14 Best French Films

Today is Bastille Day in France and what better way to celebrate than look at some of the best France has to offer when it comes to their cinema.

French cinema's quality of films is only matched by a few other countries (USA, UK, Sweden, Japan and Iran) but their movies are arguably the most influential. The French New Wave of the early 1960s influenced just about every director and movement of cinema that come after it and it was for the better (Six of the films chosen are from the New Wave). Outside the French New Wave, France is known for the Cannes Film Festival, easily the most prestigious and glamorous film festival in the world. French cinema has covered many themes, and love is what they are known for outside of film and when it comes to French cinema no one and I mean no one has committed love to celluloid like anyone else.

Anyways, enough about why French cinema is great here are my picks, in no particular order.

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Breathless (1960, Dir. Jean-Luc Godard)

Often considered the most important directorial début since Orson Welles and Citizen Kane, this film not only truly got the French New Wave underway but unlike Welles, Goddard made films just as great as his début. Jean-Luc Goddard is a man of many quotes when it comes to film making and one of my favorites is "I pity the French Cinema because it has no money. I pity the American Cinema because it has no ideas". In Breathless, Godard uses many American ideals and tropes along with his now recognisable style of film making to create one of the most essential movies of all-time.

Breathless captures French life in a way that few other films have. Instead of telling the story of the illustrious, bourgeoisie life in France, he opposes to tell the story of a Humphrey Bogart wanna-be who is wanted by the police and his on and off girlfriend. The entire story of the movie is told on the streets, there is no elaborate sets or set pieces, this isn't escapism cinema, this movie actually says something and something worth listening to.

The 400 Blows (1959, Dir. Francois Truffaut)

If you only plan on watching a handful of foreign films in your life time make this one of them. Like Breathless, The 400 Blows was an essential piece of the French New Wave. Truffaut's semi autobiographical tale of the troubled kid in Antoine Doinel is one that in one way or another we can all relate too. I listed The 400 Blows as one of the essential coming-of-age films and I still stand by that.

Where as Truffaut's contemporary, Godard, broke the rules of cinema to create new pieces of work, Truffaut built upon them. He ventured where directors couldn't or wouldn't dare to go before to tell this stark depiction of the life of a teenager in 1950s France.

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959, Dir Alain Resnais)

Along with The 400 Blows this film was the start the French New Wave but it was the first film of the Left Bank group of film makers from the era. The French are known for their cultural significance when it comes to love and Hiroshima Mon Amour is one of the most touching. The film also broken up with many flashback scenes while the main story is acting as narration and this film was the first to do so. Emmanuelle Riva's breakout in this film is an earned one as she not only makes herself a staple of French New Wave cinema but that she is on her way to becoming one of the most important French actresses ever.

Love that comes from pain is the main theme here as both of the two leads have been through hard times, mainly from their experiences in WW2. Resnais presents a stark representation of the effects of the Hiroshima bombing in 1945. The film was originally going to be a documentary, a continuation of Resnais's earlier film 'Night and Fog' but we ended up getting this masterpiece of French cinema.

Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013, Dir. Abdellatif Kechiche)

You would think that a romance story that lasts almost three hours would drag but it's quite the opposite here as Abdellatif Kechiche gives us one of the essential French film of this decade (so far). The film (in)famously won the Palme d'Or in 2013 for it's director but along with its two lead actresses as the jury lead by Steven Spielberg believed that they had just as much to do with the films success as the director did. The jury was right as Lea Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos give performances that might never be topped in their respective careers.

Where as most American films will treat romance with the way a lot of people wish it was but here it concentrates on giving us a realistic insight into the relationship as the couple go on about their daily lives together as they eat, have friends over and talk to each other. Also don't watch this film with your parents.

Le Samourai (1967, Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)

Jean-Paul Melville is a director who does and doesn't have a style: a no-style if you will. Le Samourai is crime film but a quite one at that. There is minimal dialogue from the main character but the facial expressions tell us just as much. Even with a muted colour palette the film is still one that is great to look at.

If you're looking for a crime film that isn't as kinetic as a Scorsese film or as grand as the Godfather picks Le Samourai is a great one to pick (the Coen Brother's Millers Crossing is another one).

Contempt (1962, Dir. Jean-Luc Godard)

While plenty of film makers have gone against the three act structure when telling their story Godard here essentially has three chapters and each one fits its respective part of said structure. The first act is where all our main characters are introduced, the main couple (a screenwriter and his wife), German director Fritz Lang, and the American producer. We also see the seeds being sown as to what happens later in the movie. The second act is the main conflict arises and in it's own manner it's heartbreaking, even if the characters are a bit devious. The acts are clearly defined here, instead of one flowing to the next Godard opts to call attention to each acts as they begin and end.

Before watching Contempt I had no idea how Godard could top Breathless but after finishing Contempt I knew and now I have picking a favourite of Godard's films. I have four vying for the top spot (Breathless, Contempt, Masculine Feminine and Weekend) but I chose Breathless and Contempt as they are the two films that are often considered his best pieces of work.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, Dir. Jacques Demy)

I'll admit I'm not a fan of the musical genre but like other genres that I'm not a fan of there are exceptions. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of two exceptions when it comes to the musicals. It might be because there are no set pieces/numbers like the American musical but rather every single word spoken in the movie is sung. On first viewing it does take some adjustment but once you get used to it, it's hard not to get attached.

