I am always amazed when abroad to meet people who absolutely adore French cinema. France is such a small country, you would think you could hardly notice it on a map! In the other hand, it is a country appreciated for its history ,culture, gastronomy, fashion and of course passion!
I love when my foreigners friends tell me « Paris, oui l’amour ! », this is so charming! I enjoy seing my country through their eyes, listening to their favorite spots in Paris and their impressions about the Frenchies or the « sacré français ». I feel bad they know so much about my country when sometimes I know so little about theirs but I am willing to learn and to keep exploring the world!
Anyway I had a discussion about French movies with my lovely friend Nasim: she is from Iran and she has been living in Adelaide for 8 months. It turned out that her sister and herself enjoy watching French films and they wanted me to recommend a few. The real challenge is that they have already seen a LOT of films. So I have been thinking about it and I made a list covering different years and I thought it could be a nice idea to share it with everybody on my blog!
- Un héros très discret (A Self Made Hero) – 1996 – directed by Jacques Audiard – Starring Matthieu Kassovitz, you have probably seen him in the film: Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amelie)
When you are watching this movie based on a novel, keep in mind that «the most beautiful lives are those we invent ».
- Ridicule (Ridicule) – 1996 – directed by Francis Leconte – Starring many well known French actors.
Decadent Versailles in the 18th century where social status can rise and fall depending on your ability to play with words and demonstrate how cultivated and clever you are!
- L’ Auberge espagnole (The Spanish apartment) – 2002 – directed by Cedric Klapisch with the famous Romain Duris and Cecile de France
Fun, good feelings, friendship… and how you become a different and a more complete person when living abroad and surrounded by so many different cultures. Hey! does it sound familiar?!
- De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté (The beat that my heart skipped) – 2005 – directed by Jacques Audiard with the talented French actor Romain Duris.
Human drama, vibrant, vivid, sincere… You will be moved for sure!
- Molière à bicyclette (Cycling with Moliere) – 2013 – directed by Philippe Le Guay with the very French Fabrice Luchini.
Comedy about friendship and the search of the creative spark! Fun, inspiring and shoot in a beautiful part of France!
If you are passionate about French movies, please let me know and I will keep posting from time to time about this topic! I called it “5 French films to watch with your in-laws” because these 5 movies deliver a message, they are powerful and well written so it is a good selection to impress somebody and especially your in laws!
Feel free to give me your feedbacks and maybe I can adapt my selection accordingly.
The next step to fully appreciate the experience would be of course to learn French… haha « sacré français » 😉
A bientôt!
Hello World! 
My dear Victoria Foster,
Here they are my films as I ‘ve promised
FRENCH:
1 La Grande Ilusion (J.Renoir).
2 Cleo from 5 to seven (A. Varda).
3 Le boucher (C Chabrol).
4 Chocolat ( C Denis).
5 Va savoir (J .Rivette).
ENGLISH:
1 Trouble in Paradise. (E Lubitsch).
2 Letter from an unknown woman (M .Ophuls).
3 Brief Encounter (D .Lean).
4 Tess ( R.Polanski).
5 Life is sweet ( M .Leigh).
I hope you share them with your friend Some of them I saw them even three times .
Enjoy my friend.
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Thank you so much for sharing your selection 🙂 I like your enthusiasm regarding French and English cinema!
Have you read the book “Le chocolat”? I think you might like it!
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No I haven’t I ‘ll dp it soon ! Of course I ‘ll post my opinion ….
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Hey Balbina, read it in English (it is not too complicated) and then tell me what you thought about it 😉 In your opinion does the film and the actors match the book story? Also the best way to enjoy the reading is to pop by Haigh’s chocolates shop and treat yourself with some delicious and lavish “chocolat” and then it is like you are in the story!
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Bonjour Virginie,
L’Auberge Espagnole est un de mes films favoris, tu devrais regarder aussi les 2 suivants de la trilogie:
– Les poupées russes
– Le casse-tête chinois
Félicitations pour ton blog, il est superbe!
Philippe (le frenchi)
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Merci beaucoup Philippe le frenchi 😉 pour ton message qui me fait très plaisir 🙂 Je suis d’accord avec toi “L’Auberge Espagnole” est un film vraiment très sympa ! De plus, j’aime beaucoup Romain Duris, je trouve qu’il joue avec passion et nous embarque avec fougue dans toutes ses histoires pour notre plus grand plaisir ! Merci également d’avoir partagé ta sélection de films qui je pense sera appréciée par mes lecteurs amoureux du cinéma français et de notre belle langue ❤
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I love Amélie 🙂
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I love Amélie and The Intouchables 🙂
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Good selection indeed! I agree two beautiful films…
I ❤ the way they filmed Paris streets in Amélie and the music also… the story is so sweet, fun and emotional… like a poetry!
Did you know that "Intouchables" is based on a true story?
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I’ve heard about l’auberge espagnole but haven’t seen it! What’s your favorite French film out of all of these?
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In the above selection, I like “Ridicule” because it is a good vision of decadent Versailles!
I think you should watch “L’Auberge espagnole”, it is a good one 🙂
I also like a film called “La Journée de la jupe” with the famous actress Isabelle Adjani, I think it is very good!
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Added your suggestions and Balbina’s to my Netflix queue. Excited for my tour du cinéma français!
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It is great 🙂 don’t hesitate to let me know what you thought about it! Watching movies in original version is a good way to improve a foreign language, to get used to the different intonations, musicality of a language etc… Bonne chance avec ton apprentissage de la langue française Ruth et vive Netflix (moi aussi je regarde beaucoup de films sur Netflix)!
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Hi there,
I’m happy that Ruth likes my films !
From my point of view european cinema is really good the key issue is that we do not have a strong industry as the american have what ‘s more I do believe that french and english cinema are better than american cinema !
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I must say I like American movies too 🙂 I actually watch a lot of films from the US as I think it is quite creative, entertaining and very good to practise my English! But like you Balbina I wish that European Cinema was put more often on the spot because I truly believe we have some good stories to share ❤ the proof being that this post about French cinema is getting a lot of comments and reactions from all other the world!
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