Skip to main content

The ultimate list of French movies



I guess that by now it has hit us all that we will all be going through some kind of containment in the next few weeks. Hard containment or soft containment depends on the circumstances but as more countries are implementing restrictive measures (you know sh*t is hitting the middle-eastern fan when you read bars and cafes are closing in Lebanon), it’s probably safe to assume we should all be looking for things to do at home.

I am not sure this is entirely related but over the last couple of weeks, two Saudis have asked me for recommendations of French movies to watch. I have the feeling a lot of you, dear Saudi friends, are movie buffs and I guess Hollywood gets most of your attention there, but I was quite pleased to hear French movies are all somewhere on your mind.

So I racked up my brain and came up with...

The ultimate list of French movies

Sorry, I am probably overselling this here, they are just movies I have enjoyed watching over the years, movies I would actually rewatch if given the chance. But out of honesty, I would admit I am not sure how easily you will be able to find them, let alone a subtitled version. You might be better than me at this, but I suppose the way to find them is to type the title and "streaming" (or "full movie") in google or to look them up in any platform you have access to.

A note of warning, I didn’t do any filtering based on religious or other restrictions (probably no French movie would survive such filtering), but I am indicating to the best of my memory when some movies might include scenes not suitable for children.

There you go. In no particular order

- Le hussard sur le toit (The horseman on the roof)
Really love this movie. A historical movie based on Jean Giono’s book. Action is set in 1832 in Provence during a cholera epidemic but somehow also an amazing love story. Juliette Binoche stars in it, one of her best roles (among many, many great roles).

- Indochin
Also one of my favorite movies. Also a historical movie. Action is set during the Indochine war. Catherine Deneuve stars in it. The movie won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1993.

- La gloire de mon père, le chateau de ma mère
Great movies to watch with kids (or if you have kept the kid in you alive and well). They are based on the books where famous French write Marcel Pagnol narrates his childhood in the early 1900s near Marseilles. They are really funny. For example, Marcel Pagnol had heard his parents say that his aunt and uncle were going to have a baby and since the couple was actually quite old to have their first child, little Marcel explained his little brother to expect a baby with a grey beard and grey hair.

- Jean de Florette, Manon des sources
Also based on books by Marcel Pagnol. Honestly those two movies are masterpieces, the closest French movies will get to Greek tragedy. Set in Provence at the turn of the 20th century.
Manon des sources launched the career of actress Emmanuelle Beart who appears naked in the movie (so be sure to keep the kids around you at bay when you are watching).

- Un air de famille
I like that movie which is a cute bittersweet comedy about a family, I wonder though how it translates. This was initially a play which was turned into a movie, by and with famous writer duet Agnès Jaoui/ Jean-Pierre Bacri. The story of a family who were supposed to do a family dinner, but not everything goes according to plan. Unexpected events highlight the pre-existing tensions between family members.
If you like it, I also recommend Le goût des autres

- Le diner de cons
Very popular French movie. Hollywood made a remake called “Dinner for schmucks”. A comedy written and directed by Francis Veber. The story of a group of men who organise every wednesday a dinner where they each have to bring along a schmuck. The one who brings the more flamboyant schmuck wins.
(If you like this style of comedy, you can also check out his other hits “La chevre”, “Les fugitifs”, “Les comperes” and “Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire”)

- La guerre du feu (Quest for fire)
1981 French-Canadian movie by director Jean-Jacques Annaud (the life of Pi) I haven’t watched it it a long time, but I remember being blown away when I watched it by the fact you can tell a story with dialogues nobody understands!

- Le nom de la rose
Also by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, with Sean Connery and Christian Slater, in English. The movie is based on Umberto Eco’s amazing book (one of the world’s best selling books). It is set in 1327. A monastery in the North of Italy is disturbed by the death of a monk, which leads to an investigation in the wider context of the Inquisition happening throughout Europe at the time.
Amazing movie, I wonder if it aged so well though.
A note of warning, the movie includes graphic scenes of death, as well as an adult scene which a number of my highschool friends at the time had found mm... very inspiring. In any case, keep the kids away.

- Nikita / Leon (the professional)
Action film aficionados, I hear you.
- Nikita is the movie by Luc Besson which inspired the TV series Nikita.
- Leon is an international movie, also by Luc Besson, in English. Natalie Portman’s debut. You probably already know that one.

- Taxi 1, Taxi 2, Taxi 3, Taxi 4
Silly comedies about a taxi driver who drives like a champ partnering with a cop in Marseille. My son loves those movies. The franchise that made Marion Cotillard famous in France.

- Diabolo menthe
A classic by director Diane Kurys, the coming of age story of 2 teenage girls in the 1960s in France. A movie everyone in France has watched at some point, and everyone knows the song by Yves Simon.

