tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

1. The Beat That My Heart Skipped (De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté) - 2005 - Directed by Jacques Audiard, with Romain Duris in the lead role. The norm is that, American filmmakers often do the remakes and not the other way around. Jacques Audiard acknowledges that it is an official remake of Fingers (1978), an American film directed by James Toback, featuring Harvey Keitel. This French version is considered by many critics as the superior version.

About the Movie: Gangster and wannabe pianist Thomas (Duris) and his friends spend their days and nights violently managing refugee squatted flats for greedy Parisian developers but his secret ambition is to become a concert pianist. Director Audiard and screenwriter Tonino Benacquista's second feature together (their first was the superb ‘Read My Lips') is a stunning remake of James Toback's 1978 small thriller ‘Fingers'. In opening up Toback's wantonly machismo indie flick to include many of their favourite themes (mistreatment of refugees, marginal characters caught in vaguely Hitchcockian melodramas etc) they have achieved something very unusual - a remake that measures up to the original. Watch some incredibly moving scenes from the movie below:

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Related Buzz: Won the BAFTA Film Award in 2006 and was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Fest. This movie represents the most important on-screen performance for Romain Duris, considered as one of French cinema's most successful leading men.

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2. Time to Leave (Le temps qui reste) - 2002 - Directed by François Ozon, with Melvil Poupaud playing the lead role of Romain. Ozon is my favorite French filmmaker because of the diversity of his movies, as well as, its quality and delivery. Here is Senses of Cinema's profile of the filmmaker:

Occasionally referred to as the enfant terrible of French cinema, François Ozon has in but a few years acquired a solid reputation as an original, successful and provocative (or thought-provoking, depending on one's tastes) filmmaker, both in France and abroad. The speed at which he releases his films (at least one a year) is enough to make him noteworthy. If Ozon's motion pictures are all varying in genre, content and form, they continuously challenge the rules of conventional cinema by tackling taboo issues of various kinds, including same-sex desires. Ozon does not confine himself to gay issues, but their recurrence, coupled with the director's self-proclaimed homosexuality, make his status in French filmmaking fairly unusual, and therefore, worthy of attention. [ read more ]

About the Movie: Parisian photographer Romain seems to have the perfect life : a great career, an adoring boyfriend and a beautiful appartment. This all changes when he learns that he is terminally ill and has only a few months to live. Upon hearing the news, Romain faces a delicate situation: while he has to come to grasp with his iminent death, he also has to figure out how to tell his family and friends and say goodbye to all of them. Incapable of telling them the truth, Romain has a fight with his sister at a family dinner, breaks up with his boyfriend, isolates himself from his friends and cancels his scheduled photo shoots.

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Featured review from Variety:

A sincere, heavyweight chamber piece about a young photographer (Melvil Poupaud) dying from cancer, Francois Ozon's "Time to Leave" reps one of the helmer's most straightforward, but perhaps least interesting pics. Forming -- along with "Under the Sand" (2000) -- the second part of projected trilogy about death, film is also Ozon's first since "Water Drops on Burning Rocks" to feature a gay character in a central role, although sexuality is only peripheral to the story. Accessible and oddly upbeat, pic may travel beyond solid Ozon fan base, especially in territories where turn from Gaul legend Jeanne Moreau will provide pull. [ read more ]

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3. Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) - 2001 - Featuring the award-winning team up of French cinema's leading lady Audrey Tautou and filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

About the Movie: Impish gamine Amélie (Audrey Tautou) lives alone and works in a café. When she finds a trove of toys hidden for 40 years behind a baseboard in her apartment, she's inspired to repatriate the items, an impulse of generosity that sparks more benevolent acts. A celebration of life, Amélie reminds us of the small wonders that abound around us ... if only we paused to look.

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Related Buzz: With this movie Jeunet made the biggest worldwide success of French cinema history. A real magical potion, which won innumerable awards in the whole world including 4 Césars (therefore Jeunet won his fifth and sixth Césars!).

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4. The Spanish Apartment (L'auberge espagnole) - 2002 - This is one of the many on-screen collaboration between filmmaker Cedric Klapisch and Romain Duris.

