Bonjour PopWatchers! Do you know what today is? A hint: C'est un jour très plus important pour les amis français. That's right — it's Bastille Day! (And my apologies to all French-speaking PopWatchers for mangling your wonderful language.)
Unfortunately, I'm forced to spend the holiday sitting at my desk instead of gorging on baguettes and brie. But as I sit here dreaming about fresh-baked éclaires, I find myself also pondering the finest films France has to offer. Some of my favorites? Besides the obvious—Amélie, La Cage Aux Folles—I'm partial to The Valet, The Dinner Game and, of course, La Boum (featuring a mini Sophie Marceau!).
Your turn! In celebration of Bastille Day, let's name our favorite francophone films! (And, no, I'm not counting Jerry Lewis flicks.) Une bonne idée, non?
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Love Me if Your Dare(so sorry but am too lazy to look up the french title and too uneducated in French to spell it right)
Tell No One
I have a bunch of favorites, including “Cousin, Cousine” and “Amelie”, but I think “La Femme Nikita” will always be my favorite.
Ma vie en rose, L’auberge espanole, Amelie.
I will say Germinal, not so much because it was a great movie, but I loved the book so much.
Jim and Jules! Crazy movie. It is French right?
Also Sabrina
“Cyrano de Bergerac” with Gerard Depardieu – c’est magnifique! (And it has wonderfully lyrical English sub-titles by Anthony Horowitz.)
“L’Auberge Espagnole,” “Paris je t’aime,” and pretty much any of Daniel Auteuil’s comedies, particularly “Le Placard” and “Après Vous.”
Le Pacte de Loupes
The triplets of Belleville & Persepolis! J’adore their animated films!
Indochine, Manon des Sources and la Reine Margot are definitely some of my faves.
Indochine, Manon des Sources and La Reine Margot were incredible
The Class! Easily the best movie I’ve seen in probably 3 years. Soooo powerful. It was kind of like watching Presbilewski’s storyline from the fourth season of The Wire told in just 2 hours.
Anything with Catherine Deneuve! Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort are tops. Also love Amelie, Cleo de 5 a 7, L’Homee Qui Aimait les Femmes (so weird!) and the way over-the-top Le Pacte des Loups.
Definitely a favorite of mine has to be “Les Diaboliques” with Simone Signoret & Véra Clouzot .. Spine-chilling indeed!
Oh, everyone has good picks! I’ll add Ponette…very moving depiction of children dealing with the idea of death. It’s a bummer, but still excellent.
amelie, he loves me he loves me not
Yup- you butchered the french. Just remove the “plus” and you should be good to go! Can’t say i have seen to many french movies but I really did like Jean de Florette (previous in series to Manon des sources)
Paris je t’aime. Amelie’s a close second. I’ve been wanting to re-watch the Rouge/Blanc/Bleu trilogy, but I can’t remember the order!
PLAYTIME, a silent film made in the late sixties by Jacques Tati, the french Buster Keaton. It’s a masterpiece ! Also LES ZOZOS and LE PLEIN DE SUPER.
“Delicatessen” is my fave. The scene where everyone in the building is contributing to the music is so great, and I love a black comedy.
bleu
Have to agree with you about “Dinner Game” – it’s one of my favorite movies ever! But how can you leave off the classic “La regle de jeu,” one of the single best films ever made?
L’Auberge Espagnole. It always makes me want to go study abroad
I certainly agree with Nadine about the magnificence of Catherine Deneuve, not only in classics such as Cherbourg, but also in recent faire such as “8 Femmes” and “A Christmas Tale”.
However, one truly great film that has yet to be mentioned is the absurdist classic “Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie” (Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), with such great scenes as dinner guests being shot by guerila rebels and an intimate dinner party turning into a live play where no one knows their parts. I also love this film for the critique it receives in Whit Stillman’s “Metropolitan” (how dare Bunuel not actually show the charm of the bourgeoisie).
Wings of Desire (partially in French)
Les 400 Coups (The 400 Blows)
NOT Cyrano de Bergerac (seemingly 60 minute death scene with overwrought acting)
La Gloire de mon Pere (My Father’s Glory) and La Chateau de ma Mere (My Mother’s Castle)
and the usual suspects- Amelie, The Triplets of Belleville, and so on
Apologies rejected.
I’m sorry to disappoint everyone, but I’ve only read “usual suspects” so far. Try a “Meilleur Espoir Feminin”, for example (gerard jugnot), “L’armee des ombres” (melville, with signoret) or “Le dernier Metro (Truffeau, of course).
Mr. Bean’s Holiday! Well, it was set in France…
Seriously, though, I really loved Hors de Prix…hilarious and romantic.
L’annee derniere a Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) and Cache (Hidden).
Ps. Monsieur Un Francais a Hollywood, if you are going to be disparaging towards other people’s choices, at least spell check before you spout your superior picks. I think Truffaut would appreciate it if you got his name right.
You can’t say Manon des Sources without saying Jean de Florette. Those movies were incredible. And I know it’s mostly polish, but I count Kieslowski’s White as french because of hte gorgeous Julie Delpy.
Three of my favorites include Les Choristes, French Twist, and With a Friend Like Harry (Harry un ami qui vous veut du bien. I highly recommend all of them!