It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Best movie ever!

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

My first from this Spanish director noted for his erotic films and, while this element is certainly at the forefront of his preoccupations here, it is presented in a generally restrained and tasteful way.The film's plot is an interesting, even original one: in 1912, a happily-married but poor French mine-worker wins a race and the once-in-a-lifetime prize he receives is to witness the historic launching of the ill-fated "Titanic". In the hotel where he stays for one night, he ends up sharing his room with a beautiful young girl who tells him that she will be working as a chambermaid on the ship. When he returns home - and especially after learning of the tragedy that befell the "Titanic" - he becomes obsessed with his memory of the girl and, to appease his curious and envious colleagues, he concocts stories of their various sexcapades in the hotel, on the docks and even aboard the ship itself! Of course, his devoted wife is not pleased when she learns about this (despite rumors that she had been unfaithful with her husband's boss in his absence!) but soon changes her mind when she realizes that the tall stories her husband tells in the local bar are turning a profit and have also made him something of a celebrity! In fact, they are subsequently visited by a traveling showman who specializes in tragic love stories revolving around historical calamities (such as the eruption of Vesuvius at the time of the Roman Empire) who proposes to take the couple under his wing, with the promise that the husband's monologues will eventually play in front of a wide audience in theatre houses across the country. And, as in every fable, it all comes true - except that one day the chambermaid, who is alive and well and not as pure as the husband professes, attends one of his performances...The twist ending is delightful, taking the plot's aura of fantasy, romance and nostalgia as far as it can go. Indeed, the entire film was a pleasant surprise for me and I will surely be renting on DVD two of the director's more typical 'carnal comedies' - THE AGES OF LULU (1990) and JAMON, JAMON (1992) - somewhere down the line...

As a new Olivier Martinez fan, I have clamored to get my hands on most of everything he's done. I bought this movie through Amazon.com along with 'Mon Homme' and 'The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone.'Anyway, this movie was very different from the very famous 'Titanic' movie made in 1997, as well. The story begins as Horty (Martinez) wins some kind of contest from his boss and he gets a free ticket to South Hampton to watch the Titanic set sail. When he arrives in South Hampton, he goes to the hotel he is staying at and is shown to his room. Suddenly, this chambermaid from the Titanic comes to his door and tells him that she has no where to stay and asks if she could sleep in his room for just the one night. Horty reluctantly, if I remember correctly that is, offers his room and his bed to the chambermaid while he tries to sleep in the chair. After they both settle down, she invites him into the bed just to sleep. He has this romantic dream about her, but when he wakes up she is already gone. He goes outside to watch the Titanic set sail, and sees that a photographer is taking her picture. After she walks away, he goes up to this photographer and asks to have her picture. When he comes home, his friends want to know what happened while he was there. He tells them that the chambermaid, named Marie, stayed in his room for the night. Obviously they were intrigued, and wouldn't believe that nothing happened between them. So, Horty gives in and starts to tell this elaborate story, making it up as he goes along. His wife overhears his stories, and believes that he cheated on her. He tells her that everything is made up and nothing happened. He eventually finds out that that Titanic sank, and figures Marie must have died. Somehow, this acting troupe comes along and wants Horty to make it into a play because he stories about the chambermaid named Marie are so popular in the town he lives in. He and his wife decide to go along and do it, because they need the money. One night as he's about to tell the story, he realizes that this person, Marie, is in the audience! I'll have to stop here, so I won't spoil it for you...This movie is a very good movie, and worth watching! It's not really even about the Titanic, the ship is in the details, but really its about Horty's fantasies about what could have happened the night he spent with a chambermaid named Marie.

Guidelines???Whilst perusing the SBS sex week movies, we stumbled accross this action classic. Giovanni steals the show with his cooky antics, he even manages to juggle 3 things. 3!!!Horty's classic line re: smelter works whilsts wooing the woman will be a moment that stays with me forever. No wonder he got to knick her pippy 12 times in one night. Aminal.I highly recommend this film for any prospective lover or artist. Be well, be shell

Perhaps one of the most intriguing stories to board the Titanic craze is this exquisite tale of a foundry worker and a chambermaid. Never actually setting foot on the famed vessel itself, the action centers on a night in a Southampton hotel the night before the ill-fated vessel left England for the first and last time. That night, roomless title maid Marie who works for the line not the hotel) knocks on the door of handsome Horty, who has won a contest at the French foundry where he works and is rewarded with a trip to see the eventful sailing. Because Horty's boss has eyes for his lovely wife Zoe, she remains at home, leaving Marie and Horty to their own devices. Horty returns home having been faithful, but is unsure if his wife has done the same. From then on, Horty's barroom revelations of his encounter with Titanic and maid become more and more embroidered. Both to anger Zoe and to please his audience, Horty's stories become nothing short of hallucinatory. After the liner's sinking, Horty's fate is sealed as a virtual one man show, relating what is now nearly all fiction, including his presence on the ship the night it went down.But the fickle hand of fate that took the Titanic to a watery grave has just as unexpected plans for Horty and Zoe, who now "plays" Marie in a full-length stage production of Horty's story. The final act of this impressive motion picture is just as dramatic and humbling in it's way as the story of the liner itself.Director J.J. Bigas Luna peppers this French language feature with water imagery, forshadowing the Titanic's fate and a crucial plot point for Marie and Horty. A letterbox video release is terrific except for that the subtitles are a bit small. See it on a bigscreen TV. Although, there's no sinking to gape at, the human drama is also of titanic size.