This sidesplitting farce by Francis Veber concerns an arrogant, womanizing executive who enters a contest to bring the biggest loser he can find to a dinner with his friends. Though this meditation on identity and human connection raises more questions than it answers, it hardly lessens the impact. This fascinating tale of treachery from director Claude Berri spawned a sequel, 1987’s “ Manon of the Spring.”ĭirector Kryzstof Kieslowski’s mind bending feature concerns two identical women (Irene Jacob) who never meet but whose lives parallel each other in intriguing ways. Yves Montand plays a greedy farmer who covets the land of his new neighbor (Gerard Depardieu), and sabotages his success by surreptitiously blocking the water source. Starring Fernando Rey and Delphine Seyrig, the film tracks several couples’ interrupted attempts to have a meal together. Luis Bunuel’s inspired surrealistic exercise satirizes middle-class conventions to devastating effect. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) But with a savvy cop on his tail, will he live to enjoy the loot? However, he’s short of cash, and agrees to one last heist to set himself up. Jean-Pierre Melville’s peerless gangster picture stars the sad-eyed Lino Ventura as a seasoned crook who escapes from jail eager to start a new life. Touching, bittersweet, and a treat for eyes and ears. This tribute to the Hollywood musical of the 1950s is elevated by Michel Legrand’s brilliant, Oscar-nominated score. Jacques Demy’s all-sung, color-saturated romance introduced the world to a stunning, young Catherine Deneuve.
The story was largely autobiographical and spawned a series centering around the Antoine Doinel character (always played by Leaud). A fitting tribute and successor to the best work of silent clowns Chaplin and Keaton.įrancois Truffaut’s breakthrough film is a heartrending portrait of a neglected young boy from a dysfunctional home (Jean-Pierre Leaud) who ends up resorting to petty thievery. Hulot haplessly navigates an increasingly mechanized world. Jacques Tati’s comic genius shines bright in this delightful technicolor romp where the eternally befuddled M. It’s both a nail biter and a powerful existential work. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s riveting film concerns desperate men in South America (including a young Yves Montand) who drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerine through rocky territory. This lacerating satire on French mores on the eve of war is a multi-layered work that’s found on many top ten lists, and deservedly so. Jean Renoir’s masterpiece follows various intrigues at a French country manor among both masters and servants.
Here are just fifteen invaluable French classics, old and new, that are well worth reading subtitles for. Happily, many of these treasures are at our fingertips, streamable anytime on Amazon.
Over the century that followed, French filmmakers produced some of the most powerful and enduring movies ever made. Meanwhile their contemporary Georges Melies created the first studio to produce motion pictures.īut it didn’t stop there. They are justifiably proud of their film heritage: at the close of the nineteenth century, the Lumiere Brothers were the first to patent a machine that allowed people to view movies simultaneously. In keeping with this enlightened outlook, they honor and promote culture, recognizing that it gives our lives color, spice and, most important, meaning. They seem to possess the perspective and confidence to savor all the good things of life: food, wine, romance, and leisure.
One key reason is the French people's enviable reputation for knowing how to live well. I've always loved France, and most everything French.