About the Movie: Seven sexy co-eds. One Spanish apartment. No rules. A single year of learning turns into an outrageous adventure of a lifetime in this "fresh, captivating comedy" (Newsday) that has audiences and critics cheering around the world! Xavier (Romain Duris) is a straight-laced French college senior who moves to Barcelona as part of a exchange program, much to the dismay of his beautiful Martine (Audrey Tautou). But sharing cramped quarters with students from all over Europe quickly leads to multi-cultural chaos as Xavier gets a hilarious, eye-opening lesson on how to live, love, laugh and party!

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Related Buzz: With a ridiculously low budget set in Spain. L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment), sold 3 million tickets and became Klapisch's greatest success. The Spanish hotel is the house in Barcelona where the Erasmus students live their adventures in the movie.

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5. Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran - 2003 - François Dupeyron's coming of age tale features an Arab and a Jew. With Omar Sharif playing the old Arab and newcomer Pierre Boulanger as the young Jewish Momo. I love the way Dupeyron made use of the locale's history and his use of music and natural sound to highlight many of the movie's important scenes. Says Roger Ebert:

Sharif at 71 still has the fire in his eyes that we remember from "Lawrence of Arabia," and is still a handsome presence, but he settles comfortably into Monsieur Ibrahim's shabby life and doesn't bore us with his philosophy. And young Boulanger, like Jean-Pierre Leaud all those years ago, has a quick, open face that lets us read his heart. [ read more ]

About the Movie: In a street called Blue in a very poor neighborhood in Paris, Monsieur Ibrahim (Omar Shariff) is an old Muslin Turkish owner of a small market. He becomes friend of the teenager Jewish Moises, tenderly nicknamed Momo (Pierre Boulanger), who lives with his father in a small apartment on the other side of the street. Monsieur Ibrahim gives paternal love and teaches the knowledge of the Koran to the boy, receiving in return love and respect.

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Related Buzz: Won the Audience award and the Best Actor award (Omar Sharif) at the 2003 Venice Film Fest.

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6. The Chorus (Les Choristes) - 2004 - Nominated for the Oscars, the movie is from Christophe Barratier, son of actress Eva Simonet and nephew of film director Jacques Perrin. It stars the young Jean Baptiste Maunier, who played Pierre Morhange, the lead singer of the choir.

About the Movie: An inspirational story in the rich tradition of Music of the Heart and Mr. Holland's Opus, The Chorus has moved critics everywhere to declare it one of the year's very best films! When he takes a job teaching music at a school for troubled boys, Clément Mathieu is unprepared for its harsh discipline and depressing atmosphere. But with passion and unconventional teaching methods, he's able to spark his students' interest in music and bring them a newfound joy! It also puts him at odds with the school's overbearing headmaster, however, locking Mathieu in a battle between politics and the determination to change his pupils' lives!

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Related Buzz: In 2004, this was the #1 movie at the French box office, with more than 8.6 million admissions. Nominated for 2 Oscars with another 11 wins & 21 nominations.

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7. A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de fiançailles) -  2004 -  The second film on the list featuring Audrey Tautou and filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet. It also stars one of French cinema's most important actors, Gaspard Ulliel.

About the Movie: The film is set in France near the end of World War I in the deadly trenches of the Somme, in the gilded Parisien halls of power, and in the modest home of an indomitable provincial girl. It tells the story of this young woman's relentless, moving and sometimes comic search for her fiancée, who has disappeared. He is one of five French soldiers believed to have been court-martialed under mysterious circumstances and pushed out of an allied trench into an almost-certain death in no-man's land. What follows is an investigation into the arbitrary nature of secrecy, the absurdity of war, and the enduring passion, intuition and tenacity of the human heart.

