Best French Movies » Cult French Movies

Cult of the Cults – The Golden Age (L’Age d’Or)

admin — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:24:48 +0000

Luis Bunuel’s L’Age d’Or provoked such a fierce reaction among the Right that it was almost immediately banned by the French authorities after its release and not shown for another 50 years (it was finally allowed to play in Paris again in 1980). Suffice it to say, when you see it, you’ll understand why: especially the final sequence.

Bunuel and Dali’s surreal visions of tireless yet unfulfilled lovers through time imposed upon by “polite” society and driven to (in his case) madness and atheism and (in her case) nymphomania and desperate debauchery is a wild and amazing work of art.

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La Femme Nikita , 1990

admin — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:46:08 +0000

Nikita is young and attractive, but has already gone to the bad. During a hold up of a pharmacy (drug store) with her drug-crazed criminal gang, she deliberately kills a policeman, coldly shooting him in the face.

She is condemned to prison for life, but the French secret services, looking for cold blooded killers, have identified the potential in her. They offer her an alternative future. If she proves herself, she could become a secret agent herself. She accepts and starts a hard career.

Director Luc Besson manages to keep a high level of energy and our interest – from the opening scene – a violent drugstore shootout until the very last moment. A high adrenaline anti-heroine thriller.

IMDB Rating : 7.5 /10

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Delicatessen, 1991

admin — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:53:19 +0000

Delicatessen! Is it horror? Yes and no. Is it a comedy? Yes and no. Is it brilliant? Oh yes definitely!
In a post-apocalyptic world, the residents of an apartment above the butcher shop receive an occasional delicacy of meat, something that is in low supply. A young man new in town falls in love with the butcher’s daughter, which causes conflicts in her family, who need the young man for other business-related purposes.

This is a very funny film which, in spite of the storyline, is not as black as the opening scene would suggest. Jeunet and Caro’s filmographic style is unusual – in fact genuinely surreal in places. The extraordinary performances from all of the cast members (particularly Pinon and Dougnac), the spooky incidental music, and the creepy sets all add to the bizarre, other-worldliness of this film.

IMDB Rating : 7.9/10

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Le Mepris (Contempt), 1963

admin — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:25:57 +0000

French cult-director Jean-Luc Godard made this masterpiece way in 1963 but it is still as captivating as it was then. Le Mepris, Featuring superstar Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli as her husband- screenwriter who is hired to write a screenplay based on the ancient Greek myth “The Odyssey”.

The story deals with the creative process of film making as viewed by Godard, but also focuses on the breakdown of a marriage by the growing contempt of Bardot for her husband , whom she feels is selling out to greedy US producer Jack Palance.

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The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain, 2001

admin — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:54:09 +0000

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards and another 51 wins & 46 nominations including Best Original Screenplay, this magical comedy Amelie earned overwhelming acclaim nationwide! A painfully shy waitress working at a tiny Paris cafe, Amelie makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed for the better!

From then on, Amelie dedicates herself to helping others find happiness … in the most delightfully unexpected way! But will she have the courage to do for herself what she has done for others? Amelie is, without a doubt, one of the most heartwarming films ever made.

IMDB Rating : 8.6/10

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Le Samourai, 1967

admin — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:41:46 +0000

Alain Delon is the coolest killer to hit the screen, a film noir loner for the modern era, in Jean-Pierre Melville’s austere 1967 French crime classic. Delon’s impassive hit man, Jef Costello, is the ultimate professional in an alienated world of glass and metal.

Hitman Jef Costello is a perfectionist who always carefully plans his murders and who never gets caught. One night however, after killing a night-club owner, he’s seen by witnesses. His efforts to provide himself with an alibi fail and more and more he gets driven into a corner.

IMDB Rating : 8.2/10

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