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...

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.

In Lorraine, the worker Horty (Olivier Martinez) wins an internal competition promoted by Simeon (Didier Bezace), the owner of the foundry where he works, and the prize is a travel to Southampton alone to see the departure of the Titanic. Once in the hotel in England, a woman called Marie (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) knocks on his door telling that she is a chambermaid of the Titanic and the hotel is completely booked and she has no place to stay. Horty invites Marie to share his room; on the next morning, Marie is gone but Horty gets her picture with a street photographer. When Horty returns to his French town, he is promoted and his colleagues insinuate that his wife Zoe (Romane Bohringer) had had an affair with Simeon. The upset and jealous Horty goes to a bar with his friends and while drinking, he shows the picture of Marie and tells erotic fantasies about his one nightstand with her. His erotic tales become famous, drawing more and more people in the audience every night in the bar and changing the sexual lives of his friends. His fame reaches the actor Zeppe (Aldo Maccione) that proposes a business with Horty.

"La Femme de Chambre du Titanic" is a totally original romance that blends the tragedy of the Titanic with the lives of ordinary people, developing an intriguing and erotic love story. The truth about the night of Horty and Marie is disclosed only in the very end, and the viewers are never sure whether Horty is fantasizing because he believes Zoe has betrayed him, or if his affair with Marie had really happened. Surprisingly there are bad reviews in IMDb about this good film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Camareira do Titanic" ("The Chambermaid of the Titanic")