Best French Films Ever. Top Rated French Movies: popular, classic, famous "must watch" Cinema Français Great Movie Pictures Old and New The titles (in the US) of the best French films, sorted by title Title Year Genre Director 1 8 Women 2001 Music, Comedy, Crime, Mystery François Ozon 2 A Heart in Winter 1992 Romance, Drama, Music Claude Sautet 3 Beauty and The Beast 1946 Fantasy Drama, Romance Jean Cocteau 4 Belle de Jour 1967 Erotic Drama Luis Buñuel 5 Betty Blue 1986 Romace, Drama Jean-Jacques Beineix 6 Birds Of A Feather 1978 Comedy Edouard Molinaro 7 Bitter Moon 1992 Sado-masochistic Erotic Drama Roman Polanski 8 Breathless 1960 Drama, Romance Jean-Luc Godard 9 Children of Paradise 1945 Drama, Romance Marcel Carne 10 Cyrano de Bergerac 1990 Romance, Drama Jean-Paul Rappeneau 11 Delicatessen 1991 Sci-Fi Comedy Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet 12 Diva 1981 Action Thriller, Drama Jean-Jacques Beineix 13 French Twist 1995 Comedy Josiane Balasko 14 Hidden 2005 Drama Michael Haneke 15 Hiroshima, Mon Amour 1959 Romance, Drama Alain Resnais 16 Jean de Florette 1986 Drama, Modernised Greek Tragedy Claude Berri 17 Jesus of Montreal 1989 Drama Denys Arcand 18 Jules et Jim 1961 Romance, Drama François Truffaut 19 La Controverse de Valladolid 1992 History (16thC), Drama Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe 20 La Femme Nikita 1990 Crime, Thriller, Romance, Drama Luc Besson 21 Manon of the Spring 1986 Drama, Romance, modernised Greek Tragedy Claude Berri 22 Monsieur Hire 1989 Crime Thriller, Romance, Drama Patrice Leconte 23 My Life in Pink 1997 Comedy Drama Alain Berliner 24 One Swallow Brought Spring 2001 Comedy, Romance, Drama Christian Carion 25 Queen Margot 1994 History (16thC) Drama, Biography, History, Romance Patrice Chéreau 26 Ridicule 1996 History (18thC) Drama Patrice Leconte 27 Swimming Pool 2003 Psychological Thriller, Mystery Drama François Ozon 28 The 400 Blows 1959 Crime Drama François Truffaut 29 The Big Blue 1988 Drama, Romance Luc Besson 30 The City of Lost Children 1995 Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro 31 The Closet 2001 Comedy Drama Francis Veber 32 The Discrete Charm of the Bougoisie 1972 Surreal Black Comedy, Drama, Fantasy Luis Buñuel 33 The Double Life of Veronique 1991 Music, Fantasy, Romance, Psychological Drama Krzysztof Kieslowski 34 The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain 2001 Comedy, Romance, Drama Jean-Pierre Jeunet 35 The Girl On The Bridge 1999 Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, Drama Patrice Leconte 36 The Hate 1995 Crime, Drama Mathieu Kassovitz 37 The Last Metro 1980 Romance, History (WW2) Drama François Truffaut 38 The Piano Teacher 2001 Drama, Music Michael Haneke 39 The Reader 1988 Mildly Erotic Comedy Fantasy Michel Deville 40 The Return of Martin Guerre 1982 History (16thC) Drama, Biography, Crime, Mystery, Daniel Vigne 41 The Visitors 1993 Fantasy, Comedy Jean-Marie Poiré 42 Three Colors: Blue 1993 Drama, Music, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski 43 Three Colors: Red 1994 Drama, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski 44 Three Colors: White 1994 Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski Sort the best French Films by Title, Year or Director, Select by Genre or search for a Keyword select country title sort by select genre Search website for keyword(s) French Title Title ALL or UK Title Year Go US Title Director Submit The titles (in France) of the best French films, sorted by title Title Year Genre Director 1 37°2 Le matin 1986 Romace, Drama Jean-Jacques Beineix 2 8 Femmes 2001 Music, Comedy, Crime, Mystery François Ozon 3 À bout de souffle 1960 Drama, Romance Jean-Luc Godard 4 Belle de jour 1967 Erotic Drama Luis Buñuel 5 Caché 2005 Drama Michael Haneke 6 Cyrano de Bergerac 1990 Romance, Drama Jean-Paul Rappeneau 7 Delicatessen 1991 Sci-Fi Comedy Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet 8 Diva 1981 Action Thriller, Drama Jean-Jacques Beineix 9 Gazon maudit 1995 Comedy Josiane Balasko 10 Hiroshima, mon amour 1959 Romance, Drama Alain Resnais 11 Jean de Florette 1986 Drama, Modernised Greek Tragedy Claude Berri 12 Jésus de Montréal 1989 Drama Denys Arcand 13 Jules et Jim 1961 Romance, Drama François Truffaut 14 La belle et la bête 1946 Fantasy Drama, Romance Jean Cocteau 15 La cage aux folles 1978 Comedy Edouard Molinaro 16 La cité des enfants perdus 1995 Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro 17 La controverse de Valladolid 1992 History (16thC), Drama Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe 18 La double vie de Véroniquee 1991 Music, Fantasy, Romance, Psychological Drama Krzysztof Kieslowski 19 La fille sur le pont 1999 Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, Drama Patrice Leconte 20 La haine 1995 Crime, Drama Mathieu Kassovitz 21 La lectrice 1988 Mildly Erotic Comedy Fantasy Michel Deville 22 La pianiste 2001 Drama, Music Michael Haneke 23 La reine Margot 1994 History (16thC) Drama, Biography, History, Romance Patrice Chéreau 24 Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie 1972 Surreal Black Comedy, Drama, Fantasy Luis Buñuel 25 Le