attention of a traveling entertainer named Zeppe. Zeppe offers Horty the chance to escape his dismal dreary life. Horty agrees and begins to work with Zeppe, converting his story into a play. One night Zoe attends and Horty explains his tale as a work of fiction. However, Horty's story becomes more elaborate and romantic attracting a larger audience for each re-telling steadily driving a wedge between him and his wife. Eventually Zoe demands a part in the performance, playing the role of Marie poignantly fighting against the waves after the Titanic sinks. The film ends by revealing why Marie would sleep with Horty.
Cast
- Olivier MartinezOlivier MartinezOlivier Martinez is a French film actor. He became known after roles in several French films such as Un, deux, trois, soleil , which garnered him the César Award for "Most Promising Actor", The Horseman on the Roof , and The Chambermaid on the Titanic...
as Horty - Aitana Sánchez-GijónAitana Sánchez-GijónAitana Sánchez-Gijón is a Spanish-Italian film actress.Best known for playing dramatic roles in Spain, Sánchez-Gijón is known in the United States for her portrayal of Victoria Aragon, a pregnant and abandoned Mexican-American winegrower's daughter who is helped by travelling salesman Paul Sutton ...
as Marie - Romane BohringerRomane BohringerRomane Bohringer is a French actress, film director, screenwriter and costume designer. She is the daughter of Richard Bohringer and sister of Lou Bohringer. Her parents named her after Roman Polanski....
as Zoé - Aldo Maccione as Zeppe
- Didier Bezace as Siméon
- Jean-Marie Juan as Pascal
- Arno Chevrier as Al
- Salvador Madrid as Léon
- Marianne Groves as Mathilde
- Didier Bénureau as Siméon's secretary
- Alberto Cassadie as Giovanni
- Giorgio Gobbi as Manu
- Yves Verhoeven as Gaspard
- Vincenzo De Caro as Lacroix
- Stefania Orsola Garello as Mimi
- Barbara Lerici as Blanche
Reception
The Chambermaid on the Titanic received an 81% fresh rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 16 reviews. Mick LaSelle of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
praised Chambermaid for what he felt was a rare honest portrayal of male sexuality. He also called it "a tribute to longing itself" saying that that made it "unique." Bill Gallo of the Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...
called it "beautiful, complex [and] occasionally overwrought" and "a rich meditation on the uses of imagination and the power of desire". However, Stephen Holden of the New York Times felt that the film "never finds a visual vocabulary to match the elegance of its ideas". Richard von Busack of Metro Silicon Valley criticised some of the casting, finding Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón is a Spanish-Italian film actress.Best known for playing dramatic roles in Spain, Sánchez-Gijón is known in the United States for her portrayal of Victoria Aragon, a pregnant and abandoned Mexican-American winegrower's daughter who is helped by travelling salesman Paul Sutton ...
as Marie too obvious a temptress and never quite believing that Romane Bohringer
Romane Bohringer
Romane Bohringer is a French actress, film director, screenwriter and costume designer. She is the daughter of Richard Bohringer and sister of Lou Bohringer. Her parents named her after Roman Polanski....
as Zoe could have been unfaithful. However, he compared Chambermaid favourably to James Cameron's film Titanic saying The Chambermaid on the Titanic "is a smarter and far more elegant film" and that "it gets into the heart of the matter. The central question is not why did the great ship go down? but why do we love to tell stories about it?" Peter Keough of The Phoenix
The Phoenix (newspaper)
The Phoenix is the name of several alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts including the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix, the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Worcester Phoenix...
agreed saying, "[Chambermaid's] treatment of the same themes of love, catastrophe, and the redeeming power of fantasy is a lot more subtle and satisfying." Jeff Vice of the Deseret News was unimpressed with the film feeling that the ending was "contrived" and that many of the cast seem "unsure of [their] motivations". He also felt that "the set pieces are bound to pale in comparison to those in [James Cameron's film] Titanic."
Awards
- Goya Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayGoya Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayThe Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.-References:**...
1997 - Goya Award for Costume Design 1997
- Golden Pyramid 1997, Bigas Luna
- Best Director 1997, Cairo International Film FestivalCairo International Film FestivalThe Cairo International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Cairo, Egypt. It was established in 1976 and was the first international film festival held in the Arab world...
, Bigas Luna - CEC Award for Best Screenplay, adapted, 1997, Bigas Luna, Cuca Canals
- Turia Award for Best Actress 1998, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon