1. Amélie ( Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le )
Year of Release: 2001
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Comedy/Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Actors: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze
Plot: A Paris woman, in search of helping others finds love in mysterious ways.
2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire ( Portrait de la jeune fille en feu )
Year of Release: 2019
Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Céline Sciamma
Actors: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino, Christel Baras, Armande Boulanger
Plot: In 18th century Brittany, a young, female French painter, Marianne is tasked with painting a portrait of Héloïse before her upcoming forced marriage. As Héloïse has resisted all previous attempts to paint her before, Marianne must befriend her by day - and paint her from memory by night. But it doesn't take long before the two draw ever closer to one another.
3. Love ( Amour )
Year of Release: 2012
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Michael Haneke
Actors: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud, William Shimell, Rita Blanco
Plot: Anne and Georges are a wonderful, loving couple in their 80s. They have to rely on each other as their one daughter lives abroad with her own family. When Anne suffers a stroke that leaves her partially paralyzed, it will test their bond of love like no other event before.
4. 400 Blows, The ( quatre cents coups, Les )
Year of Release: 1959
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: François Truffaut
Actors: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble, Albert Rémy, Patrick Auffay
Plot: A young boy is stuck in a world where no one understands him. He runs away from his hard life and commits to the life of a petty thief.
5. The Intouchables
Year of Release: 2012
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Comedy/Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
Actors: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot, Clotilde Mollet, Alba Gaïa Kraghede Bellugi
Plot: True story of a friendship of the most unlikely sort: a quadriplegic aristocrat and a young man from the projects.
6. My Life as a Zucchini ( Ma vie de Courgette )
Year of Release: 2016
Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Animation/Family
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Claude Barras
Actors: Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat, Paulin Jaccoud, Michel Vuillermoz, Raul Ribera, Estelle Hennard
Plot: After accidentally killing his alcoholic mother, a nine year old, blue haired boy named Courgette gets sent to an orphanage by a policeman named Raymond, Courgette then finds out from a boy named Simon that the kids in this home have gone through similar tragedies to him including drug addict parents, suicides, etc. Eventually the arrival of a girl named Camille sparks a love interest for Courgette and drama between Camille and her aunt.
7. Passion of Joan of Arc, The ( passion de Jeanne d'Arc, La )
Year of Release: 1929
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Actors: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz, Antonin Artaud, Michel Simon
Plot: Silent French film about the trial and execution of St. Joan of Arc.
8. Wages of Fear, The ( salaire de la peur, Le )
Year of Release: 1953
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Thriller/Adventure
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Actors: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Jo Dest, Folco Lulli, William Tubbs
Plot: In need of Nitroglycerin a group of brave men try to transport it without the proper safety equipment.
9. Three Colors: Red ( Trois couleurs: Rouge )
Year of Release: 1994
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Actors: Irène Jacob, Samuel Le Bihan, Frédérique Feder, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Paul Vermeulen, Marion Stalens
Plot: To complete the trilogy, this one deals with French society and it's impact on it's people.
10. Incendies
Year of Release: 2011
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Actors: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard, Abdelghafour Elaaziz, Allen Altman
Plot: Based on the play by Wajdi Mouawad, a mother's dying wish sends twins Jeanne and Simon to the Middle East to uncover their roots - where the find answers that span the depths of hatred, war and overcoming it all for love.
