half decent french films
my favourite French movies
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- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsJean GabinRené DaryDora DollAn aging, world-weary gangster is double-crossed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and their stash of eight stolen gold bars demanded as ransom.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaJean-Claude BrialyJean-Paul BelmondoAn exotic dancer is desperate to become a mother and accepts her reluctant boyfriend's suggestion that she be impregnated by his best friend.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsÉtienne BeckerJean NégroniHélène ChatelainThe story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsJuliette BinocheDenis LavantKlaus-Michael GrüberAlex, who's homeless and addicted to alcohol, and Michèle, who's losing her sight, form a relationship while sleeping rough on Paris's Pont-Neuf bridge.
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsAriane AscarideGérard MeylanPascale RobertsMarius is the keeper of an abandoned cement works staying high above the quarter of l'Estaque in Marseilles. Jeannette is bringing up her two children alone with her poor checkout operator salary. Their meeting won't be without trouble, since besides material difficulties, both of them are wounded by life. They have to learn how to be happy again.
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsAlain DelonMaurice RonetMarie LaforêtTom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudMarie-France PisierPatrick AuffayAntoine Doinel is 17, lives in a hotel and works in a factory making records; he loves music. He falls in love with a woman he meets at a concert. She sees him as a friend, but her parents love him.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Paul BelmondoAnna KarinaGraziella GalvaniPierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsCatherine DeneuveJean SorelMichel PiccoliA frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsPhilippe NoiretSabine AzémaPascale VignalIntense character study of men and women driven by an overpowering obsession with the past.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinDita ParloPierre FresnayDuring WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
- DirectorJean CocteauRené ClémentStarsJean MaraisJosette DayMila ParélyA beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsSimone SignoretSerge ReggianiClaude DauphinThree gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque France.
- DirectorSacha GuitryStarsSacha GuitryAdolphe BorchardMarcel LucienA charming scoundrel reflects on his exploits, from childhood through to manhood.
- DirectorMathieu KassovitzStarsVincent CasselHubert KoundéSaïd Taghmaoui24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsPierre BlaiseAurore ClémentHolger LöwenadlerIn 1944, an 18-year-old boy from small-town France collaborates with the Gestapo and subsequently falls in love with a Jewish girl.
- DirectorAgnès JaouiStarsAnne AlvaroJean-Pierre BacriAlain ChabatThe lives of 6 people over 35 in Rouen, France, and their relationship to each other.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsIsabelle HuppertSandrine BonnaireJacqueline BissetA newly hired maid for a rich countryside family befriends a post-office clerk who encourages her to rebel against her employers.
- DirectorColine SerreauStarsDaniel AuteuilFirmine RichardPierre VernierA company president gets framed with a food-poisoning scandal and the only person who can help him is the evening cleaning-woman, who always seems to be at the right place at the right time.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsPhilippe NoiretSilvia MonfortMarcel JouetFollow the story of a couple who goes to a small French fishing village to try to solve the problems of their deteriorating marriage.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsAnne ParillaudMarc DuretPatrick FontanaConvicted felon Nikita isn't going to jail; she's given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsCharles BoyerDanielle DarrieuxVittorio De SicaWhen an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.
- DirectorOlivier DahanStarsMarion CotillardSylvie TestudPascal GreggoryBiopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
- DirectorColine SerreauStarsVincent LindonPatrick TimsitZabou BreitmanVictor's wife leaves him, and on the same day he loses his job. Depressed, he tries to find someone to listen to his grief, but the only person ready to show some empathy is the simple-minded Michou whom Victor finds irritating.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsStéphane AudranJean YanneAntonio PassaliaAn unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsMichel DuchaussoyCaroline CellierJean YanneA man asserts himself within the life of an actress he believes is somehow responsible for his son's death.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsStéphane AudranMichel PiccoliClaude PiépluLucienne Delamare and Pierre Maury are having an affair. Lucienne's husband Paul is the mayor, and a French deputy. Pierre's wife Clotilde has been weak and sickly for years. Lucienne's husband holds no excitement for her, and he is always away in Paris on business. Pierre is now the vice-mayor, thanks to Paul. Lucienne and Pierre have a secret meeting spot by a lake along a country lane. Pierre's wife dies suddenly, by suicide the town gossips believe. Pierre confesses otherwise to Lucienne. Paul proposes a shady land deal which will "benefit the town", and wants Pierre's political support and collusion. Then Paul discovers proof of his wife's affair...
