41. City of Lost Children, The ( Cite des enfants perdus, La )
Year of Release: 1995
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro
Actors: Daniel Emilfork, Ron Perlman, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Dominique Pinon, Judith Vittet, Odile Mallet
Plot: Set in a fictional world in the future, a scientist thinks that if he can steel the dreams of young children he can prevent himself from aging. He tries kidnapping children as they try to figure out a way to escape or not be kidnapped.
42. Triplets of Belleville, The ( triplettes de Belleville, Les )
Year of Release: 2003
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Animation/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Actors: Béatrice Bonifassi, Lina Boudreau, Mari-Lou Gauthier, Charles Linton, Michel Robin, Michèle Caucheteux
Plot: A grandmother raises her lone grandson. In an effort to find something that makes the boy happy, she buys him a bike. With Grandma has his trainer, the boy grows to enter the Tour de France. A sinister mobster kidnaps the boy and it's up to Grandma, the boy's dog, and three over-the-hill singing sisters to rescue him.
43. Diabolique ( diaboliques, Les )
Year of Release: 1955
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Crime/Horror
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Actors: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Charles Vanel, Michel Serrault, Paul Meurisse
Plot: After a wife and a man's mistress Kill her husband, the body mysteriously disappears as the two women appear cursed.
44. Mouchette
Year of Release: 1970
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Robert Bresson
Actors: Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Marie Cardinal, Paul Hebert, Jean Vimenet, Marie Susini
Plot: Fourteen-year-old Mouchette's mother is an invalid and her father is a mean drunk. Her bleak existence doesn't improve as she searches for security.
45. Piano Teacher, The ( pianiste, La )
Year of Release: 2002
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Michael Haneke
Actors: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar, Udo Samel, Anna Sigalevitch
Plot: Erika Kohut is a piano teacher at the Vienna Conservatory prestigious music school in Vienna. In her early forties and single, she lives with her overprotective and controlling mother in a hermetically sealed world of love-hate and dependency, where there is no room for men. Her sex life consists of voyeurism and masochistic self-injury. Lonely and alienated, Erika finds solace by visiting sex shops and experimenting with masochism. Ata a recital, she befriends Walter, a handsome young man, whom she seduces and with whom she begins an illicit affair. As Erika slowly drifts closer to the brink of emotional disorder, she uses the love-stricken Walter to explore her darkest sado-masochistic fantasies, which eventually lead to her undoing.
46. Of Gods and Men ( hommes et des dieux, Des )
Year of Release: 2011
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Actors: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach, Jacques Herlin, Loïc Pichon
Plot: The threat of terrorism in a small Algerian community forces of group of Trappist monks to make the tough decision to stay and help the people, and possibly sacrifice their lives, or leave and survive but risk their faith.
47. Grand Illusion ( grande illusion, La )
Year of Release: 1938
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Jean Renoir
Actors: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Julien Carette, Werner Florian
Plot: Two French soldiers, and aristocrat and a mechanic, find themselves in the same German POW camp. They meet a variety of prisoners, including Rosenthal, son of a wealthy banker, but are separated before they can escape. The duo are sent to a fortress, said to be impenetrable, where they meet back up with Rosenthal. While one of them befriends the aristocratic operator of their prison, the other two continue to plan an impossible escape.
48. trou, Le
Year of Release: 1964
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Jacques Becker
Actors: Marc Michel, Jean Keraudy, Philippe Leroy, Raymond Meunier, Michel Constantin, André Bervil
Plot: A group of four prisoners have been planning an elaborate escape when a young detainee is transferred in while another cell block is repaired. The men must decide whether this fresh face can be trusted with their carefully-constructed plan.
49. Rust and Bone ( De rouille et d'os )
Year of Release: 2012
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama/Mystery
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jacques Audiard
Actors: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Yannick Choirat, Jean-Michel Correia, Bouli Lanners, Mourad Frarema
Plot: Alain is not a warm man - a bouncer by trade, he finds himself charged with taking care of his son and relocates to his sister's home to become part of the family. However, he may yet find a way to love after meeting Stéphanie, and a sudden accident will bring these two broken individuals closer together.
50. Jules and Jim ( Jules et Jim )
Year of Release: 1962
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: François Truffaut
Actors: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Anny Nelsen, Vanna Urbino, Boris Bassiak
Plot: The tragicomic story of two best friends in love with the same enigmatic woman plays out over the years from the early 1900s to post-WWI.
