# Suggest some very good French movies.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 30, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250 "2013-06-30T08:57:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ombre12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre12)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/1 "2013-06-30T08:57:56Z")
Was a French Lit major in college. (No money in it, so I ended up going to night school in A/C Refrigeration and that’s how I made a living.)
Anyway I still remember a lot of French. The problem is I was a Lit major, so mostly I just read French, and my reading ability in French is much better than my aural or my spoken French.
I can understand spoken French if is spoken slowly and without a lot of slang. Problem I have had on my rare visits to France is that i have a hard time understanding what is spoken fast…Parisians are the worst. Talk as fast as New Yorkers.
Would like to improve on that by watching French movies from Netflix. Problem is most French movies are boring as hell…at least for an American.
So name me some outstanding French movies, movies that will blow my socks off…
S’il vous plait.
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/2 "2013-06-30T09:22:12Z")
Off the top of my head:
[Jean de Florette](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091288/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1) and [Manon of the Spring](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091480/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1) (basically, two parts of one story).
[The Wages of Fear](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046268/) (although you might find the ending a bit too over the top).
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### Author:  [@Batistuta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batistuta)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/3 "2013-06-30T09:27:49Z")
Well yes, you’ll find most French films boring. They are very much into the more intellectual, philosophical films with little action and a lot of thinking. If that’s not your cup of tea, you’ll be missing out on many good French movies. But anyway, here is a short list of the ones I have seen:
-Amelie: a must-watch. Truly beautiful film; it’s very hard to describe the plot but I haven’t met anyone who didn’t like it.
-L’Illusionniste (the Illusionist): a short animated film. It is French and it is a great film, BUT there is no dialogue, and it is set in Scotland. So you won’t learn much about France or its language.
-Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly): I actually discovered this one on Netflix. It’s about the former editor of Elle magazine who suffered from lock-in syndrome. His brain functioned perfectly but all of his body - apart from his eyes - was paralized. I loved it, but once again it’s a very intellectual, action-less film. Very experimental too.
-La Haine: A classic from the 1990s, it deals with the situation in the French banlieues, full of immigrants and devoid of economic development. Despite the depressive environment, it’s quite entertaining.
-Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions): This one is not French, but Canadian. But the language is French. It’s a sequel to a previous film, but can be watched on its own. I thought it was a fantastic film about the issue of mortality, and even I could understand the beautiful Quebecois French.
-Entre les Murs (The Class): set in a French public school, also full of immigrants and plagued by all sorts of problems. It focuses on one teacher and his relationship with one class; I found the interplay of all the different characters to be excellent. However, don’t expect understandable French - these are teenagers spouting slang word after slang word.
OK, that is all I have for you. Enjoy!
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/4 "2013-06-30T09:56:27Z")
If you like thrillers the French do them very well.
[Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362225/combined)
[Monsieur Hire](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097904/combined)
[Caché (Hidden)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387898/combined)
and
[De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411270/combined)
are all pretty good.
And they’ve made plenty of good action movies.
[La Femme Nikita](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100263/combined)
[Dobermann](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118996/combined) has great car chases
[Le pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/combined) is a pretty good weird werewolf movie.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/5 "2013-06-30T10:05:22Z")
Luis Bunuel, a Spaniard, made lots of great movies in French, like _The Phantom of Liberty, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie_ and _Belle de Jour._
Less art-snobby are some wonderful animated films, like _Fantastic Planet_ and _The Triplets of Belleville. La Femme Nikita_ was a kick-ass action film that only got art-snobby at the very end.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/6 "2013-06-30T10:08:07Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> Le pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) is a pretty good weird werewolf movie.
I’d say it was a witty French take on the conventions of the American superhero/action hero genre, right down to the faithful Indian companion.
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### Author:  [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/7 "2013-06-30T10:17:22Z")
There’s been some good French prison/gangster films recently.[Un Prophète (A Prophet)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prophet) is one, and the two parts of [Mesrine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesrine_(2008_film))are another. Both are far from boring, and compare favourably to American films in the same genre.