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsGérard DepardieuCarole LaurePatrick DewaereA worried husband finds a lover for his depressed wife, but she falls in love with a bullied thirteen-year-old math prodigy and wants to have the boy's baby.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsPhilippe NoiretIsabelle HuppertStéphane AudranA pathetic police chief, humiliated by everyone around him, suddenly wants a clean slate in life - and resorts to drastic means to do so.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJeanne MoreauJean-Claude BrialyMichel BouquetJulie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose?
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudClaude JadeDelphine SeyrigAfter being discharged from the army, Antoine Doinel centers a screwball comedy where he applies for different jobs and tries to make sense of his relationships with women.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsSandrine BonnaireMacha MérilStéphane FreissA young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.
- DirectorJean-Loup HubertStarsAnémoneRichard BohringerAntoine HubertLouis, a nine-year-old boy from Paris, spends his summer vacation in a small town in Brittany. His mother Claire has lodged him with her girlfriend Marcelle and her husband Pelo while she's having her second baby. There Louis makes friends with Martine, the ten-year-old girl next door, and learns from her about life.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsJeanne MoreauGeorges GéretMichel PiccoliA sophisticated and self-assured woman from Paris joins a middle-class rural estate as a maid and causes quite a stir among the variously uptight, perverse and violent inhabitants.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPaulette GoddardBurgess MeredithHurd HatfieldA chambermaid plots to climb the social ladder by marrying a wealthy man.
- DirectorPierre SalvadoriStarsJean RochefortMarie TrintignantGuillaume DepardieuInto the solitary life of middle-aged hitman Victor Meynard come two people: Antoine, a youth who becomes Victor's apprentice; and Renée, a bold thief Victor's been hired to kill because she cheated a mobster. When circumstances prevent Victor from killing her, the gangster sends two more teams to do it and to dispatch Victor and Antoine. Victor decides to help Renée, and the unlikely trio ends up at his house with his temperamental mother; as they hide out there, Victor's attraction to Renée grows, she discovers his vocation and fears he will kill her, and an ultimate showdown with their hunters is inevitable.
- DirectorClaude ZidiStarsPhilippe NoiretThierry LhermitteRégineA moderately corrupt veteran policeman teaches the art of bribes to his young partner. The rookie turns out to be an extremely capable student, and soon overtakes the teacher.
- DirectorPierre SalvadoriStarsMarie TrintignantFrançois CluzetGuillaume DepardieuBlack comedy about two best friends, one a budding playwright and the other a motorbike freak, who spend their time annoying their girlfriends and getting into various scrapes. Things turn nasty, however, when the pair are caught burgling the offices of a karate magazine, the consequences of which sends the playwright into a spiraling bout of depression.
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsYves MontandGérard DepardieuDaniel AuteuilA greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueSacha GuitryStarsJacqueline DelubacSacha GuitryLyn HardingThree narrators (French writer Jean Martin, an English royal equerry, and a papal chamberlain) tell the story of seven matched pearls, four of them now in the British Crown. Episodes whirl us from Pope Clement VII to Mary Queen of Scots, from whom the pearls are stolen while she's occupied with the headsman. Historic events are seasoned with sly, satiric humor, and famous beauties are portrayed by stunning actresses. Then the narrators meet, and decide to try tracing the three unrecovered pearls from 1587 to the present...
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaLászló SzabóJean-Pierre LéaudIn the near future, leftist writer Paula goes from Paris to the French town of Atlantic-Cité when she learns of the death of a former colleague and lover, Richard P. Is she there to investigate? On the surface, faces are beautiful, colors bright, clothes trendy. Beneath, little is clear: some talk to Paula as if she's Alice in Wonderland, corpses pile up, and ideological struggles insert themselves. A murder victim's nephew and a political party's hired hands hover around Paula. Is obscuring things her goal or is it life that's obscure?
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsCharles BerlingJean RochefortFanny ArdantTo get royal backing on a needed drainage project, a poor French lord must learn to play the delicate games of wit at court at Versailles.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsMathieu AmalricEmmanuelle SeignerMarie-Josée CrozeThe true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.
- 1993–199452m7.3 (127)TV EpisodeDirectorPatricia MazuyStarsLeslie AzzoulaiHélène EichersJulien GerinIn the late 1970s, a teenage French girl is obsessed with the then popular American movie heartthrob, John Travolta.
- 1993–199458m7.8 (729)TV EpisodeDirectorClaire DenisStarsAlice HouriJessica TharaudGrégoire ColinIn the sixties, in a suburb near Paris, Martine wants to lose her virginity.
