Film Favourites: French Cinema

I’m a massive lover of France. I adore all things French, whether it be the language, the vin rouge, Paris or baked camembert and baguette.

French cinema has been a passion of mine since I was introduced to Amelie back in 2002. With a new found girl crush on Audrey Tatou and a desire for a block bob with a fringe, I was hooked. With the lovely little film Populaire – a “mix of Mad Men meets the Artist” being released last week, I’ve picked below a list of Little Miss’ top French films to get you started if you are yet to have a rendezvous with French cinema.

Enjoy the below films lovely readers – or, should I say; profiter de ces films!

Belleville Rendezvous

A perfect little cartoon – there are absolutely no words. Just trust me and watch this – Delightful.

Rust and Bone

Marion Cottilard and Matthias Schoenaerts sizzle in this story about Stephanie, a whale trainer who suffers a horrific accident. It’s a simple story about friendship, love and overcoming moments in life that you can’t foresee. A film for a weekday evening, accompanied with a full bodied red wine.

Little White Lies

This film is brilliant. Directed by one of my favourite directors, Guillaume Canet, and starring a whole host of French acting royalty, including Francois Cluzet, Marion Cotillard and Jean Dujardin (The Players, The Artist), this film is a story of a group of friends in their mid-30’s – all at very different stages in their lives. When one of the group suffers a tragic accident, the friends decide to not let it ruin their annual summer holiday. Set across different French landscapes (namely Paris and Cap Ferret) it allows you to resonate with how a group of friends gel together despite being very different and having to overcome events in life that you can’t always predict. Very comic in parts with typical French sensability, it’s a great film to watch with your own group of friends.

Amelie

I mean, who doesn’t love Amelie right?

Tell No One!

This is more of a thriller – think the French equivalent of a Stieg Larrson novel, it’s a fast-paced tour de force tale directed again by Guillaume Canet. Telling the story of widowed Alexandre (played by Francois Cluzet), a doctor who is slowly putting his life together after the murder of his wife eight years ago, he suddenly finds himself implicated in a double homicide – with evidence pointing to him as the killer, even though he knows nothing of these crimes…Gripping, clever and beautifully acted, it’s one for a Friday night with friends.

Le Dîner de Cons

The original French remake of this film is genius – a comedy full of wit, it’s about a group of well to-do people who hold weekly ‘idiots dinners’, where each person must bring a seemingly ‘idiotic’ person along with them to dinner to ridicule. Things get more and more ridiculous in this classic farcical comedy that will have even the hardest nosed critic laughing in their armchair.

La Vie En Rose

Can you see a Marion Cotillard theme here?! J’adore her. Her performance in this film, where she portrays legendary singer Edith Piaf, truly is astonishing and must be seen to be believed.

Enjoy!

LMNH x