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Finally got to watch the sequel to one of my favorite movies, The Spanish Apartment, called Russian Dolls. As an aside, let me say that The Spanish Apartment is one of those movies that you will really enjoy if you are interested in studying abroad and gravitate towards all things European. If not, well then probably not. Russian Dolls, however, has the same characters - albeit a bit older - and in the movie they are facing a lot of the same issues everyone - Europeans, Asians, whoever - are facing after graduating from college and entering the working world. The sequel probably has a broader appeal but I think you can’t enjoy the Russian Dolls without first having been introducted to all of the characters in The Spanish Apartment. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed both.UPDATE: I found this review on Amazon.com in relation to The Spanish Apartment:

“The Spanish Apartment” (L’Auberge Espagnole) is what Xavier is in desperate need of when he arrives in Madrid to study Spanish and to immerse himself in the culture so as to follow his father’s footstep and become a Bureaucrat in a Paris-based firm that deals primarily with the Spanish.And what he finds is more than a proficiency in the Spanish language of course, he finds Love, he finds what appears to be lifelong friendship with his six roommates who come from all over Europe and ultimately…he finds himself. “L’Auberge Espagnole” then is about finding out, after twelve years of schooling, after listening to the where/the why’s/the who’s from a host of teachers…who we are, who is our core self, what are our dreams, what will we make of our lives?Pretty basic stuff, n’est pas? But director Cedric Klapisch has fashioned this film in such a way and inhabited it with such interesting and winning actors/characters that we are fascinated and entertained. It is a sunny, compassionate film without one mean bone in its body.”The Spanish Apartment” deals with the serious issues of relationships and self-realization. Klapisch has just chosen to present them in a truthful, emotionally available, particularly French and slyly humorous manner.

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