Discussion Forums - Foreign Films

I am learning French and I was wondering if anyone has recommendations as far as French films go? Thanks!

Amelie is quite a popular title and is defined as a quirky romance. It also has a sequel entitled Happenstance (though I have yet to see it).

Hight Tension is a slasher flick with a good bit of plot twisting fun. Then again, if you're looking for something a bit extreme, there is always Sheitan.

I would steer clear of "Sheitan." DH and I have another, similar name for it. It makes no sense and it's weird just to be weird. Plus, the ending is just disgusting. I banned Vincent Cassel movies from the house after watching it.

I'm not a huge fan of French films, but one that sticks out in my mind that's excellent is "The Dinner Game." It's just a funny, well-constructed, amusing movie - almost a big comedy of errors. In fact, it reminded me a great deal of something Oscar Wilde would have written.

Another great movie with the wonderful actress, Audrey Tautou (from Amelie), is A Very Long Engagement. Actually, I don't think I've disliked anything I've seen her in.

Anyways, if you like crazy character study type movies, I recommend The Piano Teacher and Fat Girl. They are not for those seeking more gentle fare though. Along the same disturbing lines, but less a character study, there is Irreversible.

For something a bit lighter and more recent, Angel-A is worth checking out. I know the director is French, but he has done a lot over here. Oh well, it is in French and set in Paris.

I greatly enjoyed the thriller by the name of Swimming Pool, but felt rather let down by the same director's other movie, 5 x 2.

For a more comedic movie, there is a great French-Japanese co-production called Fear and Trembling. I fear though this may be more of interest to those seeking Japanese movies, as it examines Japanese office workplace culture.

One of my favorite historical/action movies ever happens to be French. Brotherhood of the Wolf. I really can't recommend it enough.

Thanks a lot everybody for the recs. I can't wait to check these movies out!

Amelie is very fun and easily available in the US. I love it. I will warn that the English subtitles are at sometimes lacking for precision because of colloquialisms/slang but that happens with every foreign movie.

I would also suggest some of these additional movies that I watched when learning French and again much later for pure enjoyment (Most of these were contemporary movies at the time I was first learning French, hence the very modern selections.):

Cyrano de Bergerac -- directed by Jean-Paul Rappineau, 1990. Very lovely and you can always read the play on your own. I found it easily accessible when I was an early learner.

Au Revoir Les Enfants -- directed by Louis Malle (my favorite French director of all time), semi autobiographical about children at a Catholic boarding school during World War II that was hiding Jewish children. I personally think that the pace of the dialogue makes this movie very easy to follow along as an early learner of the language.

La Gloire de Mon Pere and Le Chateau de Ma Mere -- both directed by Yves Robert. Based on semi-autobiographical novels by Marcel Pagnol. Both stories revolve around the family's vacation to Provence every year. Period piece set at the turn of the 20th century. Again, I think pace of dialogue makes it easier to understand for early learners.

Jean de Florette and Manon des Source -- both directed by Claude Berri. Another pair of books by Marcel Pagnol. It is a drama set in Provence about feuding neighbors, diabolical intrigue, and revenge. Amazing story. Language is a little more difficult because of the nature of the story, I think, but still thoroughly enjoyable.

Danton -- directed by Andrzej Wajda. Historical piece about Georges Danton, a French Revolutionary. Very long but if you like historical/political intrigue it is a fantastic piece. Loosely based on a Polish play by Stanislawa Przybyszewska with liberties taken by the director on several accounts.

Camille Claudel -- directed by Bruno Nuytten. Period piece about August Rodin and Camille Claudel. Fantastic drama. Stars Isabelle Adjani of whom I am a tremendous fan.

