ABSTRACT
The Spanish Apartment can be read in relation to European youth film and a long tradition of films from across the continent that have placed children, adolescents and young adults at the center of their stories. The Spanish Apartment is a Bildungsfilm, a coming-of-age film that traces the emotional, moral and sexual development of a young man. Looking more closely at the ecosystem of contemporary French cinema can place The Spanish Apartment within a dynamic network of films that privileges youth and youthful behavior and combines the stylistic tenets of auteur cinema and popular cinema. Many European directors, especially from France, have grown up in the aftermath of the 1968 student demonstrations and civil unrest that unfolded across the continent. These new directors propose works in which the problems of immigration and transnational identity formation are imagined and contested. Often, the adolescent is cast as a ‘hope for the future’ to provide an optimistic, utopian safety valve to release the pressure of previous generations and their current social struggles.
