French Cinema
by joostkemperman | created - 26 Apr 2016 | updated - 31 Mar 2023 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Pépé le Moko (1937)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
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.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 8,071 | Gross: $0.15M
2. A Man Escaped (1956)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Votes: 24,990
3. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,058
4. Pickpocket (1959)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama
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.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Dolly Scal
Votes: 25,341
5. Breathless (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Van Doude, Jean-Luc Godard
Votes: 87,910 | Gross: $0.34M
6. Classe Tous Risques (1960)
Not Rated | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A ruthless criminal flees from the pursuit, involving more and more casualties.
Director: Claude Sautet | Stars: Lino Ventura, Sandra Milo, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcel Dalio
Votes: 4,277 | Gross: $0.09M
7. Murmur of the Heart (1971)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
As France is nearing the end of the first Indochina War, an open-minded teenage boy finds himself torn between a rebellious urge to discover love, and the ever-present, almost dominating affection of his beloved mother.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux, Daniel Gélin, Michael Lonsdale
Votes: 10,845 | Gross: $0.35M
8. Vivre sa vie (1962)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe, Guylaine Schlumberger
Votes: 34,989
9. Man Bites Dog (1992)
NC-17 | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
Directors: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde | Stars: Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert, Hector Pappaert
Votes: 43,724 | Gross: $0.21M
10. La haine (1995)
Not Rated | 98 min | Crime, Drama
24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui, Abdel Ahmed Ghili
Votes: 196,383 | Gross: $0.31M
11. A Self-Made Hero (1996)
Not Rated | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
Set in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator. He leaves his wife and goes to Paris. Gradually he ... See full summary »
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Mathieu Kassovitz, Anouk Grinberg, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jean-Louis Trintignant
Votes: 3,274 | Gross: $0.07M
12. I Stand Alone (1998)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A horse butcher's life and mind begin to break down as he lashes out against various factions of society while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Philippe Nahon, Blandine Lenoir, Frankie Pain, Martine Audrain
Votes: 25,797 | Gross: $0.05M
13. Read My Lips (2001)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
She is almost deaf and he lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier
Votes: 16,463 | Gross: $1.36M
14. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,633 | Gross: $0.75M
15. Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008)
R | 133 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life and death as France's Public Enemy No. 1 in the 1970s.
Director: Jean-François Richet | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric, Samuel Le Bihan
Votes: 31,236 | Gross: $0.28M
16. Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)
R | 113 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life before the early 1970s and the events that led to him being declared Public Enemy No. 1 in France.
Director: Jean-François Richet | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Cécile de France, Gérard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche
Votes: 35,291 | Gross: $0.55M
17. A Prophet (2009)
R | 155 min | Crime, Drama
A delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb
Votes: 102,176 | Gross: $2.08M
18. Our Day Will Come (2010)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
The outcast red-haired teenager Rémy is bulled at school and lives with his estranged mother and sister in France. The also red-haired psychiatrist Patrick befriends Rémy and helps him to ... See full summary »
Director: Romain Gavras | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Olivier Barthélémy, Justine Lerooy, Vanessa Decat
Votes: 4,217
19. Incendies (2010)
R | 131 min | Drama, Mystery, War
Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel
Votes: 200,188 | Gross: $6.86M
20. Les Lyonnais (2011)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After growing up in a poor gypsy camp, Edmond Vidal, aka Momon, has retained a sense of family, unfailing loyalty and pride in his origins. Most of all, he has remained friends with Serge ... See full summary »
Director: Olivier Marchal | Stars: Gérard Lanvin, Tchéky Karyo, Daniel Duval, Lionnel Astier
Votes: 8,815
21. Rebellion (2011)
136 min | Action, Drama, History
Dissidents in a French overseas territory attack a police station and take hostages.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz | Stars: Mathieu Kassovitz, Iabe Lapacas, Malik Zidi, Alexandre Steiger
Votes: 2,878
22. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
NC-17 | 180 min | Drama, Romance
Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche | Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Aurélien Recoing
Votes: 163,044 | Gross: $2.20M
23. Love (II) (2015)
TV-MA | 135 min | Drama, Romance
Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with Electra. Unaware of the effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbor into their bed.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Aomi Muyock, Karl Glusman, Klara Kristin, Juan Saavedra
Votes: 66,662
24. Dheepan (2015)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby, Vincent Rottiers
Votes: 16,817 | Gross: $0.25M
25. Young & Beautiful (2013)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Romance
After losing her virginity, Isabelle takes up a secret life as a call girl, meeting her clients for hotel-room trysts. Throughout, she remains curiously aloof, showing little interest in the encounters themselves or the money she makes.
Director: François Ozon | Stars: Marine Vacth, Géraldine Pailhas, Frédéric Pierrot, Fantin Ravat
Votes: 38,267 | Gross: $0.05M
26. Double Lover (2017)
Not Rated | 107 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Chloé, a fragile young woman, falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul. A few months later she moves in with him, but soon discovers that her lover is concealing a part of his identity.
Director: François Ozon | Stars: Marine Vacth, Jérémie Renier, Jacqueline Bisset, Myriam Boyer
Votes: 13,658 | Gross: $0.17M
27. Racer and the Jailbird (2017)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Set against the background of a brutal crime gang in Brussels, a tragic love story between Gigi, a high-flying gangster, and Bibi, a young racing driver with very upper-class roots.
Director: Michaël R. Roskam | Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Eric De Staercke, Jean-Benoît Ugeux
Votes: 5,697 | Gross: $0.05M
28. 13 Tzameti (2005)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man takes over a dead man's task without realizing the horror it entails.
Director: Géla Babluani | Stars: George Babluani, Aurélien Recoing, Pascal Bongard, Fred Ulysse
Votes: 18,032 | Gross: $0.12M
29. Paris Can Wait (2016)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The wife of a successful movie producer takes a car trip from the south of France to Paris with one of her husband's associates.
Director: Eleanor Coppola | Stars: Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard, Alec Baldwin, Elise Tielrooy
Votes: 9,763 | Gross: $5.62M
30. Frantz (2016)
PG-13 | 113 min | Drama, History, Romance
In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.
Director: François Ozon | Stars: Pierre Niney, Paula Beer, Ernst Stötzner, Marie Gruber
Votes: 17,444 | Gross: $0.88M
31. The Crew (2015)
TV-MA | 81 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Work-life balance breaks down for Paris's most gifted armed robbers when a grave mistake forces them to work for a crime boss in a high-stakes heist.
Director: Julien Leclercq | Stars: Sami Bouajila, Guillaume Gouix, Youssef Hajdi, Redouane Behache
Votes: 5,440
32. Shéhérazade (2018)
TV-MA | 109 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Zachary, 17 years old, gets out of jail. Rejected by his mother, he hangs out in the mean streets of Marseille. This is where he meets Shéhérazade.
Director: Jean-Bernard Marlin | Stars: Dylan Robert, Kenza Fortas, Idir Azougli, Lisa Amedjout
Votes: 2,658
33. Cookies (1975)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Drama
Henri is a middle-aged travelling umbrella salesman from Saumur. One night on the roads of Brittany he hits a boar with his car. He meets Émile, a rude and carefree painter who lives in a cottage near Riec-sur-Belon.
Director: Joël Séria | Stars: Jean-Pierre Marielle, Claude Piéplu, Jeanne Goupil, Dolores McDonough
Votes: 1,080
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