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Favorite French Movies


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Hi all! I've come to realize that I don't know too much about French cinema, and that it would be good to watch more movies in French. I've seen Amélie, Un Conte de Noël, and Persepolis, but that's it. Any other recommendations? (It would be cool to watch a movie from Quebec too!)

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  • 4 weeks later...

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I find that a good way to discover new movies or songs, is to take the french director or the artist you know and look for their other work. Odds are if you like one you'll like more from the same person.

In this case, check out Jean-Pierre Jeunet, he directed Amélie and has done some great films in a similar style, but also other films in different styles.

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I have so many! I don't even know where to start. I am a big fan of French New Wave and directors like Jean Luc Godard and Chabrol (great if you like mysteries or thrillers). I love going to my library and checking out the international section and renting movies from them.

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Where to begin? French cinema is among the best in the world, and it's not all drowsy romances ans slapstick comedy (though that's quite good as well). One of my favorite filmmakers is Jacques Tati, but if getting aquainted with the language is the main goal he might not be a good choice, since there isn't much speaking on his movies. Some recent ones I've enjoyed are:

- 8 Fêmmes and Swimming Pool, by François Ozon, another favourite French filmmaker;

- Delicatessen and Un long dimanche de fiançailles, by Amèlie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, both on par, if not better, than that one;

- Mortel Transfert, one of my favourite dark comedies ever;

I think these are a good list. I'm sure someone will point you to some classics.

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  • 7 months later...

I must admit I'm not a big fan of french culture, but I really liked a french film  named ''La Horde''.  I'm a big fan of zombie movies and i must admit I had hadn't watched a scary zombie flick for a while, until I watched this one.  It was really scary and I loved it!  I loved how it started and ended.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would not say French cinema is one of the best, I would even say the opposite... But there are some exceptions that made me laugh hard, such as "Le dîner des cons", "Intouchable", "Taxi", and all the movies directed by Dany Boon like "Bienvenue chez les ch'tis" or "Supercondriaque".

But if you're looking for some "serious" movies you can watch "La rafle" (it made me cry), "Les rivières pourpres", or "Polisse".

French humor can be special (not as much as britsh one though), but those movies are worth it  :wink:

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  • 4 weeks later...

I agree with you!  I could say the same about french rap, lol.  So sorry fans of french rappers, but rap in french sounds so odd to me, kinda funny and silly, hehehe!  Their movies aren't the worst tho, I believe the movies from my country are far worse, which is sad because some decades ago our cinema was really good.  Now we no longer have idols, not like they did back when my mom was a little girl.

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  • 4 months later...

In our French institution here in Manila, they conduct free film-viewing every Wednesday night. I have watched some titles of different genres, such as drama, comedy, action and suspense thrillers. French films are of very good quality; there is complexity and appeal at the same time because you can relate to them

My favorite so far is 'Intouchables.' It is very funny, but heart-warming at the same time. My favorite suspense is 'Martyrs' because it is so disturbing.

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I am so glad this thread was created! I know being fully immersed in the culture is a big part of learning a language so that means music, movies, and television shows are a must! I have a list of French movies I currently am going to try and watch but was wondering if anyone else has watched them yet and is so how were they?

1. Timbuktu

2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour

3. Deux jours, Une Nuit (2 Days, 1 Night)

4. Un Monstre à Paris (A Monster in Paris)

5. Mommy

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  • 1 month later...

I don't remember much about it. I think it was called "La Jardin" about a farmer or botanist of some kind that murdered the son of the family living next door. It wasn't a very good movie, but I liked how easy it was to keep up with the words and situations. I haven't watched it since high school, but it's left an impression on me. My favorite animated french movie is of course "Un Monstre a Paris" which translates to a Monster in Paris. Now that I'm older and keep up with the faster paced words, it was nice to enjoy the musical movie.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi,

I didn't watch a lot of french movies, because I don't think that they make good films lol the only movie I watched and liked is "La vie d'adele" it's a movie about a normal girl that became lesbian, it's not too good but I think it's one of the best french movies .

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  • 1 month later...

