LES POUPÉES RUSSES

FRA / GB
2005
2hrs 05mins
Dir: Cédric Klapisch
Starring: Romain Duris and Kelly Reilly

Five years after their summer together in Barcelona, five friends reunite, and discover that their lives have only just begun

Les Poupées Russes (English: Russian Dolls) is a French-British comedy-drama film, the sequel to L’Auberge Espagnole (2002) and the second part of the Spanish Apartment trilogy, which is concluded with Casse-tête chinois (2013). As is becoming the norm with such films, a trip on the Eurostar between France and the UK is featured. There are some shots of Waterloo International station with Class 373 EMU sets in the platforms, but the journey to England is depicted with some rather good high-speed run-bys of Eurostar sets, including an exceptional over-the-camera shot, most unusual for such a film.

How about this for an opening shot to a film. A Class 373 Eurostar set passes over a camera at 186mph.
Filmed somewhere on the French side of the Channel, a Eurostar bursts out of a tunnel
A Eurostar set passes in the opposite direction and is about to enter what appears to be the same tunnel
An excellent shot of a Eurostar set arriving at London Waterloo International
And in this establishing shot of the platforms two further sets are seen
A shot of the ornate arch above the station’s main entrance