The Chambermaid and the Titanic—* * * 1/2

Critic: Brandon Judell for Critics Inc. on America Online

"Water for Chocolate" meets "Titanic" in what should be the next big foreign film box office hit in the States. That it stars one of the few actors as beautiful as Leonardo DiCaprio won't hurt it chances.

Olivier Martinez first hit our aesthetic consciousness in "Horseman on the Roof," where he had to battle both a fatal epidemic and political assassins while wooing Juliette Binoche. He was riveting, possessing an almost feminine beauty interlaced with a seething masculinity. (He comes from a family of boxers.) The young man's been called France's "new Alain Delon," and the label is inarguably correct, unless you want to contend this characterization of the actor doesn't go far enough. But then every generation wants to believe their stars are the ultimate ones.

In "The Chambermaid and the Titanic," Martinez portrays Horty, an honest, naive foundry worker eking out a living for himself and his young wife Zoe (Romaine Bohringer). The two are in love, but their impoverished state has Zoe wanting a change. She desires a totally different, more prosperous lifestyle. Her wish gets answered in a way she never quite expected.

Horty wins his factory's annual race. The prize winds up being a trip for one to Southampton to see the Titanic off on her maiden voyage. There alone in a classy hotel in a country whose language he doesn't speak nor comprehend, the puzzled Frenchman winds up sharing his room with a beautiful French chambermaid (Aitana Sanchez Gijon) who is doomed to be working on the big ship.

The two never make love, but Horty's passion is kindled, and when he finally returns home and his buddies want to know what happened, the young man elaborates a little bit beyond the truth about his erotic couplings with the gorgeous stranger. His risque remembrances quickly become a nightly treat for the local townspeople. "Hey, let's go listen to Horty."

Dozens of fans suddenly become hundreds when the news of the Titanic hitting the iceberg hits Horty's village. His affair has now reached legendary proportions and he becomes a star for miles around, all of which doesn't exactly make Zoe totally happy.

Overwhelmingly romantic, subtly cynical, and constantly entertaining, "The Chambermaid and the Titanic" is a pure example of how to make a superb film for far less than $200 million.





DIRECTOR: Bigas Luna
CAST: Olivier Martinez, Romane Bohringer, Aitana Sanchez Gijon, Didier Bezace, Aldo Maccione, Jean-Marie Juan, Arno Chevrier
WRITERS: Bigas Luna, Cuca Canals, Jean-Louis Benoit
ADAPTED FROM THE NOVEL BY: Didier Decoin
ORIGINAL SCORE: Alberto Iglesias
MUSICAL PRODUCTION: Valerie Lindon
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Patrick Blossier AFC
EDITOR: Kenout Peltier
PRODUCERS: Yves Marmion, Daniel Toscan du Plantier (Goldwyn/UGC International)


GENRE: Comedy/drama RUNNING TIME: 1:39 RATING:


("The Chambermaid and the Titanic" was a highlight of the recent Miami Film Festival.)