31 French Movies to Watch this March
A list of popular movies of all time in French, varied in genres, plots and chronology. Check our March edition French movies list.
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Day 1: Sauve qui peut (la vie)Day 2: Angélique, marquise des angesDay 3: Les parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)Day 4: 37°2 le matin (Betty Blue)Day 5: L’appartement (The Apartment)Day 6: Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman)Day 7: Le hérisson (The Hedgehog)Day 8: Sans soleil (Sunless)Day 9: La vie de Jésus (The Life of Jesus)Day 10: MartyrsDay 11: Le prénom (What’s in a Name?)Day 12: Les compèresDay 13: De battre mon cœur s’est arrêté (The Beat that My Heart Skipped)Day 14: 17 filles (17 Girls)Day 15: Trois couleurs: Bleu (Three Colors: Blue)Day 16: Les bronzés (French Fried Vacation)Day 17: Les fugitifsDay 18: Tais-toi! (Ruby & Quentin)Day 19: La fille sur le pont (The Girl on the Bridge)Day 20 : Le dernier métro (The Last Metro)Day 21 : Le placard (The Closet)Day 22: Jules et JimDay 23: Le passé (The Past)Day 24: MöbiusDay 25 : Amour & turbulences (Love Is In The Air)Day 26 : Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies)Day 27: 20 ans d’écart (It Boy)Day 28 : La boîte noire (The Black Box)Day 29: Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)Day 30 : Michael Kohlhaas (Age of the Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)Day 31 : Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Land of Shtis/Welcome to the Sticks)Ready for another helping of French movies? For March, I have prepared a special menu for all fans of French cinéma. Juicy films dished out by cream of the crop directors. Just the right pinch of action, thriller, hot-blooded drama and a huge slice of eye-catching cinematography.
You can watch these movies one per day for each day of the month, or you can be a total movie glutton and devour them all in one go. Totally up to you.
So let’s get started, shall we?
See also: How to Learn French with Movies in 7 Easy Steps
Day 1: Sauve qui peut (la vie)
Directed : Jean-Luc Godard
Written : Anne-Marie Miéville, Jean-Claude Carrière, Jean-Luc Godard
A stunning return to the cinema of director Jean-Luc Godard, the film looks at the everyday life of three people: Paul Godard (TV director), Denise Rimbaud (Paul’s ex-gf and co-worker) and Isabelle Rivière (a prostitute once frequented by Paul). The film is divided into four chapters: three focus on the main characters, followed by a musical coda.
Day 2: Angélique, marquise des anges
Directed : Bernard Borderie
Written : Anne Golon, Serge Golon (source novel); Claude Brulé, Bernard Borderie, Francis Cosne
This film is based on the 1956 novel of the same title. Hilarious and romantic, this story set in 17th century France will give any contemporary chick flick a run for its money.
Day 3: Les parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)
Directed : Jacques Demy
Written: Jacques Demy
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg has successfully stood the test of time just as Deneuve’s beauty has. Jacques Demy’s 1964 brilliant work is a pop-art love-opera / movie in song. This juicy romantic story is born in 1957 and tells the story of a girl who picks between waiting for her lover and accepting a marriage offer from a rich guy. A bitter-sweet movie set to Michel Legrand’s fabulous music!
Want to know how you can use movies to learn French? Check out this article!
Day 4: 37°2 le matin (Betty Blue)
Directed : Jean-Jacques Beineix
Written By : Jean-Jacques Beineix, Philippe Djian (source novel)
The “37°2 le Matin” movie is a colorful and swirling—but at the same time, harsh—story. It’s the all-time-greatest movie début of model Dalle as an anxious babydoll who can’t link reality to her personal perception of a happy life. The movie centers on a love affair that slowly descends into madness and shows the difficulties of being a free-spirited sexual femme.
Day 5: L’appartement (The Apartment)
Directed : Gilles Mimouni
Written : Gilles Mimouni
An enigmatic French thriller that dazzles you with its Hitchcock-like lines and complexity. First you see Max, who’s on his way to Tokyo. The main character lives in Paris and never stops flirting with young women. Cutting from the old life, Max is about to tie the knot. By chance he runs into his young-and-sweet love Lisa. As cupid takes his shot, Max forgets about everything else. Being obsessed with Lisa, Max finds out where the lady’s apartment is and hides in there. A different femme Alice finds an unexpected guest and things take a complicated turn.
Day 6: Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman)
Directed : Claude Lelouch
Written : Pierre Uytterhoeven; Claude Lelouch
Enjoyable and heart-melting, “Un Homme et Une Femme” is a classy mosaic of ecstasies and inner agonies of two lonely people with kooky careers and private pains. A real smash hit in the world of cinematography, this film was eye-catching in 1966 and still hooks die-hard fans today.