Something completely different I saw recently was [Dans La Maison (In The House)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_House_(film)), which is a somewhat arty comedy, and _very_ French, if than makes sense. Pretty entertaining though, and rather though-provoking.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/8 "2013-06-30T11:23:59Z")
I always loved **The Return of Martin Guerre (_Le Retour de Martin Guerre)_**. I don’t think it’s available on Netflix, though, which is odd.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/9 "2013-06-30T11:28:18Z")
While you wait for Netflix to get its act together with the film I just mentioned, do enjoy **The Hole (_Le Trou_)**, a gripping 1960 prison escape film (which also shows how the French know how to eat well and look cool even in a jail cell…at least they did back in 1960!).
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/10 "2013-06-30T11:29:56Z")
[Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenue_chez_les_Ch%27tis) is very funny, though you’ll need subtitles to understand some of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais accents.
I liked [La bûche](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season%27s_Beatings) too, about a somewhat dysfunctional family at Christmas.
And there’s nothing to beat [Jacques Tati](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Tati)’s movies, though they don’t have a lot of dialogue.
For less serious comedies, you could watch some of the Asterix movies: I’ve seen [Astérix & Obélix contre César](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_%26_Obelix_Take_On_Caesar) and [Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_%26_Obelix:_Mission_Cleopatra), but there are two later ones that I’d like to see.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/11 "2013-06-30T13:16:48Z")
If you are feeling a bit snobby, go for some Godard. My favorites are [À bout de souffle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathless_%281960_film%29) and [Bande à part](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bande_%C3%A0_part_%28film%29). If you find them boring, you can just forget about the plots and just stare at Jean Seberg and Anna Karina, respectively.
Also, no one should miss out on Kieślowski’s _[Three Colors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Colors_trilogy)_ trilogy (although the middle one is mainly in Polish, the first and third are in French). Again, if you’re bored, just zonk out and stare at Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy and Irène Jacob.
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### Author:  [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/12 "2013-06-30T13:29:36Z")
[Jésus de Montréal](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097635/) is an outstanding film.
[Le déclin de l’empire américain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090985/?ref_=sr_1) is another great film by the same director, Denys Arcand. It is the film to which ' **Les Invasions Barbares** is a sequel.
[Le Confessional](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112714/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3) is a wonderful, convoluted story that is partly an hommage to Hitchcock, and partly Robert LePage’s interesting view of present day Québec.
Speaking of which, [Les Boys](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118764/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) is a great romp through the adventures of a Québec amateur hockey team.
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### Author:  [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/13 "2013-06-30T13:37:25Z")
These are three of my favorite French directors. Melville and Malle are all time greats, and Assayas is current. Watch all of these guys’ films. :
> **[Olivier Assayas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Assayas)**
>
> Olivier Assayas (born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his slow-burning period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs and French comedies. His work has become associated with the film movement known as the New French Extremity, and he has frequently collaborated with Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart. The son of filmmaker Jacques Rémy, Assayas began his career as a critic for Cahiers du Cinéma. There he wrote about world cinem...
> **[Jean-Pierre Melville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Melville)**
>
> Jean-Pierre Melville (French: \[mɛlvil\]; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are Le Silence de la mer (1949), Bob le flambeur (1956), Le Doulos (1962), Le Samouraï (1967), Army of Shadows (1969) and Le Cercle Rouge (1970).
> While with the French Resistance during World War II, he adopted the pseudonym Melville as a tribute to his favorite American author Herman Melville. He kept it as his stage name once the war was over. ...
> **[Louis Malle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Malle)**
>
> Louis Marie Malle (French: \[lwi mal\]; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down", Malle made documentaries, romances, period dramas, and thrillers. He often depicted provocative or controversial subject matter.
> Malle's most famous works include the crime thriller Elevator to the Gallows (1958), the romantic drama The Lovers (1958), the Wo...