dernier métro 1980 Romance, History (WW2) Drama François Truffaut 26 Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain 2001 Comedy, Romance, Drama Jean-Pierre Jeunet 27 Le grand bleu 1988 Drama, Romance Luc Besson 28 Le placard 2001 Comedy Drama Francis Veber 29 Le retour de Martin Guerre 1982 History (16thC) Drama, Biography, Crime, Mystery, Daniel Vigne 30 Les enfants du paradis 1945 Drama, Romance Marcel Carne 31 Les quatre cents coups 1959 Crime Drama François Truffaut 32 Les visiteurs 1993 Fantasy, Comedy Jean-Marie Poiré 33 Lunes de fiel 1992 Sado-masochistic Erotic Drama Roman Polanski 34 Ma vie en rose 1997 Comedy Drama Alain Berliner 35 Manon des sources 1986 Drama, Romance, modernised Greek Tragedy Claude Berri 36 Monsieur Hire 1989 Crime Thriller, Romance, Drama Patrice Leconte 37 Nikita 1990 Crime, Thriller, Romance, Drama Luc Besson 38 Ridicule 1996 History (18thC) Drama Patrice Leconte 39 Swimming Pool 2003 Psychological Thriller, Mystery Drama François Ozon 40 Trois couleurs: Blanc 1994 Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski 41 Trois couleurs: Bleu 1993 Drama, Music, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski 42 Trois couleurs: Rouge 1994 Drama, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski 43 Un coeur en hiver 1992 Romance, Drama, Music Claude Sautet 44 Une hirondelle a fait le printemps 2001 Comedy, Romance, Drama Christian Carion Sort the best French Films by Title, Year or Director, Select by Genre or search for a Keyword select country title sort by select genre Search website for keyword(s) French Title Title ALL or UK Title Year Go US Title Director Submit French Cinema France is the birthplace of cinema and has been responsible for many innovations in cinematography. Important cinematic movements, including the New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) began in France. France is proud its strong film industry which is distinctively French. Notable features of typical French cinema include: slow, subtle and ambiguous plot-lines strong character development no expectation of happy, predictable, neat or conclusive endings an emphasis on art rather than revenue - partly assisted by state subsidies These elements characterise a product that is noticeably different from the typical output of Hollywood and Bollywood. A few French films have become popular in the English speaking world, but most are completely unknown except to art-house and Francophone audiences. Many successful French films are remade for English speaking audiences who are generally unaware of the fact. Aficionados familiar with both the French original and the English remake rarely regard the remake as remotely as good as the French original. Le Retour de Martin Guerre was remade as Summersby, La Cage Aux Folles, remade as Birdcage Cyrano de Bergerac, ill-advisedly remade with the same name featuring Steve Martin, and Les Visiteurs remade as The Visitors. La Femme Nikita somehow morphed into a US television series! The French are particularly good at historical dramas such as Le Retour de Martin Guerre, La Controverse de Valladolid, La Reine Margot, Ridicule and Jean de Florette / Manon Des Sources. French Film Makers French language films are made not only in France but other French Speaking countries, such as Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. French cinema is sometimes intertwined with the cinema of other nations. Directors from Poland (Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieslowski, and Andrzej Zulawski, Argentina (Gaspar Noe and Edgardo Cozarinsky), Russia (Alexandre Alexeieff, Anatole Litvak) and Georgia (Gela Babluani, Otar Iosseliani) are as famous in French cinema as the native French. French directors have been important in the development of cinema in other countries, most notably Luc Besson in the United States. History of French Cinema In the late 19th century, during the early years of cinema, Frenchmen Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinématographe and their L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat in Paris in 1895 is considered by many historians to mark the birth of cinematography. Alice Guy Blaché made her first film, La Fée aux Choux, in 1896. During the next few years, filmmakers all over the world started experimenting with this new medium. Georges Méliès invented many of the techniques now common in the cinematic language, and made the first science fiction film Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) in 1902. Alice Guy Blaché was head of production at Gaumont Pictures, where she made some 400 films between 1897 and 1906. She then continued her career in the United States, as did Maurice Tourneur and Léonce Perret after the First World War. During the period between the First World War and the Second World War, Jacques Feyder became one of the founders of poetic realism in French cinema. He dominated French Impressionist Cinema along with Abel Gance, Germaine Dulac and Jean Epstein. After the First World War, the French film industry suffered through a lack of capital. Film production decreased as it did in other European countries.