50 Great French Films (with video)

Films had to achieve a certain amount of ‘Frenchness’ to be included here. For example, I wanted to list Certified Copy (2010), which is officially a French film, but since it’s set in Italy, is mainly in English, and has an Iranian director, it didn’t seem right to. One or two non-French elements like that might not have disqualified it, but three major non-French elements meant it had to be left out.

To me these are not just '50 great French films' but also the 50 best French films of all time...

The video above shows the posters for all 50 of the films listed here.

1. Le Crime De Monsieur Lange (Jean Renoir, 1936)
2. Pepe Le Moko (Julien Duvivier, 1937)
3. La Bete Humaine (Jean Renoir, 1938)
4. Le Quai Des Brumes (Marcel Carne, 1938)
5. La Regle Du Jeu (Jean Renoir, 1939)
6. Le Jour Se Leve (Marcel Carne, 1939)
7. Les Visiteurs Du Soir (Marcel Carne, 1942)
8. La Belle Et La Bete (Jean Cocteau, 1946)
9. Jeux Interdits (Rene Clement, 1952)
10. The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953)
11. Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955)
12. Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud (Louis Malle, 1958)
13. Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
14. Plein Soleil (Rene Clement, 1960)
15. Vivre Sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962)
16. Le Mepris (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)
17. La Peau Douce (Francois Truffaut, 1964)
18. Belle De Jour (Luis Bunuel, 1967)
19. Week End (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
20. La Femme Infidele (Claude Chabrol, 1968)
21. Stolen Kisses (Francois Truffaut, 1968)
22. Ma Nuit Chez Maud (Eric Rohmer, 1969)
23. Domicile Conjugal (Francois Truffaut, 1970)
24. L'Enfant Sauvage (Francois Truffaut, 1970)
25. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Luis Bunuel, 1972)
26. La Maman Et La Putain (Jean Eustache, 1973)
27. La Nuit Americaine (Francois Truffaut, 1973)
28. Les Valseuses (Bertrand Blier, 1974)
29. L'Argent De Poche (Francois Truffaut, 1976)
30. That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Bunuel, 1977)
31. Buffet Froid (Bertrand Blier, 1979)
32. Le Dernier Metro (Francois Truffaut, 1980)
33. Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983)
34. La Haine (Matthieu Kassovitz, 1995)
35. L'Appartement (Gilles Mimouni, 1996)
36. Ma Vie Sexuelle (Arnaud Desplechin, 1996)
37. The Dreamlife of Angels (Erick Zonca, 1998)
38. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
39. The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
40. Irreversible (Gasper Noe, 2002)
41. The Time of the Wolf (Michael Haneke, 2003)
42. A Very Long Engagement (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2004)
43. Look at Me (Agnes Jaoui, 2004)
44. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
45. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
46. I’ve Loved You So Long (Philip Claudel, 2008)
47. The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda, 2008)
48. The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008)
49. Micmacs (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2009)
50. The Artist (Micel Hazanavicius, 2011)

20 Movies about Foreigners in Italy (with Video)

1.  The American (US, 2010) An American hitman hides out in rural Italy

2.  The Belly of An Architect (UK, 1987) An American architect goes to Rome

3.  Certified Copy (Fr, 2010) A British writer and a French antiques dealer in Tuscany

4.  Death in Venice (It, 1971) An elderly German man becomes obsessed with a teenaged boy in Venice

5.  Don’t Look Now (UK, 1973) A British couple go to Venice after their young daughter’s death

6.  The English Patient (UK, 1996) A badly-burned Hungarian is cared for by a French-Canadian Nurse in an Italian Monastery during World War Two

7.  Genova (UK, 2007) A man moves from the US to Italy with his two daughters after the death of his wife

8.  The Italian Job (UK, 1969) A gang of British thieves pull a heist in Turin

9.  Nostalghia (Rus, 1983) A Russian writer travels to Italy

10.Roman Holiday (US, 1953) The princess of an unspecified country and an American reporter meet in Rome

11.A Room With A View (UK, 1985) English tourists on holiday in Italy during Edwardian times

12.Stealing Beauty (It, 1996) A young American girl stays in the Tuscan villa of family friends

13.Stromboli (It, 1950) A Lithuanian woman marries an Italian and moves to his home island

14.Summertime (US, 1955) An American woman on holiday in Venice

15.The Talented Mr. Ripley (US, 1999)/Plein Soleil (1960) Americans in Italy in the 1950s

16.Tea With Mussolini (UK, 1999) A young boy in Florence is guided through life by various English and American women in the 30’s and 40’s

17.Three Coins in the Fountain (US, 1954) Three American girls look for romance in Rome

18.Under the Tuscan Sun (US, 2003) An Amercian writer goes to Italy after a divorce