I've seen Goddar's Pierrot le fou recently:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059592/

It's an absolute must watch. The cinematography is brilliant (wouldn't expect anything less from Goddar) and the movie is one of the best ''road'' movies I've seen.

it looks like very old movie, what is the story of this movie ? please let me know so if I like it I would like to watch it :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I haven't watched much of French cinema (not as much as I would think), however I've got the chance to see some really good films the past few days. I would say that my ultimate favorite would be 'La Vie En Rose'' the movie that shares the dramatic story of famous French singer Edith Piaf. My first French movie was Blue Is The Warmest Color, following up to that was Tomboy. Both of these films had been on Netflix, so why not? Thought they were both brilliant though. Oh and I've also been fortunate enough to see other movies like I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) which was a really entertaining movie about the conflict between a young son and his mother. I'm watching Amelie, but I stopped halfway towards the movie because I don't really see the buzz about it, it's kinda boring if you ask me (oops).

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  • 2 weeks later...

My favorite French movie is also the first one I ever watched! It's a musical called Les Chansons D'Amour. I'm not sure how, but a few years back I ended up stumbling upon this video of one of the songs from early in the film (there are subtitles but some of them are kind of off, just as a heads up). I'd never heard of a movie that talked about a three-way relationship before and enjoyed the song so I managed to find a copy online to watch. The subtitles that I found were absolutely terrible so I kept having a weird dissonance where what I got from the lines were different from what I was reading but besides that I found it a really fun but also sweet / heart-wrenching movie. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love the French cinema and think it's one of the best in the world. Most of the funniest comedies and most heart-breaking drams I've seen come from France.

My all time favourite French film is not really well-known and I find that a pity because it's absolutely amazing. A bit horrifying but amazing still :) It's called "A la folie pas du tout" and Audrey Tautou plays main part there. This is no Amélie, mind you, if it does look all rosy and cutesy and the beginning. It's more of a thriller actually and the most scary thing is that things like this do happen in real life.

I love François Ozon's films, someone already mentioned his "8 femmes" and "Swimming Pool". I can add "Cinq fois deux" to this,  though it did get me totally depressed :)

Then there are some amazing comedies that made my whole family laugh - "Tais-toi" with Jean Reno and Gérard Depardieu and "Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait à bon dieu?" with Christian Clavier. Actually, Christian Clavier is great actor. There are many funny comedies with him, as "L'enquête corse" or "Visiteurs". He also did great in "Napoléon" and "Les Misérables".

Also, there are many old French films that have become classic. I need to stop talking right now or else I'll never finish writing this post :) I'm so excited there are other people out there who like French cinema!

Edited by anna3101
Forgot to put titles of the films in bold
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We used to watch a huge amount of french film in my high school french classes.  Has anyone ever seen the film "La Boum"?  I adored that movie.  I think it was geared towards the typical french teenager.  It was hilarious.

We also watched a trilogy of french films based off of french books.  The first film was called "La Gloire de Mon Pere."  The series was about a little boy named Marcel.  His family had a home in the city, but they used to travel to a home in rural France during the warmer summer months.  I think I remember some sort of bear hunting scene or hiding in a cave.  Marcel also met a little girl while he was at their summer home.

I would check out that trilogy if you haven't yet!  Also, Amazon or Netflix have some foreign films, especially films from the Cannes Festival.  You always have to search for them, though.  They will never be "featured" movies on those sites.

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Haven't seem La Boum, was it fun? I'm always look for new French films to watch.

Another good one which I forgot to mention in my previous post is "On connaît la chanson". It's a great film, mostly funny, sometimes sad and with lots of wonderful music!

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  • 3 months later...

Alright I will list a few of them that I love.

Le retour de Martin guerre

La cage aux folles

L'aile ou la cuisse

OSS 117

These are comedies except for the first one and might not be what you are looking for but I can assure you that they are good. Oh one more: La vérité si je mens. :)

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Yeah it's with Jean Dujardin, the french guy that was in the artist and also he had a small part in the wolf of wallstreet. He plays a secret agent in it. It's a really great film and they actually made 2 of them, check them out !

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