100 major French movies (ranked)

A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.

The theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.

In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy, and the ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force her to recant her claims of holy visions.

When she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.

After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.

A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.

Michel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.

A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.

A French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.

Three gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque France.

When 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.

During 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.

The story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.

A French village doctor becomes the target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.

Newly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.

In the seaside town of Boulogne, no one seems to be able to cope with their past, least of all Hélène, an antique furniture saleswoman, her stepson Bernard, and her former lover Alphonse.

Depressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living. Will this help him?

A bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.

Monsieur Hulot visits the technology-driven world of his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, but he can't quite fit into the surroundings.

Anne-Marie Stretter, wife of a French diplomat, lives in 1930s India. She takes many lovers as systems of oppression decay around her.

The business tycoon Nicolas Saccard is nearly ruined by his rival Gunderman, when he tries to raise capital for his company. To push up the price of his stock, Saccard plans a publicity stunt involving the aviator Jacques Hamelin flying across the Atlantic to Guyana and drilling for oil there, much to the dismay of Hamelin's wife Line. While Hamelin is away, Saccard tries to seduce Line. Line finally realizes that she and her husband were pawns in Saccard's scheme, and she accuses him of stock fraud.

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.

A wanted gangster is both king and prisoner of the Casbah. He is protected from arrest by his friends, but is torn by his desire for freedom outside. A visiting Parisian beauty may just tempt his fate.

The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.

In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.