- DirectorFrancis VeberStarsGad ElmalehAlice TaglioniDaniel AuteuilA porter and a top-model have to pretend to be a couple in order to salvage a CEO's marriage.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsRoger PigautClaire MafféiNoël RoquevertWorking class couple Antoine and Antoinette dream of a better life. In the midst of constantly fending off the unwanted attention of men, especially the grocer Monsieur Roland, Antoinette purchases a winning lottery ticket. But when Antoine loses their ticket out of poverty, their dreams seem like they'll remain just that.
- DirectorFrancis VeberStarsDaniel AuteuilGérard DepardieuThierry LhermitteA man spreads the rumor of his fake homosexuality with the aid of his neighbor, to prevent his imminent firing at his work.
- DirectorOlivier NakacheÉric ToledanoStarsFrançois CluzetOmar SyAnne Le NyAfter he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
- DirectorJean GiraultStarsLouis de FunèsGeneviève GradMichel GalabruGendarme Ludovic Cruchot is re-assigned to the French Riviera seaside resort town of Saint-Tropez where petty criminals and his own daughter give him a hard time.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsPatrick DewaereMel FerrerMichel AuclairA young journalist stumbles across something much more sinister than a simple suicide in the death of a politician - the death seems to be an assassination contrived by an American multinational company intent on taking over several French industries. The journalist's objective is to garner enough evidence to expose the American corporation for what it really is, before French companies start disappearing - and before any more corpses accumulate, including his own.
- DirectorMichel HazanaviciusStarsFrançois DamiensJean DujardinKhalid MaadourSecret agent OSS 117 foils Nazis, beds local beauties, and brings peace to the Middle East.
- DirectorAlain ChabatStarsGérard DepardieuChristian ClavierJamel DebbouzeAsterix and Obelix go to Egypt to help architect Edifis who is building a palace for Cleopatra.
- DirectorAlbert DupontelStarsAlbert DupontelSandrine KiberlainNicolas MariéAriane Felder, a judge of strict morals discovers she's pregnant by Bob Nolan, a criminal wanted for murder.
- DirectorBenoît DelépineGustave KervernStarsGérard DepardieuYolande MoreauIsabelle AdjaniA retiree battles to obtain his rightfully due pension.
- DirectorRiad SattoufStarsVincent LacosteAnthony SonigoAlice TrémolièresComing-of-age tale about an adolescent boy and his efforts to fit in among a varied cast of characters.
- DirectorBruno PodalydèsStarsDenis PodalydèsGuilaine LondezPatrick PineauDuring the summer vacation of a french family, the father goes through a mid-life crisis. To cope with it, he ends up buying a boat, which turns out to be a not-so-good idea.
- DirectorBruno PodalydèsStarsDenis PodalydèsJeanne BalibarIsabelle CandelierA sound engineer who is chronically hesitant has to make a hard choice between three successively charming young women.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsPierre ArditiSabine AzémaJean-Pierre BacriA musical story about how people find their love on the streets of beautiful Paris.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsMiou-MiouMichel PiccoliMichel DuchaussoyDuring the events of May 1968 in France, different worldviews of conflicting relatives collide in their family estate.
- DirectorAlbert DupontelStarsClaude PerronAlbert DupontelPhilippe UchanA successful author, Darius sees posters announcing his new play. Suddenly panicked, he remembers that he forgot to write it. Darius then begins to panic and finds no inspiration.
- DirectorAlain ChabatStarsElliotCaroline CellierJean-Pierre BacriJean-Pierre, a frazzled sport agent, has better things to do than to look after his friend's labrador Didier. An amazing discovery will lead him off on an amazing adventure.
- DirectorDidier BourdonBernard CampanStarsDidier BourdonBernard CampanPascal LégitimusThree half-brothers are reunited at their mother's funeral. After being told of their inheritance they quickly spend the money, only to find out that they will not receive it after all. The men grow closer while deciding how to proceed.
- DirectorClaude PinoteauStarsClaude BrasseurBrigitte FosseySophie MarceauThis is the story about a teenage girl's first love experiences.
- DirectorClaude PinoteauStarsClaude BrasseurBrigitte FosseySophie MarceauVulnerable and impressionable teenage girl continues to experience sorrows and joys of adult life.
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsYves MontandIsabelle AdjaniLauren HuttonVictor Valance, an absent father who likes to gamble, returns home in order to take money from his family and gamble with it. His daughter is suspicious of her father's activities and messes up his plans. When she realizes however, that gangsters are trying to rob her father, her attitude changes.
