Any French movies to recommend?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/6/11 at 11:50pm

I just watched the movie Paris tonight, starring Juliette Binoche, and loved it. I haven't seen an enormous amount of French movies, but they're so different from American films, Hollywood or independent.

In an attempt to broaden my horizons further, I'd welcome any viewing suggestions!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:16am

I absolutely love Ma Saison Preferee (My Favorite Season) with Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Autiel (I think thats the right spelling. An absorbing family drama about a brother and sister.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:20am

I just saw Catherine Deneuve on Charlie Rose a week or so ago and fell in love with her sophistication...she sparked off my latest obsession! Thanks for the suggestion.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:26am

Catherine has made many great films but also plenty of duds-get recommendations or read reviews before watching her filmography. :) Enjoy.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:27am

Last week I watched I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG and found it a really remarkable film.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:32am

Oh, I second that Jordan. I just bought that film. Remarkable indeed.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:35am

Also, if you are interested in checking out Deneuve's films, I'd suggest starting with BELLE DU JOUR.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 7:05am

Speaking of Denueve, her new film Potiche is wonderful.

My advice would be to start with the classics: Le Passion de Jean d'Arc; La Belle et La Bete; A bout de souffle; Jules et Jim; Band of Outsiders.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 9:43am

Definitely:

Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast."
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Forbidden Games
Day For Night
La Vie En Rose
The 400 Blows
Jean de Florette
La Cage Aux Folles


Also recommended:
The Young Girls of Rochefort
The Wild Child
Amelie
A Very Long Engagement
Cyrano de Bergerac (Depardieu)
Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus"
Diva

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 09:43 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 10:07am

Great list, Besty.

I also love THE LAST METRO, which is about a theater company and also stars Deneuve and Depardieu, and QUEEN MARGOT, starring the stunningly beautiful Isabelle Adjani.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 10:45am

I enjoyed La Vie En Rose, but I'm shocked nobody has mentioned Diabolique. It is THE French film.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 10:59am

Oh, and THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 11:48am

To me, the top of any list of French films should be Les Enfants du Paradise. Watching it is one thing, but the history of the making of the film is astonishing.

Trois Couleurs: Bleu/Blanc/Rouge (Bleu is my favorite in the
series, but they are all wonderful).
Delicatessen
8 Women
Cache
Ma Vie en Rose (not to be confused with La Vie en Rose)
City of Lost Children
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie
Au Revoir Les Enfants
Breathless
Indochine
Les Enfants Terribles
Pickpocket
Mon Oncle
Diary of a Chambermaid

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 11:48 AM

[sabrelady]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:09pm

Ma Femme est un actrice (FR & Eng) is a fav of mine.

More recently The Diving Bell and the Butterfly- Schnabel does some beautifuly coloured scenes.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 12:20pm

I'll second THE LAST METRO -- a film of great beauty and warmth, a delight in every way.

I'll add Jean Renoir's RULES OF THE GAME, available in a gorgeous Criterion DVD, a picture of French high society at play, warts and all. May be the greatest film ever made.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 1:35pm

Chronologically:

First half of the 20th century
Georges Méliès - A Trip To The Moon
Jean Renoir - Boudu Saved From Drowning
Jean Cocteau - La Belle et la Bête

French New Wave
Jean-Luc Godard - Breathless
François Truffaut - The 400 Blows
Jean-Pierre Melville - Le Samourai

Post New Wave
Jean-Jacques Beneix - Diva
Jean-Pierre Jeunet - City Of Lost Children and Amelie
Jacques Tati - Playtime
Gaspar Noe - Enter The Void

The impact of French cinema (with all it's various movements and sub-categories) cannot be overstated. The New Wave alone is arguably the most influential period in world cinema. It's influence on modern Hollywood is profound.

There is an unmistakable through line of experimentation and avant-garde techniques which runs from Méliès' pioneering early special effects to Jeunet's surreal worldview.

Even the New Wave was a rebellion against the standard narrative form popularized by classic Hollywood.

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 01:35 PM

[chris d]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 4:45pm

I highly recommend Godard's "WEEKEND." just an amazing movie.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 7:30pm

Thanks, I'm going to try and watch as many of these as I can.
Belle du Jour will be my next purchase!

[canmark]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 7:50pm

A random selection:

Amelie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211915/)
Les Triplettes de Belleville (http://www.sonyclassics.com/triplets/)
L'homme de sa vie/Man of my life (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462683/)
Paris, je t'aime (http://www.firstlookstudios.com/pjt/)
Cache (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387898/)
C.R.A.Z.Y. (French-Canadian) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401085/)

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 07:50 PM

[Icehouse Life]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 8:09pm

I'll throw in La Haine (Hate) and Entre Les Murs (The Class). Both French films deal with a young, multicultural France, notably blacks and Arabs, though the latter is grittier and angrier. La Haine played an important part in developing a love and curiosity towards French rap musice, which continues to this day. Entre Les Murs, winner of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or, the first French film in 21 years to win it, is a film adaptation of Francois Beagadeau's book that acts as a diary of his days as a schoolteacher before being a writer.

[wonkit]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 8:46pm

A Man and A Woman (Un Homme et Une Femme).

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/8/11 at 2:38am

La Princesse de Cleves, but good luck finding it.

The Marius, Fanny, Cesar trilogy, and anything else Marcel Pagnol ever wrote made into film -- there's more.
La Princesse de Cleves

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/8/11 at 2:05pm

Jean de Florette is one of the most touching, fantastic movies I've ever seen, not evening counting that it's a French movie. I highly recommend it!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/8/11 at 9:44pm

Elevator To The Gallows - B/W Homage to Hitchcock

Just finished watchng A French Gigolo & it was very entertaining

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 4/9/11 at 1:02am

La Boume