The Best Film Ever Made - Best French Film (Year by Year)
The rules: My rating x 3, 6 male/female rating ( 18, 30, 45), 1000 voters rating, US- and Non-US voters rating. Only films with a better rating than 7,00 - If there is a year missing, no film qualified.
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- DirectorAbel GanceStarsRomuald JoubéMaxime DesjardinsSéverin-MarsThe story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.7,34
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsMaurice de FéraudyFélix OudartJean ForestA poor vegetable peddler in Paris runs afoul of the law and finds himself ground up in the cogs of the corrupt French judicial system.7,63
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsGabriel de GravonePierre MagnierGeorges TérofA railway engineer adopts a young girl orphaned by a train crash. Years later when she starts getting suitors, he grapples with whether or not to tell her the truth about her parentage.7,63
- DirectorDimitri KirsanoffStarsNadia SibirskaïaYolande BeaulieuGuy BelmontA couple is brutally murdered in the working-class district of Paris. Later on, the narrative follows the lives of their two daughters, both in love with a Parisian thug and leading them to separate ways.7,83
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.7,56
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.8,44
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsDita ParloGinette MaddieAndrée BrabantDenise, an orphaned girl, moves to Paris where she hopes to find work at her uncle's store. But the glamorous department store 'Aux Bonheur des Dames' across the street crunches all the little businesses around. She finds a position there.7,33
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMichel SimonJanie MarèseGeorges FlamantMaurice Legrand, a meek cashier married to a nagging wife, has a secret passion: he's a Sunday painter. He falls in love with Lulu, a young woman dominated by Dédé, the pimp who she works for. Dédé pushes Lulu into a relationship with him.8,02
- DirectorRaymond BernardStarsPierre BlancharGabriel GabrioCharles VanelWorld War 1 begins and a young man enlists to fight for his country.7,79
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsHarry BaurValéry InkijinoffGina ManèsWilly is broke and his mistress always wants more money. A stranger in a pub agrees to murder his aunt, but everything will not go as planned. Maigret will try to separate fact and fiction.7,43
- DirectorRaymond BernardStarsHarry BaurCharles VanelPaul AzaïsThe lives of numerous people over the course of 20 years in 19th century France, weaved together by the story of an ex-convict named Jean Valjean on the run from an obsessive police inspector, who pursues him for only a minor offense.8,68
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsFrançoise RosayAndré AlermeJean MuratTells the story of the Spanish invasion of Flanders7,76
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsRaimuPierre FresnayOrane DemazisHonoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot bring himself to tell his son Cesariot that his real father is Marius, the absent son of César, Cesariot's godfather. Panisse leaves that to Fanny, the lad's mother. Dissembling that he's off to see a friend, Cesariot then seeks Marius, now a mechanic in Toulon. Posing as a journalist, Cesariot spends time with Marius and leaves believing tales he is a petty thief. Only after the truth comes out can Marius, Fanny, César, and Cesariot step beyond the falsehoods, benign though they may be.8,24
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinDita ParloPierre FresnayDuring WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.7,92
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsAnnabellaJean-Pierre AumontLouis JouvetOn the meandering Canal St. Martin, at the Parisian Hôtel du Nord, a nearly fatal gunshot separates a dejected young couple. But, amid a sad but beautiful panorama of lively characters, love has the final say. Can life be a fairy tale?7,89
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinJacqueline LaurentArlettyAfter committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.8,02
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsPierre FresnaySuzy DelairJean TissierInspector Wens moves into a Paris boarding house to catch a serial killer.7,28
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsRenée FaureJany HoltSylvieAnne-Marie joins a Dominican convent as a novice where she knows Therese. After shooting a man for which she was imprisoned, Therese protests her innocence, reluctant to tell her secret.7,95
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.8,54
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsViviane RomanceMichel SimonMax DalbanAfter an elderly maid is murdered, opinions are manipulated, evidence is planted, violence erupts, and panic ensues.8,10
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsRoger PigautClaire MafféiNoël RoquevertWorking class couple Antoine and Antoinette dream of a better life. In the midst of constantly fending off the unwanted attention of men, especially the grocer Monsieur Roland, Antoinette purchases a winning lottery ticket. But when Antoine loses their ticket out of poverty, their dreams seem like they'll remain just that.7,55
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsPaul MeurisseSimone SignoretMarcel HerrandStage actress Marianne has decided to give up her career to marry wealthy nobleman Marquis Antoine de Fontaines. As a wedding present, Antoine gives his future wife a precious diamond necklace, which is coveted by a gang of crooks. Jean, one of them, is given the mission to approach Marianne and steal the necklace from her. The only trouble is that when he meets her, she recognizes him as the man she once loved.7,48
