Hidden Gems From French Speaking Cinema ✓
It's a fact that popularity doesn't define the quality of a movie. There are movies that are big hits in their country but don't make that impact when they cross borders.
This list is composed of some of the best hidden gems of French language chosen by the users of the IMDb Poll Board.
Which one do you consider the best?
Discuss here
This list is composed of some of the best hidden gems of French language chosen by the users of the IMDb Poll Board.
Which one do you consider the best?
Discuss here
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- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinMarius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsJean GabinBourvilLouis de FunèsTwo men carry at night four suitcases of contraband meat across German-occupied Paris during WWII. Their opposite personalities and strange encounters provoke different adventures - until they are arrested by the police.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsMichel SimonRoger CarelPaul PréboistIn German-occupied France, a Jewish child is sent away from his family and conceals his religious affiliation from the anti-Semitic elderly man that takes care of him.Suggested by: albstein
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsPatrick BauchauHaydée PolitoffDaniel PommereulleA womanizing art dealer and a painter find the serenity of their Riviera vacation disturbed by a third guest, a vivacious bohemian woman known for her long list of male conquests.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorYves RobertStarsPhilippe NoiretFrançoise BrionMarlène JobertAlexandre, a young and honest farmer under the yoke of an authoritarian wife, works around the clock in the fields. When she dies in a car accident, it's a holiday for Alexandre.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsMichel PiccoliRomy SchneiderGérard LartigauA highway engineer is involved in a car crash, after which, near death, he remembers his life leading up to the accident.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorRené GoscinnyStarsMarcel BozzuffiPierre TrabaudJacques BalutinWhen the members of a caravan of pioneers find a daisy growing in the middle of the desert they decide to stop there and to build their town on this very spot. Houses soon spring up like mushrooms, immediately followed by a bank, a saloon, a prison, etc: Daisy Town is born.Suggested by: albstein
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsGérard DepardieuMiou-MiouPatrick DewaereTwo thugs harass assault, steal, murder, Marie-Ange, a jaded, passive hairdresser, joins them as lover, cook, and mother confessor, on her own search for seemingly unattainable sexual pleasure.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsDelphine SeyrigJan DecorteHenri StorckA lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.Suggested by: leavey-2
- DirectorRobert EnricoStarsPhilippe NoiretRomy SchneiderJean BouiseDuring World War II, a peaceful French surgeon decides to ruthlessly exterminate an SS squad because of the atrocities they'd just committed in his countryside home and childhood village.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorFrancis VeberStarsPierre RichardMichel BouquetFabrice GrecoA poor journalist finds himself as a toy of a boss' son. Making friends with a naughty child, he tries to save him from the cruel power of his father.Suggested by: MAthePA
- DirectorJean-Marie PoiréStarsAnémoneJosiane BalaskoMarie-Anne ChazelTwo neurotics, working for a suicide hotline on the night of Christmas Eve, get caught up in a catastrophe when a pregnant woman, her abusive boyfriend, and a transvestite visit their office.Suggested by: MAthePA
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsColucheRichard AnconinaAgnès SoralA story of an odd friendship - and the unexpected consequences.Suggested by: albstein
- DirectorBruno NuyttenStarsIsabelle AdjaniGérard DepardieuMadeleine RobinsonCamille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.Suggested by: rubyfruit76
- 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.Suggested by: MAthePA
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsMichel BouquetMireille PerrierJo De BackerThomas believed he was switched at birth with Alfred. Feeling cheated, Thomas spent his life plotting revenge against Alfred, his perceived lifelong adversary who he felt stole the privileged life that should have been his.Suggested by: leavey-2
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsMichel PiccoliJane BirkinEmmanuelle BéartThe former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.Suggested by: MAthePA
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.Suggested by: MAthePA
- DirectorAlain BerbérianStarsChantal LaubyAlain ChabatDominique FarrugiaA second-class horror movie has to be shown at Cannes Film Festival, but, before each screening, the projectionist is killed by a mysterious fellow, with hammer and sickle, just as it happens in the film to be shown.Suggested by: ElM.
- 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.Suggested by: Patrick Salbaing
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsDaniel AuteuilPascal DuquenneMiou-MiouAn unusual and wonderful friendship develops between a busy but unhappy salesman and a resident of a mental asylum.Suggested by: leavey-2
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsJérémie RenierOlivier GourmetAssita OuedraogoRoger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father's orders.Suggested by: leavey-2
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsArta DobroshiJérémie RenierFabrizio RongioneLorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her lover Sokol. In order to do so, she has become involved in a scam conducted by Fabio, a gangster.Suggested by: leavey-2
- DirectorXavier GiannoliStarsFrançois CluzetEmmanuelle DevosGérard DepardieuFrance, present day. A professional conman passes himself off as the boss of a construction site building a highway extension. He cons the whole region, hires dozens of workers and cynically enjoys the profits of his scam until he meets the lady mayor of a small village that the road will go through. She intrigues and unsettles him, before revealing to him a world he never knew: feelings. How far will he go now to save his victims and save himself from his own lies?Suggested by: albstein
- DirectorStéphane BrizéStarsVincent LindonKarine de MirbeckMatthieu SchallerAt the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?Suggested by: albstein