In 2002, L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) introduced viewers to the character of French grad student, Xavier Rousseau (Romain Duris), as he attempted to find himself while studying abroad in Barcelona. Russian Dolls picks up Xavier’s story five years later as he enters his 30s and finds that he’s still as restless and ungrounded as ever. While Russian Dolls works fine as a stand-alone project, it gains greater depth with knowledge of the previous film.
As a student, Xavier ran away from responsibility. He left behind his family, girlfriend, and homeland to embark on a fresh adventure with no restrictions or expectations. He shared his liberating experience in Barcelona with a like-minded group of international students rooming in the same apartment, forging a bond that outlasted their school years. The end of the first film found him literally running away from conformist office employment to return to his freewheeling college lifestyle, proving that he wasn’t ready for any long-term commitment.
As Russian Dolls opens, we learn that Xavier has found some success as a hack screenwriter, although his heart isn’t really in it. He’s five years down the road but still drifting, especially in his relationships with women. Those relationships are the heart of the film, acting as a catalyst for his slow march toward maturity and commitment. Although he’s a fairly average man, he’s charming enough to rack up a long string of casual girlfriends in his quest for temporary satisfaction. They never stay in his life for long, and he doesn’t seem to mind as he has no problems finding new conquests. The only exception is his ex-girlfriend from the first film (Audrey Tautou), a woman who has remained a close friend in spite of their previous romantic relationship.
A chance wedding offers Xavier the opportunity to reconnect with all of his college roommates as they reassemble from throughout Europe for the event in St. Petersburg, Russia. Shockingly, the groom is the most obnoxious and unlikely of his former roommates, a boorish oaf who blossomed into a prince thanks to the love of his Russian bride. The clear implication is that if this guy could find true love and contentment, there’s something seriously wrong with Xavier and the rest of the former roommates if they can’t. Will Xavier ever find true love? Does he even want to, or is he content with his life as a player? The film equates his quest to Russian dolls, the toys that fit inside each other in progressively smaller versions, with each successive girlfriend acting as another outer shell in his search for the final prize at the end.
Article comments
1 - Mat Brewster
I saw L’Auberge Espagnole in France which was kind of surreal in that the languages were subtitled into French, except of course French but including English.
It freaked my mind out to hear french with no subtitles, and then hear english with french subtitles, which I still tried to translate with my broken understanding of the language, even though in reality I could have just listened.
I skipped the sequel as I was still in France and my brain had had enough.
2 - Scott Marcott
Great film, especially being filmed in Saint Petersburg Russia