- Indigènes
The movie tells the story of 3 Algerians and one Moroccan, as they help free France from occupation at the end of the second world war.
Rochdy Zem (who has just won Best actor this year), Sami Bouajila, Samy Naceri and Jamel Debbouze are the main cast and they are fantastic.

- Joyeux Noel
The movie is about a true story of what happened one year at Christmas between French and German frontline during the first World War.

- Ne le dis a personne (Tell no one)
This thriller is the adaptation by director Guillaume Canet of a novel by Harlan Coben. Hold your breath.

- L’auberge espagnole
Very famous ensemble movie, a comedy about a group of young people participating in the famous Erasmus program which allows university students across Europe to be visiting students in universities abroad.
If you like it, you can also watch Les poupees russes, and Casse-tête chinois.

- 15 août
15th of August is a day off in France and usually the occasion to spend time with friends and relax. But 15th of August is not going to be a relaxing time this year for the three main characters of this comedy, three friends whose wives have decided to take off because they were tired of dealing with the kids alone. Your turn, guys!
Very funny movie.

- Sous le sable
A bit of an unusual movie with the always great Charlotte Rampling.

- Amelie
Does this movie still need to be introduced? If you haven’t seen it, now is a good time. Fabulous soundtrack by Yann Tiersen.
For those who love Audrey Tautou, also watch Hors de prix

For those of you who like thrillers, I’d recommend
36, quai des Orfevres (36th precinct, or Department 36)
Truands (very graphic violence scenes)
Le convoyeur
A bout portant

For those of you who might like contemporary French movies, let me throw in a few more
Monsieur et Madame Adelman
Ma vie en l’air
Le prenom
La buche
Paris
Ma femme est une actrice
Les gamins
Elle l’adore
Les femmes du 6e etage
Le gout des merveilles
20 ans d'ecart
La chance de ma vie
LOL
Un bonheur n'arrive jamais seul
Les invites de mon pere
La famille Belier

Overall, I could add a lot of other ones, the French cinema is very active, but I guess this has you covered for some time.

Oh actually, let me just advise you one German movie, well-deserved Academy Award winner of best foreign film in 2007. It’s called “Das Leben der Anderen”, a movie set in East Germany in the early 1980s before the Berlin Wall feel. A true masterpiece.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Arab growing in me

Sometimes people ask me why in the world I am so interested in Saudi Arabia. There are multiple factors but I know that one of them relates to my own childhood.   See, I am French, but I am not a Parisian. I grew up in a small village near the German border. Only later in my life, I moved to Paris. I dressed like a Parisian, acted like a Parisian, but deep down, I remained the girl from the small village. Now after a decade in Dubai, four days in Paris are really all I can take before the negativity and the judgmental idealism crawls under my skin.  Deep down, I am a girl from that small village and something in that quite conservative childhood clicks with Saudi Arabia.   Let me start by saying I didn’t like my childhood very much. Boredom was a huge part of it. As a child, I wasn’t interested in nature very much and it seems that’s pretty much all there was.   When I was a child, we would go to church a lot. There was a mass for children on wednesday...
1 comment
Read more

About the recent surge of Islamophobia in France

As a French living in a Muslim country, I have read a lot recently about France’s islamophobia. Friends have messaged me about it ever since Macron has announced his law on religious separatism. I read calls for boycott of French products.   What has fascinated me most these last few weeks is that the Muslim world does not seem to understand where the French islmaphobia is coming from and specifically what drives the recent surge. I read ridiculous theories according to which the UAE and Saudi Arabia were responsible. Well, aren’t they always responsible for everything, according to some? I realized that while things were quite obvious to me, maybe it was indeed difficult for people who are not French to read into the recent surge of Islamophobia.   So here is my attempt to explain. First, one has to respect the fact that France has gone through not one, but a whole series of deadly terrorist attacks in the last decade, and all of them were carried out by Muslim extremis...
Post a Comment
Read more

"We don't need help"

A few months ago, last time I was in Riyadh, I had this experience. It wasn’t meant to be an experience but sometimes findings are where you don’t expect them. I was in Riyadh and I saw on the map that the ministry of investment was not too far from my hotel. I thought I should take the chance to go and drop my resume.   I remember standing there looking at this big building, gathering my courage, telling myself I can do this. Once I was inside, I told a gentleman who was just walking by what I wanted and he told me where to go. I got lost a bit, but eventually found this young man at this desk. He was chatting with another young man, but they interrupted themselves to see what I wanted. I told them I was French, living in Dubai. I told them I wanted to drop my resume in case they needed someone. He said OK but he looked unconvinced. I got a copy of my generic resume out and I started highlighting a few parts here and there, the parts that were most interesting to them. ...
Post a Comment
Read more