19.Von Ryan’s Express (US, 1965) American and British POWs in Italy during World War Two

20.Voyage in Italy (It, 1954) An English couple on holiday in Naples and Pompeii

20 Films about Japan Made by Foreigners (with Video)

1. House Of Bamboo (US, 1955, Samuel Fuller) Robert Ryan crime adventure
2. Teahouse Of The August Moon (US, 1956, Daniel Mann) The US army in post-war Okinawa
3. Hiroshima Mon Amour (France, 1959, Alain Resnais) Arthouse classic about an affair between a French woman and Japanese man in Hiroshima
4. The Koumiko Mystery (France, 1965, Chris Marker) Life of a young Japanese woman, as seen by the famed French maker of documentaries and essay films
5. You Only Live Twice (UK, 1967, Lewis Gilbert) James Bond adventure
6. The Yakuza (US, 1975, Sydney Pollack) Robert Mitchum up against Japanese gangsters
7. Sans Soleil (France, 1983, Chris Marker) Documentary/essay film mainly about Japan
8. A.K. (France, 1985, Chris Marker) Documentary about Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and his film ‘Ran’
9. Mishima (US, 1985, Paul Schrader) Unconventional biopic of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, set to Philip Glass’ famous score
10. Tokyo-Ga (Germany, 1985, Wim Wenders) Documentary about Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu
11. Black Rain (US, 1989, Ridley Scott) Michel Douglas and Andy Garcia in Osaka-set action thriller
12. The Pillow Book (UK, 1996, Peter Greenaway) Typically impenetrable Greenaway nonsense involving Ewan McGregor and Japanese body-calligraphy
13. Fear And Trembling (France, 2003, Alain Corneau) Film about a young Belgian woman who speaks fluent Japanese trying to exist in the Japanese corporate world
14. Kill Bill Vol 1 (US, 2003, Quentin Tarantino) Uma Thurman slaughters her way through 100’s of Japanese enemies
15. The Last Samurai (US, 2003, Edward Zwick) Tom Cruise learns the samurai code in 19^th Century Japan
16. Lost In Translation (US, 2003, Sofia Coppola) Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson have a bittersweet relationship in modern-day Tokyo
17. Arakimentari (US, 2004, Travis Klose) Documentary about controversial Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki.
18. The Sun (Russia, 2005, Alexander Sokurov) Biographical film about Emperor Hirohito
19. The Cove (US, 2009, Louis Psihoyos) Documentary about the killing of dolphins in Japan
20. Enter The Void (France, 2010, Gasper Noe) A young American brother and sister in Tokyo

50 Major Films Made In Black And White Since 1970 (with Video)

  

1. Alice In The Cities (Wim Wenders, 1974)
2. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius,  2011)
3. Basic Training (Frederick Wiseman, 1971)
4. Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen, 1984)
5. Celebrity (Woody Allen, 1998)
6. Clerks (Kevin Smith, 1994)
7. Coffee And Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, 2003)
8. Control (Anton Corbijn,  2007)
9. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1996)
10. Dead Men Don‘t Wear Plaid (Carl Reiner, 1982)
11. Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
12. Duck Season (Fernando Eimbcke, 2006)
13. Ed Wood (Tim Burton, 1994)
14. The Elephant Man (David Lynch, 1980)
15. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
16. Eureka (Shinji Aoyama, 2000)
17. Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998)
18. The General (John Boorman, 1998)
19. The Good German (Steven Soderbergh,  2006)
20. Good Night, And Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005)
21. In The Bleak Midwinter (Kenneth Branagh, 1995)
22. Kafka (Steven Soderbergh, 1991)
23. Killer Of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1977)
24. La Haine (Matthieu Kassovitz, 1995)
25. La Maman Et La Putain (Jean Eustache, 1973)
26. The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971)
27. Lenny (Bob Fosse,  1974)
28. Man Bites Dog (Belvaux, Bonzel, Poelvoorde, 1992)
29. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
30. The Man Who Wasn’t There (Coen Brothers, 2001)
31. Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich, 1973)
32. Persepolis (Satrapi, Paronnaud, 2007)
33. Pi (Darren Aronofsky,  1998)
34. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
35. Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983)
36. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
37. Shadows And Fog (Woody Allen, 1992)
38. She’s Gotta Have It (Spike Lee, 1986)
39. Sin City (Roberto Rodriguez, 2005)
40. Stardust Memories (Woody Allen, 1980)
41. Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1983)
42. Suture (McGehee, Siegel, 1993)
43. Twenty Four Seven (Shane Meadows, 1997)
44. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr,  2000)
45. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke,  2009)
46. The Wild Child (Francois Truffaut,  1970)
47. Wings Of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
48. Wisconsin Death Trip (James Marsh,  1999)
49. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
50. Zelig (Woody Allen, 1983)