French Movie Recommendations — July Edition
Compilation of French movies which will not just provide daily entertainment, but will also help you learn French and increase your ability to grasp the language
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Day 1: DiaboliqueDay 2: Le Salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear)Day 3: VioletteDay 4: La CommuneDay 5: Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle)Day 6: Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live)Day 7: La Cage aux FollesDay 8: InnocenceDay 9: Un prophète (A Prophet)Day 10: Le Million (The Million)Day 11: Cyrano de BergeracDay 12: Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement)Day 13: Jeux d’enfants (Love Me if You Dare)Day 14: Mesrine: Killer InstinctDay 15: Mesrine: Public Enemy #1Day 16: 13 TzametiDay 17: La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher)Day 18: Les Bien-aimés (The Beloved)Day 19: Le HavreDay 20: JCVD (Van Damme)Day 21: Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One)Day 22: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of SpiesDay 23: Indigènes (Days of Glory)Day 24: Coco Before ChanelDay 25: Camille Claudel 1915Day 26: Heartbreaker (L’Arnacœur)Day 27: Prête-moi ta main (I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single)Day 28: Les Contes de la Nuit (Tales of the Night)Day 29: Ma part du gâteau (My Piece of the Pie)Day 30: Comme une Image (Look at Me)Day 31: Holy MotorsConclusionBonjour tout le monde! I am here again to give you another compilation of French movies which will not just provide daily entertainment, but will also give you an insight into the world of French cinéma.
At this point, you may already be becoming familiar with what distinguishes French cinema from the films of other cultures. I’d love to add to this, however, by providing you with another 31 movies, one for each day of July!
Day 1: Diabolique
Directed by: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Written by: Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jérôme Géronimi
Year: 1955
The story revolves around a provincial boarding school run by a sadistic headmaster, Michel Delassalle. After being murdered by his wife and mistress, strange events begin to plague the school, but what is their origin?
This film might be an old one, but there are no thrillers like Diabolique. Critics regard this movie as superior to many comparable psychological thrillers because of its unusual attention to characterisation and the physical details of the setting. With its unpredictable narrative twists and horrifying images and ambiance, this film brought its director, Henri-Georges Clouzot, universal acclaim and made him the legendary “French Hitchcock”.
Day 2: Le Salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear)
Directed by: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Written by: Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jérôme Géronimi
Year: 1953
Another movie created by the legendary “French Hitchcock”, Le Salaire de la peur. The Wages of Fear is a 1953 French film noir based on Georges Arnaud’s novel about the lives of the men who transport explosives for oil companies. The movie is purposely divided into two halves. The first, more slow paced half, explores the motivations of such men, and the greed and exploitation that entrap them. The second part is a tense and suspenseful rollercoaster as the men drive through the mountains with their precarious cargo.
Tough and cynical, the film is ahead of its time in showing the brutal tactics of oil companies in developing countries. It is not an easy watch; money is shown as the primary motivating factor for all protagonists, but it’s a compelling film that will have you on the edge of your seat nonetheless.
Day 3: Violette
Directed by: Martin Provost. Written by: Martin Provost, Marc Abdelnour and René de Ceccatty.
Year: 2013
Now to a more contemporary movie, Violette is a French biographical drama about the formation of the French novelist Violette Leduc.
In particular, it portrays the relationship between her and the renowned philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, and how the lives and ideas of these two important women influenced each other. This biopic presents issues such as sexuality, abortion, homosexuality, self-identity and women’s insecurities. This movie is not just beautifully crafted and executed, but the exceptional acting and story plot will also captivate your heart.
Day 4: La Commune
Directed by: Peter Watkins
Written by: Peter Watkins
Year: 2000
A critical and audacious film, La Commune is an unusual documentary-style, historical drama about the legendary Paris Commune of 1871. Peter Watkins, a noted filmmaker and critic, explores the fractured French political system in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War in his epic (nearly six-hour original version) film. Although this movie was greatly criticized for the unorthodox format it uses, the thought-provoking ‘breaking news’ style will take you back to the history of the revolutionary euphoria and of the radicalization of the working class in Paris. Moreover, this film presents a cynical critique of modern media and our contemporary perspectives of French society.