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Featured review from Variety:

Love and unflagging resolve battle the horrors and secrets of war in "A Very Long Engagement." Much-anticipated reteaming of helmer Jean-Pierre Jeunet with "Amelie" star Audrey Tautou, as a young woman who refuses to believe her fiance is dead, is a magnificently crafted bittersweet tale. More wrenching and less fanciful than "Amelie" yet still marbled with humor, WWI-era weepie is so populated with characters and incidents some viewers may be overwhelmed. Told with a blend of visual mastery and emotional intimacy, ambitious venture sustains a special melding of romance and pragmatism that should engage discerning audiences. [ read more ]

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8. A Girl Cut in Two (La fille coupée en deux) - 2007 -  From Claude Chabrol, the French film director considered a master in the mystery genre. Film stars Ludivine Sagnier, Benoît Magimel and François Berléand. Says the New York Times' Manohla Dargis:

Although the Marquis de Sade earns a passing wink, with its cool surfaces, threatening heat and hapless female heroine, "A Girl Cut in Two" plays out more like a bold coda to Pauline Réage's "Story of O." It is, in truth, a rich, textured divertissement from Claude Chabrol, a sinister master of the art, who, after a series of vague if invariably entertaining cinematic sketches, has returned to elegant tight form with an erotically charged, beautifully directed story of a woman preyed upon by different men and her own warring desires. [ read more ]

About the Movie: A television weatherwoman is pursued simultaneously by a spoiled pharmaceutical heir and a successful - but much older - writer in director Claude Chabrol's blackly comic tale of romance and class differences. Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivine Sagnier) has a high-profile job detailing the forecast on French TV. Yet despite Gabrielle's staunch work ethic, she values her privacy over her professional career and lives in a modest house with her aging mother (Marie Bunel). One day, renowned author Charles Saint-Denis (François Berléand) is interviewed at the television station where Gabrielle works, and the two feel an instant, powerful connection.

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9. The Last Mistress (Une vieille maitresse) - 2007 -  Featuring the talented and fearless filmmaker Catherine Breillat and the equally talented Asia Argento. Says Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian:

Four years ago, the French film-maker Catherine Breillat, known for her sexually explicit movies, suffered a massive cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 55, and then made a sensational recovery through sheer willpower, and through her determination to make this, her 12th film. Able at last to walk with a cane, Breillat was in no mood to become the pitiable victim and gave a series of interviews to this effect, including one for the Hollywood Reporter last May in which, with magnificent lack of self-pity or political correctness, she declared: "I decided that I may be disabled, but my films won't be, even though many films are." Since completing it, she has suffered a second episode, and her fans - I upgraded to full fan status just after reading that interview - are willing her to recover, to maintain that thrilling career and serious épatant attitude. [ read more ]

About the Movie: The Last Mistress' marks the monumental pairing of cinema's premiere provocateur, director Catherine Breillat ('Romance,' ‘Fat Girl') with the most fearless and explosive actor of our generation, Asia Argento ('Marie Antoinette,' ‘Boarding Gate'). A penniless rogue, Ryno de Marigny (newcomer Fu'ad Ait Aattou), shocks 19th century France with his engagement to the virginal gem of the aristocracy, Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida of ‘Fat Girl'). As lurid speculations of Ryno's ten year affair with the carnal Vellini (Argento) manifest, a supremely erotic and wickedly humorous depiction of human lust is revealed - overriding the brittle facade of nobility and reverence. Bolstered by Breillat's mastery of the medium and Argento's commanding performance, ‘The Last Mistress' is a highly entertaining yet incredibly provocative film that has resulted in unanimous praise from audiences and critics across the world.

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Related Buzz: The film appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Stephen Holden of The New York Times named it the 5th best film of 2008[2], and Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter named it the 9th best film of 2008.