Some more recent movies that I am looking forward to getting my hands on include:

Moliere (2007)

Bon Voyage (2003)

La Môme (2007)

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (2007)

I have tried to watch movies originally in English dubbed over in French, but the unsychronized lips were driving me crazy. So thanks so much, Alana, I'll definitely look at those, I am very excited to see some real French movies. :)

classics like:

A Man and a Women  (Un Homme et une Femme)  by Claude Lelouch ( 1966)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg by Jaques Demy ( 1960's ) . The whole movie is  sung in french.

i really liked the dinner game,  i couldnt get it on here, but i got it on netflix.  i remember watching jean de florette in high school french class,  i liked that one too, and cyrano de bergerac, that part where christian says he has a "big" nose.  i LOVE what gerard depardieu does.  i saw fat girl, i think it was just pretty odd.  i wonder if since gerard depardieu is in the movie, if the count of monte cristo is in french, i'll have to look because i am reading that next.

The Lady & the Duke is another good one. I have a VHS copy, if you are interested.

any jacque tati'[s movies. great actor/director.

Mannon of the Spring was the sequel to jean de florette  and was excellent.

"Frontiers" is a great little horror gem from France, you may also want to check "Inside", both these films can be found at your local stores since they had a wide dvd release earlier in the year.

I am also a huge fan of the Asterix films here is a link to my most favorite one

www.imdb.com/title/tt0250223/

I don't know if this is something you would be interested in, but two brilliant heist movies were French made.  If it's something you might be interested in check out Rififi and La Cercle Rouge .

Brotherhood of the Wolf was excellent. It's one of my all time favorite movies. It's a great historical/action type movie and it'll definitely not dissapoint you. It also has an excellent soundtrack.

try Diva, a very intersting, if a bit odd, action/mystery flick

All these French film recommendations and one of my favorite directors has still not been mentioned? Sacrilege!

If you like thrillers they don't get any better than Henri Georges-Clouzot. He directed two of my favorite movies of all time:

Diabolique

and

The Wages of Fear

I highly recommend both of these. Think Alfred Hitchcock at the top of his game. (Yes...they really are that good).

I highly recommend Hors de prix [Priceless]. Le placard [The Closet] is also hilarious.

Threads like this one remind me how many fantastic French movies of all genres there are! Here are some which haven't been mentioned yet:

The Page Turner (La tourneuse de pages), a quiet, haute-bourgeois story of revenge served ice-cold

Read My Lips (Sur mes levres), a deaf office worker discovers a talent for crime and subterfuge when she hires an ex-con as her assistant

The Apartment (L'appartement), a twisty tale of unrequited love and obsession, remade (HORRIBLY) in English as Wicker Park

The Visitors (Les visiteurs), a hysterically funny tale of a medieval night and his squire who are magically transported to the twentieth century (beware of the inferior French sequel and the even more inferior American remake titled Just Visiting)

The Crimson Rivers (Les rivieres pourpres), a dark, dark, dark murder mystery/thriller

La vie en rose -- Marion Cotillard won a well-deserved Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf

The Princess of Montpensier (La princesse de Montpensier), politics, love and intrigue during the Wars of Religion

I've Loved You So Long (Il y a si longtemps que je t'aime), beautiful drama about a woman adjusting to "real" life after a long prison sentence

Tell No One (Ne le dis a personne), a man tries to discover whether his wife was really murdered eight years earlier while various parties try to stop him

Point Blank (A bout portant), a lean, mean, and breathlessly brief action flic

The Three Colors trilogy -- gorgeous, melancholy stories which straddle the post-Cold War divide and take place in Paris, Poland and Switzerland; the middle story is mostly in Polish, but all three should be seen in order (Blue, White and Red)

Oh, so many more! :-)

Swept Away  http://www.swapadvd.com/Swept-Away-Digitally-Remastered-Edition/dvd/88726/

I concur with the above posts mentioning Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, The Crimson Rivers, Diabolique, and The Wages of Fear. Here are a few more worth mentioning:

• Angel-A: a funny drama/comedy directed by Luc Besson
• Wasabi: very funny action/comedy starring Jean Reno
• Banlieu 13: okay story, but the action sequences (parkour and martial arts) are very good
• The Nest: I see this as an homage to John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13

How about the old but classic La Belle et La Bete? And a newer film, Hasse (Hate) which is pretty powerful, but probably full of slang. 

La Femme Nikita was a bit confusing for me, since she was sentenced to life, not death, and yet they gave her lethal injection.