Day 7: Le hérisson (The Hedgehog)
Directed : Mona Achache
Written : Mona Achache, based on Muriel Barbery’s novel
As the story opens, you see 11-year-old Paloma thinking about committing suicide on her twelfth birthday. The girl lives and breathes philosophy and art and documents pretty hilarious thoughts about the world around her. As Paloma’s date with Death comes up, the young lady suddenly meets acquaintances that turn her life’s viewpoints upside down.
Day 8: Sans soleil (Sunless)
Directed : Chris Marker
Written : Chris Marker
The brilliant “Sans Soleil” movie is more of an experimental, intuitive film. Presented as a mosaic of bizarre moments taken from a journey through Africa and Japan featuring small rituals and silent agreements between the plot and the camera. Unforgettable movie and truly a different kind of experience.
Day 9: La vie de Jésus (The Life of Jesus)
Directed : Bruno Dumont
Written : Bruno Dumont
This film is good enough to be French film virgins’ first contact with French cinema. Covering a social project about everyday life in the north of France, the story revolves around Freddy and his pals, who are all jobless. They kill time by wandering around and getting into mix-ups with Kader, a young man of North African descent. Freddy’s girlfriend Marie is a supermarket cashier, but the girl’s heart begins to turn toward someone else.
Day 10: Martyrs
Directed : Pascal Laugier
Written : Pascal Laugier
An absolute recommendation for fans of the horror genre! More than any other horror work, “Martyrs” evokes different levels of emotion. Are you ready to get excited, provoked or disturbed? This is for you. Just a short health warning. If you’ve got a weak stomach, stay away from this. “Martyrs” is a perfect mix of “Hostel” gore, “Heavenly Creatures” female friendship & Polanski-style creepiness. But what you actually see on the screen is a deeply touching parade of human conditions.
Day 11: Le prénom (What’s in a Name?)
Directed : Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte
Written : Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte
Are you about to deal with diapers and bibs? Take a minute to peep into Vincent’s life. A slick real-estate agent is getting ready to be a dad. When hanging out with childhood pals to discuss the future kid’s name, jaws drop and there goes the scandal!
Day 12: Les compères
Directed : Francis Veber
Written : Francis Veber
When your problem son runs away from home, the first thing you do is…get into contact with your ex-lovers. Wait—what? How about convincing two old boyfriends – a ninny hypochondriac and a rough journalist – that each of them is the runaway’s father? When the police are out of action, two exes will do the job! But…what happens when they all meet up?
Day 13: De battre mon cœur s’est arrêté (The Beat that My Heart Skipped)
Directed : Jacques Audiard
Written : Jacques Audiard, Tonino Benacquista, based on James Toback’s film Fingers
A film manual on how to make the right choices in your life. Will Thomas dive deeper into the criminal world? Or, will he get closer to his dream of becoming a … pianist? Find out!
Day 14: 17 filles (17 Girls)
Directed : Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin
Written : Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin
How to turn a small town into a chaotic mess? Camille will show you the way. When a high school chick accidentally gets pregnant, 16 of her classmates decide to do the same. Inspired by true events!
Day 15: Trois couleurs: Bleu (Three Colors: Blue)
Directed : Krzysztof Kieslowski
Written : Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz
“Trois couleurs: Bleu” – a masterpiece created by Kieslowski – is a long-lasting trip from brokenness and misery to the “resurrection” of a woman’s soul. Julie is the only survivor of a car crash that killed her soulmate and their child. Truly a brilliant performance by Binoche!
Day 16: Les bronzés (French Fried Vacation)
Directed : Patrice Leconte
Written : L’équipe du Splendid, Patrice Leconte
The film focuses on six French tourists relaxing on the sunny African shores: the hilarious (un)couplings, the efforts to make out with a record number of ladies, the attempt at an open-relationship lifestyle, and other kinds of hilarity. See how these friends survive the vacation!
Day 17: Les fugitifs
Directed : Francis Veber
Written : Francis Veber
A stunning comedy from the past century but still en vogue even now! A hare-brained and desperate bank-robber François takes Lucas hostage during a bank hold-up. Here goes a chaotic car chase. How can Lucas, who was recently released from jail, prove he’s not guilty? Will a 6-year-old girl who does not speak unite strangers?
Day 18: Tais-toi! (Ruby & Quentin)
Directed : Francis Veber
Written : Francis Veber
After getting thrown into prison, a gloomy outlaw Ruby runs into a dim-witted inmate Quentin. A walking ‘chatterbox’ befriends Ruby even though the criminal doesn’t really want it. But when Quentin reveals a brilliant escape plan, Ruby decides to make a break with him.
Day 19: La fille sur le pont (The Girl on the Bridge)
Directed : Patrice Leconte
Written: Serge Frydman
A beautiful love story. A perfect mish-mash of hopelessly romantic old movie bits. 22-year-old Adèle feels like her life is nothing but a long line of miscalculations. No love. No luck. No money. No hope. Standing on a bridge and overlooking the Seine, Adèle is about to end her life. That’s when a romantic drama opens up. A knife-thrower Gabor talks Adèle into becoming his new human-being-target. Will the suicidal girl postpone her meeting with Death?
