Your Guide to French Cinema
Year: 2009
Genre: Drama, Crime
Director: Jacques Audiard
Stars: Tahar Rahim
Un Prophète follows an imprisoned petty criminal of Algerian origin who rises in the inmate hierarchy, eventually becoming an assassin and drug trafficker.
This film was France’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film Award for the 82nd Academy Awards. The film hired real convicts as advisers and extras to ensure authenticity.
Year: 2007
Genre: Biography, musical
Director: Olivier Dahan
Stars: Marion Cotillard
La Vie en Rose is a biographical musical about the famous singer Édith Piaf. Starting with the singer’s childhood, the film follows the stars life up until the events surrounding her death.
Cotillard’s performance earned her many accolades, including the Academy Award for best actress. This marked the first time that an Oscar had been given for a French-language role! Édith Piaf is also one of the most well-known French singers, so watching this movie is an all-around must-see to learn about French culture.
Year: 1960
Genre: Crime, Drama
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg
À Bout de Souffle follows Michel, a man on the run from the authorities after committing a slew of petty crimes. After meeting a young American journalism student, he tries to persuade her to run away with him.
This film was one of the earliest and most influential examples of French New Wave cinema (click here to read more about this era.) At the time of its release, this film drew much attention thanks to its bold visual style. More than fifty years later, the film is still highly regarded and cited by Rotten Tomatoes as having “rewrote the rules of cinema.”
Year: 2013
Genre: Romance
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Stars: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux
La Vie d’Adèle follows the life of a young and confused French teenager whose life is turned upside down when she meets an aspiring painter. The film follows the relationship of the two girls through its ups and downs from teens to young adults.
For the first time in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d’Or was awarded to both the main actresses, and the director.
Click here to watch the trailer for La Vie d’Adèle
Year: 2012
Genre: Romantic-Tragedy
Director: Michael Haneke
Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emanuelle Riva, Isabelle Hupert
L’Amour follows the story of an elderly married couple, Anne and Georges. When Anne suffers a stroke that paralyses half of her body, the couples love is put to the test.
The film won the 2012 Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival. It is loosely based on real events.
Year: 1959
Genre: New Wave
Director: François Truffaut
Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier
The film focuses on a misunderstood adolescent from Paris struggling with his rebellious behaviour.
Les Quatre Cents Coups received numerous awards and nominations, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, the OCIC Award, and a Palme D’or nomination in 1959.
Year: 2011
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy
Moving yet light-hearted, Les Intouchables follows the story of a quadriplegic aristocrat who hires and befriends a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Les Intouchables received 8 nominations at the César Awards in 2012, and Omar Sy received the César award for best actor. He was the first French African actor to receive this honour. The film was also selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar for the 85th academy awards.
Year: 2011
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Stars: Bérénice Bejo, Jean Dujardin
Set in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932, The Artist focuses on the relationship of an older silent film star and a rising young actress during the decline of silent cinema.
The Artist received highly positive reviews from critics and many awards. The main actor, Dujardin, won the title of Best Actor at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and the film was nominated for 6 Golden Globes. It was also nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won 5.
Year: 1995
Genre: Drama, crime
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Stars: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui
La Haine follows 24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs a day after a violent riot. When one of the men is seriously mistreated while in police custody, he vows to kill the cop at fault.
The director was inspired to write the screenplay after one of his friends, a fellow kid from the projects, died in police custody. The movie has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Year: 2001
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz
Amélie is a young woman living in Paris with her own, quirky idea of justice. In deciding to help others, we’re taken on a remarkable journey where she discovers love, and much, much more.
Amélie is the highest-grossing French-language film released in the United States, and one of the biggest international successes for a French movie. It won the title of Best Film at the European Film Awards, four César awards in 2002, and was nominated for five Academy Awards.
The Best French Movies 