Day 5: Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle)
Directed and written by: Jean-Pierre Melville
Year: 1970
Le Cercle Rouge is a 1970 French film about a former prisoner, an escaped convict, and an alcoholic former cop getting together to pull off an elaborate jewellery heist. However, Police inspector Mattei (Bourvil) will use all means at his disposal to stop them.
This volley of action, stunts, running, physical dexterity and frantic chases has one cool scene after another. On top of this, this masterpiece is more than a story of heists and crimes: as Michael Mann would later emulate, the film examines the nature of crooks, and the men who hunt them down. More than just a thriller, this is a meditation on machismo, and a clear influence on contemporary directors such as Quentin Tarantino.
Day 6: Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live)
Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard
Written by: Jean-Luc Godard, drawing on Marcel Sacotte’s research
Year: 1962
An exploration of a Parisian woman’s descent into prostitution, Vivre Sa Vie is composed of twelve distinct episodes, each presented with an introduction and brief summary, about the life of Nana (Anna Karina).
This innovative use of sound and vision is a clever device the director uses to explore the outwardly beautiful but flawed and exploitative consumerist culture of that time in Paris: a seedy world of cinemas, coffee bars, neon-lit pool halls, pop records, photographs, posters, pinball machines, jukeboxes, foreign cars, etc., etc… The film is not just an unsettling critique of the sex-trade, it’s an existentialist exposition of the materialistic life that the world is currently living.
Day 7: La Cage aux Folles
Directed by: Édouard Molinaro. Written by: Édouard Molinaro, Francis Veber, Jean Poiret and Marcello Danon, based on Jean Poiret’s play.
Year: 1978
Be gay and fabulous while watching this comical, international sensation depicting the hilarious events that occur when a gay man attempts to pose as a straight one for the sake of his son’s future. Will they be able to pull it off and impress the arch-conservative parents of his son’s fiancée? Find out by watching La Cage aux Folles! The film was followed by two sequels: La Cage aux Folles II (1980) and La Cage aux Folles III (1985).
Day 8: Innocence
Directed and written by: Lucile Hadžihalilović
Year: 2004
How would you describe your childhood memories? It is probable that you were living with your family, studying in schools like the other children in the neighbourhood, and playing freely, in short, you lived a perfectly normal life: unlike the girls in this surreal movie Innocence. You might be confused at first about why a (living) six-year-old girl arrives inside a coffin but that is only one of the mysteries to uncover in this dark gothic fairy-tale. The girls arrive at this isolated boarding school for reasons that remain unexplained. They are kept in a remote boarding school under the governance of two teachers, and mainly taught and trained in ballet and biology. They are ranked according to their age, which is shown through ribbons in their hair. But why?
Day 9: Un prophète (A Prophet)
Directed by: Jacques Audiard
Written by: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit
Year: 2009
Another award-winning movie, A Prophet showcases a great story about Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), a young petty criminal caught between Arab and Corsican prison groups. He arrives in the jail entirely alone and, because of his young age and ignorance, disadvantaged. However, his initiation into Corsican and Muslim subcultures, together with his bravery and quick wit, helps him rise in the inmate community. This movie explores the brutal prison system and the power struggles between the Corsican mob and the Muslim inmates. Audiard presents it as pure fiction, yet it is easy for the viewers to draw their own parallels between violence, prison and gang warfare and extremism. It is also a film for any crime-flick fans looking for a great story.
Day 10: Le Million (The Million)
Directed and written by: René Clair
Year: 1931
A hilarious movie from the 1930s that takes us on a trip to the glory days of the ‘music hall’ school of entertainment. Le Million is a French musical comedy directed by René Clair, revolving around the gently humorous story of a poor artist who discovers that he has won one million on the lottery, but lost his ticket. Will he find it in time to claim the money? This is the major problem our leading man is facing, and he is ready to take any risk to find that small piece of paper.
Clair has this determined chase of one small, but important ticket accompanied by a light-hearted selection of theatrical dialogue sung by the actors and actresses. As a whole, the film might not match the technological perfection of contemporary movies, but it is still regarded as a sophisticated masterpiece from the first true master of the ’talkie’.