- DirectorJacques TatiStarsJacques TatiGuy DecomblePaul FrankeurA village postman with no sense of humour delivers his mail via bicycle on the day the travelling fair comes to town. He is disrupted by a short film about US speed and efficiency and the playful teasing of the village folk.7,53
- DirectorJean CocteauStarsJean MaraisFrançois PérierMaría CasaresA poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.8,02
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsClaude LayduNicole LadmiralJean RiveyreA young priest taking over the parish at Ambricourt tries to fulfill his duties even as he fights a mysterious stomach ailment.7,79
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJean GabinDanielle DarrieuxSimone SimonThree separate stories about the same thing: le plaisir (pleasure).7,83
- DirectorYves AllégretRafael E. PortasStarsMichèle MorganGérard PhilipeVíctor Manuel MendozaLife in a small Mexican village where joy and misery, hope and pain, passion and guilt, love and decay, life and death are mixed in the peasants life and two French citizens who end up stranded in there, during a typhoid epidemic.7,67
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsJean GabinRené DaryDora DollAn aging, world-weary gangster is double-crossed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and their stash of eight stolen gold bars demanded as ransom.7,76
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.8,56
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFrançois LeterrierCharles Le ClaincheMaurice BeerblockA captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.7,94
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJean ServaisCarl MöhnerGrégoire AslanAfter WW1,ordinary citizens of a small Greek village plays the Passion Play in order to rebel against Turkish rulers during Turkish-Greek relations in 1920's.7,83
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsJeanne MoreauMaurice RonetGeorges PoujoulyA self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.8,48
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsGérard BlainJean-Claude BrialyJuliette MaynielA pair of cousins share a flat, but animosity begins to build between the two when a woman gets involved.7,73
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsAndré BervilJean KeraudyMichel ConstantinDistrust and uncertainty arise when four long-term inmates cautiously induct a new prisoner into their elaborate prison-break scheme.7,98
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsJean-Paul BelmondoEmmanuelle RivaIrène TuncSet during occupied France, a faithless woman finds herself falling in love with a young priest.7,97
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsCorinne MarchandAntoine BourseillerDominique DavrayCleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.8,19
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsMaurice RonetLéna SkerlaYvonne ClechDepressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living. Will this help him?7,68
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean DesaillyFrançoise DorléacNelly BenedettiPierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married with Franca and father of Sabine, around 10. He meets an air hostess, Nicole. They start a love affair, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stand staying away from her.7,85
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsCatherine AllégretJacques PerrinSimone SignoretThe witnesses of a train murder must take the investigation into their own hands if they want to survive.7,75
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsAnouk AiméeJean-Louis TrintignantPierre BarouhA widow and a widower find their relationship developing into love, but their past tragedies prove hard to overcome, causing them to proceed with utmost delicacy.8,18
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsMichel SimonRoger CarelPaul PréboistIn German-occupied France, a Jewish child is sent away from his family and conceals his religious affiliation from the anti-Semitic elderly man that takes care of him.8,10
- DirectorMaurice PialatStarsMichel TerrazonLinda GutenbergRaoul BillereyAn anguished foster child takes to mischief and lies as his foster parents do their best to love and care for him. But it might be too little, too late in this emotionally devastating portrayal of the orphaned child.7,64
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsMichel DuchaussoyCaroline CellierJean YanneA man asserts himself within the life of an actress he believes is somehow responsible for his son's death.8,49
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandSimone SignoretGabriele FerzettiA high-ranking official is forced to confess to high treason.8,48
- DirectorPierre Granier-DeferreStarsJean GabinSimone SignoretAnnie CordyIn 1971 Courbevoie (France), former typographist Julien Bouin and his wife Clemence, who used to perform in a circus, hardly talk to each other in their small house, which is soon to be demolished. To Clemence's anger, Julien's cat Greffier is the only one who gets his attention, let alone love.8,03
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsYves MontandRomy SchneiderSami FreyCesar is in love with Rosalie. But Rosalie isn't making it easy for him, especially when her old flame enters the picture.8,09
- DirectorJean EustacheStarsBernadette LafontJean-Pierre LéaudFrançoise LebrunThe chauvinist Alexandre balances relationships with several women in the post-1968 intellectual scene of Paris.8,38