Unlike the works of Godard, Truffaut or Resnais, Demy's films are closer to the American counterparts in terms of sets and camera work. The camera work is more technical than Demy's counterparts. One of the great shots of the movie comes at the end of the first chapter when the camera starts in a mid-close shot of the main character then on a crane it moves further and further away until the we feel lonely.

A Man Escaped (1956, Dir. Robert Bresson)

Forget 'The Shawshank Redemption' this is the ultimate prison film. One thing prison films aren't known for are their sound design, especially when compared to submarine films. However Robert Bresson uses sound for more than just adding to the story, it is the story. Many people will claim that The Shawshank Redemption explores the human condition when it comes to confinement but rather it just gives a one dimension view of it - escape. A Man Escape goes into more detail, such as the whys and the hows. Our protagonist at several points must decide if he needs to kill someone just he can escape.

The final act of the movie when the main character attempts to escape takes up almost a third of the movie but every second is vital. Every line of the narration is essential. The act is a great Hitchcock scene if Hitchcock was European.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, Dir. Luis Bunel)

From the man who cut someone's eye, intercut with a cloud crossing the moon, is his greatest film. If I had to summarise what the film is about in a sentence (which is what I am going to do) it would be "A group of Bourgeoisie from France try to sit down and eat a meal but every time they do, they are interrupted". Every time they get interrupted the situation becomes weirder and weirder. The interruptions are things like a large group of soldiers come into their house and then they feed them, having no food for themselves or to find out that the food is plastic and that they are on a stage being watched by a group of people.

Few films have captured life in this way, let alone French life. The film has an underlying comedic tone to it but it's hard to know if you want to laugh or not and if you do why. Parts of the humour is deadpan and others are, well, I don't know. However I do know that it makes for one very unique film.

Amour (2012, Dir. Michael Haneke)

Amour was one of the first foreign films I ever saw and it's left an impression on me ever since, it's also the standard by which I judge foreign films that have come out in the last several years. The film taught me how to pay attention and how to really understand a movie. This is thanks to how Michael Haneke directed the movie, as the movie has a long median shot time as Haneke often puts the camera on a tripod and lets it stare at the characters talk and it's great to listen to, even if the themes are heavy handed.

The two leads here are played by Emmanuelle Rive (Hiroshima mon Amour, Three Colours: Blue) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (Three Colours: Red) who both give performances that only actors with as much as experience they have could give. The film's title translates as 'Love' in English and it really couldn't be anything else. This is a real tear-jerker.

Three Colours Trilogy (1993/1994, Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski

(Three Colours: Blue, Three Colours: White and Three Colours Red)

No movie(s) have captured French the way Krzysztof Kieślowski's masterful trilogy have. Each chapter in the trilogy represents one of the French Revolutionary Ideals (Liberty, Equality and Fraternity). In Blue, Juliette Binoche's character goes through a emotional Liberty as she copes with death of her Husband (who was a famous composer) and her Daughter in a car crash. In White, Zbigniew Zamachowski's character deals with his divorce, which ended in a humiliating way for him and he trys to get his equality back by plotting his revenge. Lastly in Red, Irene Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant's characters go through a process of getting to know each other even when they appear to have nothing in common at first.

Krzysztof Kieślowski's vision here is one that few directors strive for and he hits the target here. The films are backed up by great performances from Binoche in Blue, Zamachowski in White and Jacob and Trintignant in Red as well as the cinematography in each movie as each are doused in their respective colours.

Enter the Void (2009, Dir. Gaspar Noe)

Enter the Void can be summed as a psychedelic movie. I think the movie speak for itself and it's one you should see for yourself but be wary because the movie is graphic, very graphic.

The movie is entirely shot from the POV (point of view) of the main character and it's done in a way you won't forget anytime soon.

Cache (2005, Dir. Michael Haneke)

Like Godard, I had to narrow down the picks for Michael Haneke. Where most directors will try to tie a nice little bow around their films and the story within, Haneke doesn't even think about doing that. He's films and Cache is the prime example, will have you thinking right throughout the movie and well after the credits start rolling. The film is also one that rewards with re-watching. Haneke doesn't want to entertain you, he wants to test you and like a lot of life tests you won't get it first time around and therefore re-watching it is worth it.

Unlike Tarantino, Haneke's violence is used to understand human behaviour in society. It's a perspective that few directors have aimed for it's helped Haneke win two Palme d'Or's (White Ribbon and Amour) as well as a sleuth of other awards.

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962, Dir. Agnes Varda)

While the title may be misleading as the movie actually takes place between 5 and 6:30, it's probably the first movie that you can tell that a female director directed it by watching it. Varda went places where other female directors wouldn't go and where male directors couldn't go. Unlike Varda's contemporaries, Varda's characters aren't objects of male's desire as portrayed in Truffaut's or Godard's films. Cleo feels like a vulnerable person as she waits for cancer test results.

Cleo from 5 to 7 is a great place to start if you want to start watching more films that are directed by women and it's also the one that every other one should be marked against.

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So those are my favorite French films, what are yours? (Except Amelie)