- DirectorJean-Marie PoiréStarsGérard LanvinChristian ClavierJean-Pierre BacriThey are the world's best friends. Five friends who shared everything: May 1968, hippie years, rock, and their love for Bernadette, who left them to become a rock star. 15 years later, Bernadette is back for a weekend. This Bernadette has left them to become a rock-star, and is back 15 years later for a weekend. With this film, Jean-Marie Poire presents the portrait of a generation with lots of humor served by excellent actors.
- DirectorMichel BlancStarsGérard LanvinMichel BlancSophie DuezTwo friends, one a musician the other constantly depressed wander around Greece and France till they get to Paris without a penny to their name. Here they spend nights in the underground, and squat in houses with the African immigrants. One day they both fall in love with Mathilde a blond dancer and follow her to New York.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsGérard JugnotJean RochefortSylvie GranotierMichel Mortez is going to and fro France to compere a radio game he created 25 years ago. He is famous among the average Frenchmen. But he is also a poker. Rivetot, his assistant and technician, always goes with him. He is the only one to know what really lies under Mortez's appearance of playful don Juan. When the programme is condemned by the managers, Rivetot delays as long as possible the moment he will have to announce it to Mortez... Both malicious and tender, this bitter comedy also shows nostalgia.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsJean RochefortAnna GalienaRoland BertinAntoine has always been fascinated by a hairdresser's delicate touch, the beguiling perfume and the enticing figure of a woman with an opulent bosom. After all, he always knew he would marry one, completing his idealised love fantasy.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsVanessa ParadisDaniel AuteuilFrédéric PflugerOne night, a fading entertainer intervenes when a woman contemplates suicide, beginning a strange, unpredictable relationship.
- DirectorPhilippe de BrocaStarsAnnie GirardotPhilippe NoiretFrancis PerrinAntoine, a professor of Greek, and Lise, a police inspector, honeymoon in Greece. There they meet a young couple, Charles, an archaeologist, and Agnes, a dishy flirt. Charles unearths the lovely buttocks of a classical statue and is determined to donate it to the Louvre. Agnes wants to sell it and gets a handsome local sailor to take it for an appraisal. When the sailor is murdered, the police suspect Charles and arrest Antoine as his accomplice. Lise swings into action, but before she can clear the men, Agnes springs them from jail, and now Lise must help them elude the police, find the real murderer, and recover the statue fragment. More art goes missing. What is the statue's secret?
- DirectorClaude ZidiStarsMichel GalabruMaria PacômeDaniel AuteuilBaptiste 'Bebel' Lavalle and his classmates in Versailles' private high-school Louis XIV enjoy their carefree life enough to deliberately fail the exams, a national record of zero graduating pupils. Permissive headmaster Léon Jumaucourt's bitchy wife Lucie takes charge, determined to make them pass. She's no match for Bebel's tricks, despite cruel abuse, but the gang also annoys the public, including the dumb police commissioner. After a mix-up between their bomb-alert prop and a real terrorist group's African embassy attack, Bebel's bunch is condemned to pass their exams or go to jail, and the commissioner, charged with supervision, is in no mood to let them off easily.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MockyStarsMichel SerraultJean PoiretJeanne MoreauThe roman catholic pilgrimage to Lourdes depicted in an anticlerical way: hypocrisy, superstition and business.
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsGérard DepardieuBernard BlierJean CarmetAlphonse lives in an empty building. Empty but for one neighbour, the police captain Morvandieu. When the man who have killed Alphonse's wife appears, the three men will be thrown in a serie of event in a surrealist world.
- DirectorYves RobertStarsJean RochefortClaude BrasseurGuy BedosSequel to Pardon Mon Affaire. Four men continue to explore the fallout from their personal lives. This time they buy a house in the country, but struggle to escape their troubles.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsPatrick DewaereFrance DougnacDorothée JemmaThe miserable football player becomes a town hero after bringing victory in extremely important game. He uses his fame for revenge to the team star for the previous mockeries.
- DirectorDiane KurysStarsEléonore KlarweinOdile MichelAnouk FerjacA year in the life of two adolescent sisters at an all-girls school in France as they experience a rapid-fire onslaught of 'firsts' during a time of political protest and social change.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsYves MontandMichel AlbertiniRoland AmstutzConspiracy thriller inspired by the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of JFK. After a fictional president is assassinated, a determined, tough prosecutor investigates the emerging conspiracy behind it.