Other movies:
Tomboy (2011)
Time Out (2001)
Enter The Void (2009)
L’Enfance Nue (1968)
All that should get you started! That list doesn’t include a lot of the bigger names (Resnais, Renoir, Tati, Godard, etc) on purpose. After the US, I believe the French have the largest collection of great films. Some could argue more.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/14 "2013-06-30T13:49:16Z")
I’m a fan of the more dark, fantastic, or absurdist stuff, so I’d suggest Man Bites Dog, City of Lost Children, and Delicatessen. “Man Bites Dog” is simply one of my favorite movies: to sum it up, it’s a mockumentary of a serial killer; think _Spinal Tap_ meets _American Psycho_.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/15 "2013-06-30T13:52:50Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#):
>
> Also, no one should miss out on Kieślowski’s _[Three Colors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Colors_trilogy)_ trilogy (although the middle one is mainly in Polish, the first and third are in French). Again, if you’re bored, just zonk out and stare at Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy and Irène Jacob.
And I would absolutely second this. The order is _Blue_, _White_, and then _Red_. Just try out _Blue_ to see if it speaks to you. But if you go on, I would continue seeing them in order, even though _White_ is mainly in Polish (though there is some French in it.)
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### Author:  [@ombre12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre12)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/16 "2013-06-30T14:05:14Z")
Wow. Fast response. Too many to write down. Will just print this out.
Merci.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/17 "2013-06-30T14:13:13Z")
I really like many of these suggestions - I will add two:
- Ridicule - set in the time of the Sun King, I believe, it shows how over-the-top French society was and how one man who is trying to do good for his town and comes to Paris for governmental support has to deal with all the soap-opera silliness that was a fact of the ruling class.
- Henri, le chat noir (mobile link): [Henri - YouTube](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0M7ibPk37_U&feature=plpp) c’est magnifique! 😉
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/18 "2013-06-30T14:26:21Z")
If you watch _Amélie_ and find yourself having the hots for Audrey Tautou and/or Jean-Pierre Jeunet, I’ll also recommend [A Very Long Engagement.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344510/)
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### Author:  [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/19 "2013-06-30T14:27:55Z")
“Elisa” with Vanessa Paradis and Gerard Dépardieu.
“Noce Blanch” whith Vanessa Paradis.
“La Fille Sur Le Pont” Vanessa Paradis & Daniel Auteuil.
“Nathalie” - Fanny Ardent, Emmanuelle Béart, Gerard Depardieu.
From the same source as “Three Colours”:
The “Heaven”, “Hell” and “Purgatory” trilogy.
“Heaven” is actually in Italian (Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi). “Hell” is in French (Emmanuelle Béart, Marie Gillian)
“Purgatory” - unfortunately there only appear to be some Polish ‘bootleg’ copies as it was never finished due to the death of Krystof Kieslowski.
“Jacquou Le Croquant” with no-one you ever heard of - intentionally, although Gaspard Ulliel supposedly recieved some wider recognition later and Bojana Panic is well known in modelling circles.
“Giorgino” with Jeff Dahlgre, Mylène Farmer, Joss Ackland. Made by Laurent Buttonat, as is the previous one.
He made his name along with MylèneFarmer for producing the most amazing music videos toaccompany Mylène’s songs, for which he also writes most of the music.
All available on YouTube.
Try [_Sans Logiqe_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CokOcBAjLEM)
And to second the suggestion of “Jean De Florette & Manon Des Sources”. Excellent films both.
La Femme Nikita was very much better than I expected too. Incomparable to the American series.
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### Author:  [@lew\_cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lew_cody)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-very-good-french-movies/662250/20 "2013-06-30T14:34:17Z")
There are also some excellent French silent films now available–not that they’ll help you improve on spoken French, but they can help refresh your mind on the written variety. Flicker Alley has just released a collection of five from the Albatros company:
[http://www.flickeralley.biz/index.php?option=com\_content&view=article&id=107&Itemid=56](http://www.flickeralley.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107&Itemid=56)
As for talkies, there are of course the René Clair musicals–_Sous les toits de Paris, Le Million, À Nous la Liberté_. Also Marcel Pagnol’s Fanny trilogy–_Marius, Fanny, César_. And _La grande illusion._
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