A Parisian captain of industry learns that there’s much more to life than
turning a profit in Philippe Le Guay’s charming movie about friendship
across class and language divides. Set in 1962, The Women on the 6th
Floor centers on the transformation of third-generation stockbroker Jean-
Louis, husband of a brittle, insecure woman from the provinces and father
of two boarding-school brats. The self-centered businessman starts to
discover his altruistic side after he’s made aware of the inferior plumbing
and other, graver hardships endured by the half-dozen Spanish maids,
refugees from Franco’s regime, who live above him. Among the sextet is
recent arrival María, who stirs deep compassion in Jean-Louis, her new
employer, with her stories of working 15 hours a day as a teenager at a
tobacco factory back home. The kindnesses Jean-Louis bestows on his
new amigas, led by the marvelous veteran Spanish actress Carmen Maura,
do not go unreciprocated: They introduce to him to many Iberian
pleasures, including paella, Malaga wine, and coplas.
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