Day 11: Cyrano de Bergerac
Directed by: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Written by: Jean-Paul Rappeneau and Jean-Claude Carrière, based on Edmond Rostand’s play
Year: 1990
Do you believe in true love? This may sound cheesy to cynics, but hopeless romantics will find themselves relating to Cyrano de Bergerac, as he uses his passion to become a bridge to the happiness of the woman he loves. Cyrano is a brilliant swordsman, with a gift for words and poetry, but deprived of physical attractiveness by his enormous nose, and is therefore doomed by his insecurities to be forever lonely. Put into the position of helping his less eloquent friend win the heart of a woman both men love, he must decide between friendship and romance, risk and safety. The romanticism of Cyrano de Bergerac will make you fall in love and break your heart at the same time.
Day 12: Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement)
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Written by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant
Year: 2004
After moving your heart with Cyrano’s tragedy, watch another lost soul searching for that most elusive of emotions, happiness. Set during the aftermath of WW1, this concerns a young woman desperately searching for her missing-in-action fiancé. Part romantic drama, part mystery, and part war film, this unusual and sumptuously filmed movie offers something for everyone.
Day 13: Jeux d’enfants (Love Me if You Dare)
Directed by: Yann Samuell
Written by: Yann Samuell
Year: 2003
The third romantic movie for the week, Jeux d’Enfants is about the lives of two alienated people trapped in an increasingly complex and irresponsible game of dare. Maturing in style as the characters age and develop, this multi-layered and often cynical film shows the lengths some people will go to protect themselves from emotional vulnerability. Not a ‘Hollywood’-style wacky comedy, this film has selfish and sometimes cruel characters, but it nonetheless shows uncomfortable truths about the complexities of male/female relationships.
Day 14: Mesrine: Killer Instinct
Directed by: Jean-François Richet
Written by: Jean-François Richet and Abdel Raouf Dafri
Year: 2008
For numbers 14 and 15, let us dedicate two days to the gangster biopic of the infamous Jacques Mesrine. The first part, Mesrine: Killer Instinct, is about Jacques’ roots as a low-level thug involved in burglary and racketeering, which he perceived to be preferable to the life of a manual labourer. Tough, ruthless and resourceful, he climbs the ranks, delighted to have the opportunity to rebel against a government he distrusts.
The movie was received well by critics and movie viewers because of the exhilarating performance of Vincent Cassel. It also captured the rush of a criminal’s life, wherein a man can do whatever he wants and take whatever he wants, simply because he is capable of doing it.
Day 15: Mesrine: Public Enemy #1
Directed by: Jean-François Richet. Written by: Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-François Richet.
Year: 2008
Now to the second part of our gangster epic; which explores the later years of this complex and divisive character’s life. Mesrine became known as France’s Public Enemy #1 after a string of robberies, kidnappings and prison escapes. While in prison, he wrote his memoirs and began to establish himself as a household name. Upon escape, he resumes his gleeful mayhem. What puts this film into a league of its own isn’t the gangsterism, but its depiction of how Mesrine learnt to control the media; an arch manipulator, he remains a divisive figure in France to this day.
The two movies portraying the life of Mesrine will show you the twin faces of crime, both the power and the rush of success, and the heavy price paid in achieving it.
Day 16: 13 Tzameti
Directed and written by: Géla Babluani
Year: 2005
Desperate for money, an aimless young man takes the identity of another, a decision that takes him into a brutal world where rich men gamble with the lives of the dispossessed.
A stark black and white thriller about the cruelty of men, which shows the relationship between money, power and cruelty in the most disturbing way imaginable.
Day 17: La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher)
Directed and written by: Michael Haneke
Year: 2001
A controversial yet interesting exploration of human psychology, La Pianiste uses Freudian principles about female sexuality, and how they relate to masochism and sadism. La Pianiste is one of a new wave of sexually explicit films in European cinema where sado-masochistic relationships are explicitly expressed. Intentionally disturbing and unerotic, it is an unsettling depiction of the depths lonely people can reach in their quest for fulfilment.