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsYves MontandMichel PiccoliSerge ReggianiThree friends face mid-life crises. Paul is a writer who's blocked. François has lost his ideals and practices medicine for the money. The charming Vincent faces bankruptcy and his wife, from whom he's separated, wants a divorce.8,41
- DirectorRobert EnricoStarsPhilippe NoiretRomy SchneiderJean BouiseDuring World War II, a peaceful French surgeon decides to ruthlessly exterminate an SS squad because of the atrocities they'd just committed in his countryside home and childhood village.8,24
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsMichel PiccoliOttavia PiccoloJacques DutroncMiddle-aged businessman, Simon Léotard finds his future in jeopardy when his partner Julien commits suicide after having accumulated a mass of debts. Simon's unscrupulous business rival Lépidon offers to save him from bankruptcy by buying his company, at a discount rate. Reluctant to fall into Lépidon's trap, Simon decides to resolve the crisis himself. A prostitute, Mado, provides him with the solution to his problems...7,80
- DirectorMoshé MizrahiStarsSimone SignoretMichal Bat-AdamSamy Ben-YoubMadame Rosa, an ex-prostitute of Jewish origin, lives in a dilapidated old building in Belleville. Tired and worn out by life, she looks after young children, placed in her care by the social welfare people.7,45
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsRomy SchneiderClaude BrasseurBruno CremerA simple story about simple people. A 38 year old divorced woman (Marie), who now has a lover (Serge) but decides to leave him, abort his baby, and then returns with her ex-husband (Georges). Their daily life and of their friends, who have the same typical problems.7,76
- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsPatrick DewaereMyriam BoyerMarie TrintignantFranck Poupart is a slightly neurotic door-to-door salesman in a sinister part of Paris' suburbs. He meets Mona, a teenager, who's been made a prostitute by her own aunt. Franck would like to change his life and also save Mona from her aunt. Murder is the only solution he finds to achieve his goal... A very gloomy movie, exuding despair and uneasiness, with pathetic characters.7,63
- DirectorMichel DevilleStarsDominique SandaGeraldine ChaplinJacques ZaborChildhood friends, dominant Helene and submissive Lucie, are now in their thirties and married. Nostalgic about their youth, they take a bonding car trip to French countryside, while discussing their real and made up sexual experiences.8,38
- DirectorClaude MillerStarsLino VenturaMichel SerraultRomy SchneiderA police inspector, suspecting an attorney of two child sex murders, has him held for a questioning session that goes on for hours.7,78
- DirectorDaniel VigneStarsGérard DepardieuNathalie BayeMaurice BarrierIn medieval France, some villagers challenge a man's claim of identity when he (as he says) returns home from some time in the army.7,76
- DirectorEttore ScolaStarsÉtienne GuichardRégis BouquetFrancesco De RosaDance moves, music and fashion mark the passage of time inside a Paris dance hall, throughout fifty years of history.8,16
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsLouis DucreuxMichel AumontSabine AzémaAn elderly painter whose son visits with his family on the weekends, is also surprised by a visit from his still-single daughter.7,59
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsSimon SrebnikMichael PodchlebnikMotke ZaïdlClaude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.8,44
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsYves MontandGérard DepardieuDaniel AuteuilA 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.8,21
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsGaspard ManesseRaphael FejtöFrancine RacetteA French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.7,74
- DirectorÉtienne ChatiliezStarsBenoît MagimelHélène VincentValérie LalandeA revengeful nurse switches a girl and a boy at birth. They are raised in two radically different families. When the switch is revealed many years later, the now teenagers and families need to cope with their new environments.7,45
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsMichel BlancSandrine BonnaireLuc ThuillierA recluse is accused of murdering a young woman simply because his neighbors think he is strange.7,81
- DirectorYves RobertStarsPhilippe CaubèreNathalie RousselDidier PainAt the end of the nineteenth century, little Marcel lives with his parents in the Provence countryside. During his holiday, Marcel meets Lili, a local boy who knows all the secrets of the hills, and the two become fast friends.7,93
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsMichel PiccoliJane BirkinEmmanuelle BéartThe former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.8,00
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsDidier BezaceJean-Paul ComartCharlotte KadyRelentless struggle of the Parisian police against the drug trade.7,62
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsJuliette BinocheZbigniew ZamachowskiJulie DelpyA woman struggles to find a way to live her life after the death of her husband and child.8,43
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsJean RenoGary OldmanNatalie Portman12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.8,38
- DirectorMathieu KassovitzStarsVincent CasselHubert KoundéSaïd Taghmaoui24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.8,00
- DirectorJacques DoillonStarsVictoire ThivisolDelphine SchiltzMatiaz Bureau CatonA four-year-old girl tries to come to terms with the sudden death of her mother.7,93
