What are some great French films?
Les filmes serious.
My Night at Maud’s
Love in the Afternoon
A Nos Amours
Last Year at Marienbad
Diva
The 400 Blows if you haven’t seen it. Seminal gateway film into French cinema.
I think Kenji’s Essential French Films list covers pretty much everything you’ll need to know.
My sarcastic, unhelpful response would’ve been, “Well, I don’t know if any good films have really come out of France.”
Be serious? Oh…gosh…erm…trying to resist…
Well, I’m partial to “Le Samouraï” by Jean-Pierre Melville.
To be honest, I don’t rate a film like “Belle Du Jour” very highly, ditto “Contempt”.
But if you have the chance to see what most people consider to be classic French films, go ahead.
Next year I’d like to see more of the new French films at the local French Film Festival.
“Skirt Day” and “The Class” are great recent examples of French film, and they make ideal companion pieces.
Let a Renoir be your intro, or if you can find it, Abel Gance’s Napoleon. Both are directors of classic films and Napoleon is a good example of an insider’s view of a nation’s history. For Renoir, I recommend The Lower Depths (there is a Japanese version made by Akira Kurosawa; this is not what you are looking for, obviously, but both are excellent films), The Grand Illusion (a story of World War I from the French perspective) and Le Bete Humaine (I strongly recommend you start with this for Renoir, as it is an essential article of Poetic Realism, a style that branched into Film Noir.)
Anything by Jean-Pierre Melville
Anything by Jean Cocteau
Anything by Robert Bresson
Also:
The Three Colors Trilogy
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Last Year at Marienbad
La Haine
Breathless
The 400 Blows
Grand Illusion
The Rules of the Game
yada, yada, yada…
why don’t you join me in discovering Philippe Garrel, since I have yet to see one of his films. Someone on here said he does everything Wong Kar Wai does but ten times better, so I am intrigued.
Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet”, if your looking for something more recent. I can also recommend “The Beat That My Heart Skipped” and “Read My Lips”.
Dial beat me to it
If you want to know French Cinema
You gotta see Children of Paradise
Zero for Conduct
The 400 Blows
Les Vampires
Last Year at Marienbad
Rules of the Game
Pola X
Regular Lovers
The Intruder
Army of Shadows
Breathless
Contempt
Pickpocket
L’Atalante
Beauty and the Beast
Playtime
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Purple Noon
La jetée
Celine and Julie Go Boating
L’Enfance Nue- Maurice Pialat. This is how you debut.
Yes to Philippe Garrel, always.
Here are some more films, after 1965 :
“Playtime” by Jacques TATI
“Trouble Every Day” by Claire DENIS (and anything from her)
“Le grand amour” by Pierre ETAIX (worked with TATI and BRESSON)
By the way, Kieslowski and Bunuel aren’t french.
It is funny that french films before 1965 darken all the others…
(and excuse my english)
Le’Enfant, Breathless, The Three Colors Trilogy, A Prophet, The 400 Blows, and of course…. Cache by Michael Haneke (my favorite film)
Also, I second Caroline L… anything by Claire Denis is a must-see.
Dial and Simon have good taste.
Let’s not forget “That Obscure Object of Desire” (in French by a Spaniard) and “Man Bites Dog” (in French by three Belgians).
If we include Belgium now, i can add the 2 brothers"les frères Dardenne", with especially “Rosetta” and “L’enfant”. Social cinema but not the kind of Loach, which i don’t like. Shokcing, but clever and thoughtful.
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train
Out 1
La Commune (de Paris, 1871)
Film Socialisme
Lola Montes
Playtime
Un condamne a mort s’est echappe
Je t’aime Je t’aime
Judex
I can list a quite a few including many that have been mentioned so I am limiting myself to films that are less than 30 years old.
Varda: Gleaners & I, Vagabond
Assayas: Late August, early Septemeber, Sentimental destinies
Cantet: L’emploi du temps
Rohmer: Le rayon vert
Denis: No fear, no die, Beau travail
Dumont: L’humanite
Chabrol: Une affaire de femmes
Tavernier: Sunday in the country
Godard: Éloge de l’amour
Desplechin: Comment je me suis disputé… (ma vie sexuelle)
Haneke: Code Inconnu
Moll: With a friend like Harry
Jaoui: Taste of others
Kieslowski: Bleu
Miller: Class trip
Ozon: Sous le sable
Bresson: L’argent
Zonca: Dreamlife of angels
Pialat: Van Gogh
Resnais: Mon oncle d’Amérique, Same old song
Sautet: Un coeur en hiver
WAAAAY toooo mannnny
Cercle Rouge
Les Doulos
The Wild Child
Contempt
Hands off the Loot
Diva
Mr. Klein
Elevator to the Gallows
Beauty & the Beast
@Jaspar
Totally agree, but concur with cercle rouge, Les Doulos, Diva and Elevator, and would add
Clouzot ‘s Wages of Fear (1953) and Les Diaboliques (1955), and Vigo’s L’Atalante (1934)
Truffaut’s The Last Metro
Sans soleil
Au hasard Balthazar
L’Atalante
The Rules of the Game
Sundays and Cybele
The Children of Paradise
Last Year at Marienbad
The Mother and the Whore
The Green Ray
Playtime
The 400 Blows
The Double Life of Veronique
Every Night
The Sorrow and the Pity
Le Pont du Nord
Army of the Shadows
Apursansar knows what’s up! :D
Also,
La Belle Noiseuse
Pierrot le Fou
Love in the Afternoon
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday
Au revoir les enfants
Savvy
Melville and Buneul are both good. Also, Godard has released a lot of good ones such as:
1.Weekend
2.Breathless or Bout de Souffle
3.Alphaville
4.Band of Outsiders or Band a part.
Léon Morin prêtre
Le Silence de la mer
Quand j’étais chanteur
Feux rouges
Last Year at Marienbad
Sans soleil
Éloge de l’amour
Confidences trop intimes
La nuit du carrefour
Le feu follet
La Commune (de Paris, 1871)
Le trou
La Collectionneuse
La Femme infidèle
Les demoiselles de Rochefort
L’emploi du temps
Muriel
I forgot to mention Tati: Les vacances de M Hulot and Mon oncle
Asher
I’m not very up on my French cinema. What is some good stuff? Be serious, please.