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10. The Witnesses (Les témoins) -  2007 -  A French movies hitlist without André Téchiné is incomplete. Why? Here's filmreference.com's profile of the filmmaker:

André Téchiné belongs to a generation of French filmmakers, including Bertrand Blier and Bertrand Tavernier among those with an international reputation, who came into prominence in the mid-1970s. Many of his films have been classified as melodramas, though it might be more accurate to say that they play with conventions of melodrama and the thriller while exploring psychological states and social structures, with particular emphasis upon estrangement from home, both family and milieu. Intricately plotted or seemingly improvisatory-it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference-often with bizarre turns of event and unexpected sexual attractions, his films also feature memorable performances of both established stars-Catherine Deneuve above all-and young unknowns like Juliette Binoche and Élodie Boucher. With a trio of films in the mid-1990s-My Favorite Season, Wild Reeds, and Thieves-Téchiné reached what many critics found to be a new power and maturity as a filmmaker. [ read more ]

About the Movie: June 1984 to June 1985, from happy days to war to summer's return. A middle-aged doctor in Paris, Adrien, meets Manu, a young gay man from the provinces who lives with his sister, an opera singer. Adrien likes Manu, loves him even, in a Platonic relationship. Sarah, a writer, and Mehdi, a vice-squad cop, have an infant. Sarah discovers she has no taste for parenthood. Adrien bring Manu to Sarah's country cabin where Mehdi saves Manu from drowning. Back in Paris, an affair begins as a plague descends on Parisian gays. There are tests, illness, anger, relief, separations, and death. A year later, these friends meet again at the summer place. They are witnesses to how happiness has changed.

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Featured review by Roger Ebert:

Techine tells the story with comic intensity for the first hour, and then aching drama. The possibility of having a disease of this sort, especially when you are married, allegedly straight and even an anti-gay enforcer for the cops, creates secrecy and shame, and can lead to much worse than simply facing the truth. And it is that pain of the double life that concerns Techine in his later scenes. Libereau does a completely convincing transformation from an effortless charmer to a dying man; he wasn't meant to die young like this, he despairingly tells Adrien; in fights at school, he didn't even bruise. Beart is mysterious as a remote, cold woman who likes physical sex but not much else apart from her writing. The cop is deeper and more sensitive than the situation might suggest; when he does the laundry for Manu, it is uncommonly touching, especially when the film notices how staring at an automatic washer can become a form of meditation.

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11. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon) -  2007 - The movie that showcase the amazing talent of Mathieu Amalric by filmmaker Julian Schnabel. Says Peter Travers @Rolling Stones:

Go ahead, make your My Left Foot jokes - call it My Left Eyelash. No matter. The movie will wipe you out. Schnabel's previous two films (Basquiat, Before Night Falls) also focused on artists. But this is his best film yet, a high-wire act of visual daring and unquenchable spirit. All praise to Mathieu Amalric, whose performance as Bauby, bedridden and seen in flashback in robust, skirt-chasing health, defines the word "extraordinary." [ read more ]

About the Movie: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is the remarkable true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a successful and charismatic editor-in-chief of FrenchElle, who believes he is living his life to its absolute fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life-altered state. While the physical challenges of Bauby's fate leave him with little hope for the future, he begins to discover how his life's passions, his rich memories and his newfound imagination can help him achieve a life without boundaries.

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Related Buzz: In 2007 the book was adapted into a feature film of the same name, directed by Julian Schnabel, written by Ronald Harwood and starring Mathieu Amalric as Bauby. Julian Schnabel won best director that year at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2008 for directing, cinematography, editing and writing. It would go on to win numerous international awards, including a BAFTA for adapted screenplay, and Golden Globes for best foreign language film and best director.

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12. Le Vie en Rose (La Môme) - 2008 - From filmmaker Olivier Dahan and the amazing Marion Cottilard in a role unlike any other.

About the Movie: A swirling, impressionistic portrait of an artist who regretted nothing, writer-director Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose stars Marion Cotillard in a blazing performance as the legendary French icon Edith Piaf. From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu), who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th Century.

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Related Buzz: Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance, marking the first time an Oscar had been given for a French-language role. She is also the first French actress to win a Best Actress BAFTA and the first to win a Comedy or Musical Golden Globe for a foreign language role. This film became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades (behind Amélie and Brotherhood of the Wolf).
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Acknowledgement: Majority of the film description were taken from Cinema de France. Additional movie information and casting news from IMDb.

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What's on your mind? Have you seen the movies on this hitlist? Are you a fan of French cinema? Let us know what you think!

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