Film critic Mr.Lalit Rao (FIPRESCI) recommends 25 important films to teach French language.
by FilmCriticLalitRao | created - 28 Jan 2015 | updated - 06 Aug 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Little Nicholas (2009)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Family
Nicholas has every reason to keep things in life unchanged; however, when he accidentally overhears mum and dad talking about a new baby brother, his world will turn upside down. Will they abandon him to make room for the little stranger?
Director: Laurent Tirard | Stars: Maxime Godart, Vincent Claude, Charles Vaillant, Victor Carles
Votes: 14,110
2. To Be and to Have (2002)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, Family
A documentary portrait of a one-room school in rural France, where the students (ranging in age from 4 to 11) are educated by a single dedicated teacher.
Director: Nicolas Philibert | Stars: Georges Lopez, Alizé, Axel Thouvenin, Guillaume
Votes: 8,418 | Gross: $0.78M
3. Ernest & Celestine (2012)
PG | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
The story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine.
Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner | Stars: Lambert Wilson, Pauline Brunner, Anne-Marie Loop, Patrice Melennec
Votes: 22,255 | Gross: $0.29M
4. The Butterfly (I) (2002)
PG | 85 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
This is the story of a young girl named Elsa who was raised by a single mother (Isabelle) in the city. Isabelle and Elsa begin the film moving in next door to an elderly man who collects ... See full summary »
Director: Philippe Muyl | Stars: Michel Serrault, Claire Bouanich, Nade Dieu, Jacques Bouanich
Votes: 3,311 | Gross: $0.04M
5. The Crossing of Paris (1956)
80 min | Comedy, Drama
Two 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.
Director: Claude Autant-Lara | Stars: Jean Gabin, Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Jeannette Batti
Votes: 4,319 | Gross: $0.02M
6. Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! (1966)
G | 132 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
Several ordinary Frenchmen go on an epic voyage through the occupied country to the free zone as they help British pilots avoid German captivity.
Director: Gérard Oury | Stars: Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Claudio Brook, Andréa Parisy
Votes: 20,224
7. Molière (2007)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Comedy
To satisfy his creditors, a witty actor reinvents himself as a satirical playwright, with uproarious, yet bittersweet, results.
Director: Laurent Tirard | Stars: Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Laura Morante, Edouard Baer
Votes: 6,573 | Gross: $0.64M
8. Amélie (2001)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Romance
Despite 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.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta
Votes: 794,355 | Gross: $33.23M
9. Le Dîner de Cons (1998)
PG-13 | 80 min | Comedy
A few friends have a weekly fools' dinner, where each brings a fool along. Pierre finds a champion fool for next dinner. Surprise.
Director: Francis Veber | Stars: Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret, Francis Huster, Daniel Prévost
Votes: 44,352 | Gross: $4.07M
10. L'effrontée (1985)
96 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Charlotte (Gainsbourg) is being raised without a mother. She is only 13 but ready to be an adult. She meets an older boy and begins a relationship while teaching a young friend about life and learning the ropes herself.
Director: Claude Miller | Stars: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Clothilde Baudon, Julie Glenn, Bernadette Lafont
Votes: 2,132
11. The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)
Not Rated | 112 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In medieval France, some villagers challenge a man's claim of identity when he (as he says) returns home from some time in the army.
Director: Daniel Vigne | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Maurice Barrier, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
Votes: 4,824 | Gross: $0.02M
12. Le viager (1972)
101 min | Comedy
The greedy Galipeaus, thinking the old Martinet is about to die, provide him a life annuity to own his house after his death. But Martinet continues living for years, so the Galipeaus opt for radical actions.
Director: Pierre Tchernia | Stars: Michel Serrault, Michel Galabru, Claude Brasseur, Rosy Varte
Votes: 1,258
13. Jean de Florette (1986)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
A 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.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Votes: 27,546 | Gross: $4.94M
14. Manon of the Spring (1986)
PG | 113 min | Drama
A beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her father's land caused his death years earlier.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil, Hippolyte Girardot
Votes: 23,954 | Gross: $3.94M
15. French Fried Vacation 2 (1979)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy
Eight tourists who met in a holiday camp on the Ivory Coast are reunited for a skiing holiday.
Director: Patrice Leconte | Stars: Josiane Balasko, Michel Blanc, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier
Votes: 9,133
16. The Last Metro (1980)
PG | 131 min | Drama, Romance, War
In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Germans while doing both of their jobs.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poiret, Andréa Ferréol
Votes: 15,822
17. 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: 196,530 | Gross: $0.31M
18. Welcome to the Sticks (2008)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Romance
A French public servant from Provence is banished to the far North. Strongly prejudiced against this cold and inhospitable place, he leaves his family behind to relocate temporarily there, with the firm intent to quickly come back.
Director: Dany Boon | Stars: Kad Merad, Dany Boon, Zoé Félix, Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret
Votes: 44,971 | Gross: $1.48M
19. Bicycling with Molière (2013)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
Two actors. One play. Can the differences between the two egocentric men be put aside for the sake of friendship and theatre?
Director: Philippe Le Guay | Stars: Fabrice Luchini, Lambert Wilson, Maya Sansa, Camille Japy
Votes: 3,157 | Gross: $0.06M
20. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 929,763 | Gross: $13.18M
21. Gare du Nord (2013)
119 min | Drama, Romance
Every day, Ismael (Reda Kateb) is dazzled, fascinated and exhausted by his favourite place: the Gare du Nord in Paris.
Director: Claire Simon | Stars: Nicole Garcia, Reda Kateb, François Damiens, Monia Chokri
Votes: 291
22. The French Minister (2013)
Not Rated | 113 min | Comedy
A young speechwriter working in the French Foreign Ministry learns the impure nature of the political world.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier | Stars: Thierry Lhermitte, Raphaël Personnaz, Niels Arestrup, Bruno Raffaelli
Votes: 3,940 | Gross: $0.00M
23. Santa Claus Is a Stinker (1982)
88 min | Comedy
Two 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.
Director: Jean-Marie Poiré | Stars: Anémone, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier
Votes: 10,497
24. Forbidden Games (1952)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, War
A young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.
Director: René Clément | Stars: Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Amédée, Laurence Badie
Votes: 13,108 | Gross: $0.01M
25. The King and the Mockingbird (1980)
Not Rated | 83 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A chimney sweep and a shepherdess seek to escape from the clutches of a tyrannical king.
Director: Paul Grimault | Stars: Jean Martin, Pascal Mazzotti, Raymond Bussières, Agnès Viala
Votes: 5,554 | Gross: $0.03M
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