This TV report on a Portuguese doorman inspired the story for this comedy

Audience Award and Best Actress Award for Chantal Luby at the Alpe d’Huez Festival, the first film by Ruben Alves, Golden Cage Broadcasting on Monday, July 3, 2023 from 9:10 pm on France 3, this comedy, released in 2023, tells the story of a Portuguese couple: Maria Ribeiro, a concierge in a beautiful Parisian building, and her husband Jose, a location manager. . Highly regarded by their employers but not necessarily rewarded for their work, the duo see their situation change when they inherit a house and vineyard in Portugal. But neither the co-owners of the building where Maria works, nor Jose’s boss, nor his immediate family want to let this helpful couple slip away. Then they double down on tricks to convince Ribeiro’s husbands to stay in France…

This is the TV report that inspired the story of the comedy The Golden Cage

Ruben Alves signs with him Golden Cage A subtle social comedy that deals with the subtlety and lightness of uprooting. The icing on the cake: the cast in the movie are irresistible, starting with Chantal Luby. And the dialogues suck! The 43-year-old screenwriter and director (who has since signed on for another movie, Mrs. in 2020) This first feature film was inspired by his personal story, but also by watching TV. He explains in the press kit about Comedy Golden Cage : “I saw a report on a Portuguese concierge in Paris, in the beautiful districts. I explained her life to her, and what she had done. To his last question, the journalist asked her if she intended to return to Portugal some day, after thirty-five years. She replied that in fact she was thinking of returning to Her homeland, but she also felt comfortable in her little golden cage… Her answer crystallized everything I wanted to say. But speaking of something I knew intimately since I was born in France to Portuguese parents. My parents came to France at the age of eighteen, leaving poverty and Portuguese fascism behind My father worked odd jobs, always on construction sites, and my mother was a cleaner.”.

A comedy that became a hit in Portugal

Of Portuguese descent and therefore the son of a watchman, Ruben Alves wanted to mix great Portuguese and French actors in his film. The Portuguese plays the Portuguese on the screen, and so the audience with pleasure discovers the actors Joaquim de Almeida and Rita Blanco in the shoes of the Ribeiro couple. Note that with 750,000 spectators, Golden Cage It is the most successful French film in Portugal! The movie was also a hit on the TV side since it aired in 2015 on TF1, finishing first on the podium with 5.9 million viewers.