Audrey Tautou

Before she became Coco, the world-famous fashion designer, Gabrielle Chanel (Audrey Tautou in a fiercely determined performance) struggled to make ends meet. After her mother's death, her father deposited her and her sister, Adrienne (Marie Gillain), at an orphanage, where they learned to sew (and where Chanel developed a taste for monochromatic ensembles). They went on to become cabaret singers, but when Adrienne runs off with a wealthy suitor, the newly christened Coco must go it alone until she meets gentleman farmer Étienne Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde).

Xavier is back! We find him 5 years after L'auberge Espagnole, he is now thirty years old. An aspiring novelist, his greatest achievement is a co-credit on an over the top TV soap and his romantic life is equally disappointing. He has one meaningless romantic encounter after another and lines up a confusing series of jobs related to writing. A chance meeting could be the answer to his career and love life but Xavier's lack of direction and will power threatens to turn his good fortune to ultimate heartbreak.

An absolute delight, L'Auberge Espagnole captures a moment in a life, seemingly about nothing and everything all at once. Xavier (Romain Duris), a young Parisian not sure what his life is about, decides to spend a year in Barcelona studying economics--leaving behind his unhappy girlfriend (Audrey Tautou, AmÈlie) but joining an international mix of students in a hectic, crowded apartment.

Amelie, a shy waitress in a cafe in central Paris, is looking for love, and perhaps for the meaning of life in general. When she finds a box of childhood toys in her apartment, it inspires her to conduct a series of good deeds for her co-workers and neighbors. In doing so, she gradually finds the route to happiness by coming out of her shell and reaching out to others.