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsDavid DoucheMarjorie CottreelKader ChaatoufA social movie about current life in the north of France. Freddy and his friends are all unemployed. They pass away time by wandering around on their motorcycles and by directing their aggressive feelings towards Arab immigrants. Freddy is in love with Marie, a cashier at a local supermarket. When she is proposed to by Kader, a young Arab man, Freddy, and his friends have an idea: they decide to punish Kader for what they call "such a provocation." After they have raped another girl, Marie finally commits to Kader, which seals his fate.7,03
- DirectorRadu MihaileanuStarsLionel AbelanskiRufusClément HarariIn 1941, the inhabitants of a small Jewish village in Central Europe organize a fake deportation train so that they can escape the Nazis and flee to Palestine.7,95
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsMaurice RosselClaude LanzmannAn interview with a WWII Red Cross official who wrote a glowing report on a Jewish ghetto-cum-death camp.7,72
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJuliette BinocheThierry NeuvicJosef BierbichlerA young man harasses a homeless woman, another man protests, the police arrest both and the woman has to leave the country. What were their various story-lines leading up to this event?7,31
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsYehuda LernerFrancine KaufmannClaude LanzmannA gripping account of the prisoners uprising at the Nazi extermination camp of Sobibor in 1943.7,57
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.8,82
- DirectorChristophe BarratierStarsGérard JugnotFrançois BerléandJean-Baptiste MaunierPierre, a successful orchestra conductor, returns home when his mother dies. He stumbles upon an old diary and recollects the childhood school memories and his music teacher Clement Mathieu.7,87
- DirectorChristian CarionStarsDiane KrugerBenno FürmannGuillaume CanetIn December 1914, an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.8,03
- DirectorGuillaume CanetStarsFrançois CluzetMarie-Josée CrozeAndré DussollierAn accidental discovery near a doctor's estate stirs up some painful memories eight years after his wife's hideous murder, and now, things are bound to take a turn for the unexpected. Does the good doctor know more than he's letting on?7,88
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsMathieu AmalricEmmanuelle SeignerMarie-Josée CrozeThe true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.8,37
- DirectorPhilippe ClaudelStarsKristin Scott ThomasElsa ZylbersteinSerge HazanaviciusA woman struggles to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.8,18
- DirectorPhilippe LioretStarsVincent LindonFirat AyverdiAudrey DanaBilal sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe and wants to get to England to see his love who lives there.7,89
- DirectorGilles Paquet-BrennerStarsKristin Scott ThomasMélusine MayanceNiels ArestrupIn modern-day Paris, a journalist finds her life becoming entwined with a young girl whose family was torn apart during the notorious Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in 1942.7,81
- DirectorMichel HazanaviciusStarsJean DujardinBérénice BejoJohn GoodmanWhen George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.8,42
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJean-Louis TrintignantEmmanuelle RivaIsabelle HuppertGeorges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.8,36
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsBérénice BejoTahar RahimAli MosaffaAn Iranian man deserts his French wife and her two children to return to his homeland. Meanwhile, his wife starts up a new relationship, a reality her husband confronts upon his wife's request for a divorce.8,02
- DirectorMichel HazanaviciusStarsBérénice BejoAnnette BeningMaksim EmelyanovA French woman who works for a non-governmental organization forms a special relationship with a lost young boy in war-torn Chechnya in 1999.7,63
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsJesuthasan AntonythasanKalieaswari SrinivasanClaudine VinasithambyDheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.7,37
- DirectorAnne FontaineStarsLou de LaâgeAgata BuzekAgata Kulesza1945. Mathilde is a French Red Cross doctor working on a mission to help the French survivors of the German camps. While she works in Poland, she is asked for help by a nun. In her convent, several nuns are pregnant.7,80
- DirectorAlbert DupontelStarsNahuel Pérez BiscayartAlbert DupontelLaurent LafitteIn November 1919, two soldiers--a disfigured but brilliant artist and an ex-accountant--start a memorial con. But in Roaring Twenties France, their adventures soon turn dangerous.7,55
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsMelvil PoupaudDenis MénochetSwann ArlaudThree men, abused by the same priest during their childhood, engage in a fight for justice that will expose their personal experiences and question their life with their wife, family, and colleagues.7,67
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsNoémie MerlantAdèle HaenelLuàna BajramiOn an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.8,24
- DirectorCédric JimenezStarsGilles LelloucheKarim LeklouFrançois CivilA police brigade working in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille, where the level of crime is higher than anywhere else in France.7,02
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsDario ArgentoFrançoise LebrunAlex LutzThe last days of an elderly couple stricken by dementia.7,77
- DirectorJustine TrietStarsSandra HüllerSwann ArlaudMilo Machado-GranerA woman is suspected of murder after her husband's death; their half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.8,10