Day 18: Les Bien-aimés (The Beloved)
Directed and written by: Christophe Honoré
Year: 2011
Is it better to love or to be loved? Director Christophe Honoré presents the complicated love-life of a mother and a daughter in his movie Les Bien-aimés. Both the mother and the daughter are experiencing a similar dilemma – they’re trapped in a love triangle. Light, yet engaging, this movie chronicles the characters’ lives and loves from the 1960s to the 2000s. The radiant background and plot of Les Bien-aimés are made even livelier by the frequent musical interludes (though Director Honoré had not initially planned to make a musical.)
Day 19: Le Havre
Directed and written by: Aki Kaurismäki
Year: 2011
An aging shoe-shiner helps a young immigrant in the port of Le Havre achieve his dreams. Mixing nostalgic comedy with social drama, this warm and tender comedy about the complexities and difficulties concerning immigration and identity has won many awards and high praise from critics.
The film received good appraisals and various awards because of its unique theme and focus.
Day 20: JCVD (Van Damme)
Directed by: Mabrouk El Mechri
Written by: Frédéric Benudis, Mabrouk El Mechri, Christophe Turpin
Year: 2008
A poignant and touching film that skilfully blurs fact and fiction, this stars ‘The muscles from Brussels’ as an aging, washed-up action movie star called JCVD, whose real and screen lives become confused when he gets caught up in a robbery.
A fascinating meditation on the often cruel way we treat film stars when they’re no longer fashionable, this features a sensitive and engaging performance by Van Damme, basically playing himself as a vulnerable former A-list star desperate to be popular again. Whether this is a movie or a documentary is debatable; it did pay dividends for the likeable star though, who has gained cult status once more.
Day 21: Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One)
Directed by: Guillaume Canet
Written by: Guillaume Canet and Philippe Lefebvre
Year: 2006
Tell No One tells the story of a bereaved doctor whose attempts to get his life back are thrown into chaos when two further bodies are discovered near to where his wife was murdered. On top of this, he has begun receiving emails from his supposedly dead wife! Under suspicion from the police, and convinced he’s being framed by unknown forces, he goes on the run, but who, if anyone, can he trust? Find out in this twisty thriller.
Day 22: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius
Written by: Jean-François Halin and Michel Hazanavicius
Year: 2006
James Bond in Cairo!
A gleeful subversion of the creakingly old-fashioned novels of Jean Bruce, this movie has great fun at the expense of the spy genre. Set in an anachronistic world where men were men, women were admiring and foreigners were shifty stereotypes, this wild satire also pokes fun at the Bond movies. Never knowingly politically-correct, its absurd humour will appeal to anyone who’s ever watched a thriller and shouted in exasperation at the illogicality of the plot.
Day 23: Indigènes (Days of Glory)
Directed by: Rachid Bouchareb
Written by: Olivier Lorelle and Rachid Bouchareb
Year: 2006
For a long time, it was rare to find a movie depicting the brave sacrifice of the North African soldiers who fought for France during World War II. Officially referred to as ‘indigènes’ (natives) by the colonial authorities, their sacrifice was generally marginalised on screen.
“Days of Glory” by Director Rachid Bouchareb is a dedication, revealing the great contribution of the North African soldiers during World War II. Beautifully filmed and stirringly acted, this is a timely and moving reminder of the great sacrifice made by African troops during the Second World War.
Day 24: Coco Before Chanel
Directed by: Anne Fontaine
Written by: Anne Fontaine, Camille Fontaine, Christopher Hampton and Jacques Fieschi
Year: 2009
France is iconic in the fashion industry. It is the home of many of the most famous designers and their signature brands of bags, clothes, shoes and hats. Director Fontaine explores the life of one great persona in the world of fashion, Coco Chanel: a woman whose life was focused on a paradigm-shifting aim of combining comfort and style. Coco Before Chanel is a biopic about the early life of Coco Chanel and her drive towards creating a modern style of hats for women. The movie may be damaged by its unsentimental approach to the lead’s early life, but the film is never less than a beautifully crafted and tastefully refined film.
Day 25: Camille Claudel 1915
Directed and written by: Bruno Dumont
Year: 2013
Camille Claudel 1915 is another biopic in this list and, like Coco Before Chanel and Violette, its story revolves around the life of an outstanding female artist, Camille Claudel. She is a brilliant sculptor who was confined to an asylum, after years of loneliness and the pressures of her art. She was the mistress of Auguste Rodin and their complicated relationship added to her paranoia and misery. Her brother, Paul Claudel, had her committed to an asylum.