Day 20 : Le dernier métro (The Last Metro)
Directed : François Truffaut
Written : François Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman (screenplay and dialogue), Jean-Claude Grumberg (dialogue)
While staying in the occupied city of Paris, Marion needs to hide her husband – Jewish director Lucas Steiner – in the basement. What does it feel like walking on the razor’s edge?
Day 21 : Le placard (The Closet)
Directed : Francis Veber
When there are tons of stories about gay men pretending to be straight to save their what-ever-it-may-be, “Le Placard” shows just the opposite! A tart comedy shows a man who lets people believe he is gay to save his career. With the help of his neighbor, a phony gay man turns his life into a mess!
Day 22: Jules et Jim
Directed : François Truffaut
Written : François Truffaut, Jean Gruault
Before WWI, two pals Jim and Jules have a crush on the same dame. But the charming lady Catherine makes her choice – Jules! When the war is over, the old ‘gang’ meets up in Austria. Here’s where Catherine starts to have feelings for Jim… And there goes the love triangle carried through the years.
Day 23: Le passé (The Past)
Directed : Asghar Farhadi
Written : Asghar Farhadi
A thickly knotted and realistic movie featuring the life of the Parisian working class, “The Past” feels too slow sometimes – just as everyday life does. A man from Iran returns to France at his French wife’s request to finalise their divorce. How to face your past if your present is involved in a new relationship? Asghar Farhadi is a natural story-teller, who reveals how people wish to erase what’s behind them and live in the now.
Day 24: Möbius
Directed : Eric Rochant
Written: Eric Rochant
A sweet love affair with a pinch of bitterness. Perfect recipe!
Day 25 : Amour & turbulences (Love Is In The Air)
Directed : Alexandre Castagnetti
Written : Vincent Angell (original screenplay); Nirina Ralanto, Brigitte Bémol, Julien Simonet, Xavier Nemo, Alexandre Castagnetti and Nicolas Bedos (adaptation and dialogue)
On a flight from NYC to Paris, ex-couple Antoine and Julie find out they’re seated beside each other, for the first time since their break-up. Can they patch things up over the course of one flight?
Day 26 : Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies)
Directed : Guillaume Canet
A melodramatic, near-fatal affair focuses on Parisian friends going on vacation. A scooter accident leaves one of them in a hospital bed. The friendship-bonds are severely tested. At times, it’s charming. At times, it makes you cry out. Still a good movie to watch.
Day 27: 20 ans d’écart (It Boy)
Directed : David Moreau
Written : David Moreau, Amro Hamzawi
Alice, the 38-year-old fashion glam magazine editor, meets young and sweet Balthazar—a sweet guy who is barely 20 years old. Then a quick photo, where Balthazar and Alice are (or aren’t?) kissing goes viral on Twitter. But Alice’s chief likes the idea that the woman has a crush on someone way younger. Realizing that the key to her promotion is in her hands, Alice starts her own game. But trifling with love has rough consequences.
Day 28 : La boîte noire (The Black Box)
Directed : Richard Berry
Written : Richard Berry, Eric Assous, Tonino Benacquista (source work)
Blurred images spark in Arthur’s brain. Strangers’ voices buzz in his head. Did he have a car accident? Or … didn’t he? Did he run over a boy in the street or…not? And how come he appears to be near Cherbourg when his home is in Paris? Is he really conscious? A nurse from the hospital takes notes of everything Arthur says while being delirious. When Arthur opens up her notebook, it’s time to investigate.
Day 29: Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Directed : Luis Buñuel
Written : Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay collaborator)
Luis Buñuel adds up another masterpiece to his solid record! A virtually plotless, somehow surreal and bizarre tale of so-called well-to-do couples. A long series of blurred dreams focused on six bourgeois-type people and their failure to have a meal. As the plot lines thicken, the dreams dive into the other dreams. Still, they never belong to a single dreamer exclusively.
Day 30 : Michael Kohlhaas (Age of the Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)
Directed : Arnaud des Pallières
Written : Christelle Berthevas, Arnaud des Pallières
A handsomely photographed and beautifully made 16th-century era story. The plot reveals Michael Kohlhaas, a horse dealer, who’s happily married. Then the “dark lord” appears. When the ruler treats Michael unjustly, he raises the sword to restore his rights!
Day 31 : Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Land of Shtis/Welcome to the Sticks)
Directed : Dany Boon
Written : Dany Boon, Alexandre Charlot, Franck Magnier
No need to expect something artistically groundbreaking or revolutionary in the “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” plot. But still, this is what you call a record-breaking movie hit from the land of cheese and wine! A tale of a post-office manager, who hopes to move to the Côte d’Azur, but appears in the north instead. A contagiously funny comedy about love, misconception and real friendship. You’ll like it for its self-deprecating humor.