The movie was criticized as gratuitously disturbing because of its use of real patients with disabilities as supporting cast members. Moreover, it has a tendency to concentrate on her unhappy later life in an asylum.
Despite these criticisms, it is an intense and powerful portrayal of madness and obsession.
Day 26: Heartbreaker (L’Arnacœur)
Directed by: Pascal Chaumeil
Written by: Laurent Zeitoun, Jeremy Doner and Yoann Gromb
Year: 2010
To lift the mood after three straight days of drama, let’s cheer ourselves up with this French romantic comedy. Heartbreaker stars Romain Duris as Alex, a handsome but manipulative professional heartbreaker, and Vanessa Paradis as Juliette, a beautiful heiress. Hired by Juliette’s father to break up the marriage before it has even begun, Alex pulls out all the stops, but soon finds himself dealing with more than he bargained for!
Day 27: Prête-moi ta main (I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single)
Directed by: Eric Lartigau
Written by: Alain Chabat, Philippe Mechelen, Laurent Tirard, Grégoire Vigneron and Laurent Zeitoun.
Year: 2006
Prête-moi ta main is a good example of a mainstream funny-Parisian-rom-com film. It stars Alain Chabat as Luis and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Emma. Luis is savouring his life as a successful perfumer and a bachelor- despite his persistent mother and sisters. One day, his mother and sisters decide that he is not getting younger, so he needs to get married, immediately. The problem here is he does not want to enter into a serious relationship, so he ends up hiring his best friend’s sister to be his fiancée, who will dump him on the day of their wedding. But is there a flaw in this brilliant plan?
Day 28: Les Contes de la Nuit (Tales of the Night)
Directed and written by: Michel Ocelot
Year: 2011
For kids and the young-at-heart, Les Contes de la nuit is just right for you. From the vivid imagination of internationally renowned animator Michel Ocelot come six fables from differing periods and cultures. Beautifully captured in a faux-traditional silhouette style, its evocative mix of fairy-tale and modern animation techniques is bound to enrapture the young; and young at heart!
Day 29: Ma part du gâteau (My Piece of the Pie)
Directed and written by: Cédric Klapisch
Year: 2011
A biting satire about the gulf between the ‘haves and have-nots’, My Piece of the Pie tells the story of a poverty-stricken mother of three forced, by unemployment, to take a job as a housekeeper for a stockbroker who appears to be the living embodiment of the soulless corporate capitalist shark. In addition, it appears his shady dealings are the reason she’s unemployed in the first place. Despite their differences, the two develop feelings for each other, but can she show him the error of his ways?
Day 30: Comme une Image (Look at Me)
Directed by: Agnès Jaoui
Written by: Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui
Year: 2004
Comme une Image (Look at Me) is a 2004 satirical-drama film about the dynamics of self-image and celebrity life juxtaposed against familial love, acceptance and pure love for another person. 20-year-old Lolita aspires to be a singer, but she is plagued with insecurities about her looks and is generally ignored in favour of her successful, self-obsessed father; her low self-esteem may prove an impassable barrier to success. A fascinating dissection of the desire for fame and attention, featuring well-rounded characters, and exploring this modern phenomenon in a sensitive, yet original manner.
Day 31: Holy Motors
Directed and written by: Leos Carax
Year: 2012
Let’s finish on a bizarre note with the acclaimed ‘Holy Motors’. Although any synopsis for this experimental film is spurious at best, it follows a strange figure, Monsieur Oscar, who adopts differing roles during a journey through Paris from dawn to night in a white limousine. Featuring a brilliant performance by Denis Lavant, this will have you applauding and scratching your head in equal measure.
Conclusion
It may be fair to say that due to cross-cultural influences among filmmakers, you’ll likely find some similarities among them. But as you become regularly exposed to French movies, you’ll be able to easily distinguish aspects of French cinema from the others.
If you have started to develop this, are you satisfied with the list of movies that I compiled for this month? I will keep looking for good movies to help you learn more about France and French cinema.
P.S: As always, sharing is caring 🙂
