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French Cinema
From the New Wave to poetic realism and cinéma vérité, French cinema takes many forms and offers endless delights.
Our subscription collection serves up the perfect primer, featuring undisputed masterpieces and provocative classics.
Bande à partBande à part
Crime196495 minsDirector: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard's playful tribute to the Hollywood pulp crime movies of the 1940s, executed with typically Gallic cool.
The 400 BlowsThe 400 Blows
Drama1959100 minsDirector: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence.
Let the Sunshine InLet the Sunshine In
Drama201795 minsDirector: Claire Denis
Director Claire Denis gives a wry account of an artist’s search for love, in this witty black comedy starring Juliette Binoche.
Àma GloriaÀma Gloria
Drama202384 minsDirector: Marie Amachoukeli
Six-year-old Cléo spends a final summer with her beloved nanny Gloria, in this profoundly moving story of chosen family, duty and innocence lost.
PickpocketPickpocket
Drama195976 minsDirector: Robert Bresson
Bresson’s hugely influential study of a petty thief in late 50s Paris is one of his most widely acclaimed films.
La Belle et la BêteLa Belle et la Bête
Fantasy194695 minsDirector: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. “Five stars. [This] magical exploration of the fairytale is a compelling and bizarre masterpiece” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
The Night of the 12thThe Night of the 12th
Drama2022114 minsDirector: Dominik Moll
A newly promoted detective is assigned to a young woman’s chilling murder in this deeply arresting crime thriller based on true events.
The Gleaners & IThe Gleaners & I
Documentary200079 minsDirector: Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda’s award-winning study of those living on the margins of French society at the turn of the millennium.
Betty BlueBetty Blue
Drama1986185 minsDirector: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix’s story of a volatile, highly sexual relationship was one of the most successful French films of the 1980s.
L'ArgentL'Argent
Crime198384 minsDirector: Robert Bresson
Bresson’s superb final film and Cannes winner is a Tolstoy adaptation relating how a prank with a forged bank note leads to tragedy.
The Green RayThe Green Ray
Drama198699 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's masterpiece about a woman chasing romance and adventure during a long, hot summer.
AliceAlice
Drama2019105 minsDirector: Josephine Mackerras
Following separation from her money-squandering husband, Alice (Emilie Piponnier) finds herself falling into the world of high-end escorting, challenging her perceptions of life and love.
The New GirlfriendThe New Girlfriend
Melodrama2014108 minsDirector: François Ozon
Ruth Rendell provides the source novel for this delicious tale of deception and identity, from the master of mischievous melodrama, François Ozon.
Pauline at the BeachPauline at the Beach
Comedy198295 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's final collaboration with the great cinematographer Néstor Almendros follows a holidaying teenager as she begins to navigate the adult world.
DemonloverDemonlover
Drama2002121 minsDirector: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas' neo-noir cyber-thriller is a chilling exploration of the nexus between sex and violence available at the click of a button.
Jules et JimJules et Jim
Drama1962106 minsDirector: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s hugely popular classic depicts one of cinema’s most captivating love triangles
RomanceRomance
Drama199998 minsDirector: Catherine Breillat
Shockingly explicit, Catherine Breillat’s critically acclaimed Romance is one of the most controversial films of modern cinema.
Personal ShopperPersonal Shopper
Drama2016106 minsDirector: Olivier Assayas
Kristen Stewart reunites with Olivier Assayas to play an A-List celebrity's personal shopper, who keeps receiving strange text messages from an unknown source.
Irma VepIrma Vep
Drama199699 minsDirector: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas' sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking, with Maggie Cheung as the Hong Kong movie star playing a Catwoman-style anti-heroine.
Les Enfants TerriblesLes Enfants Terribles
Drama1949106 minsDirector: Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville’s film of Jean Cocteau's controversial novel about a teenage brother and sister and their intense, closeted relationship.
Sex Is ComedySex Is Comedy
Comedy200295 minsDirector: Catherine Breillat
A director struggles to film a difficult sex scene between two actors who happen to hate each other, in Catherine Breillat's witty exploration of intimacy coordination.
Stolen KissesStolen Kisses
Comedy196891 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Naively idealistic and largely inept both in his dealings with women and in any job, Antoine clumsily courts Christine while working for a private detective agency.
Love on the RunLove on the Run
Drama197894 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Separated from Christine and uncertain about his latest relationship, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) has finally written a novel inspired by his own experiences in this final chapter of François Truffaut’s series.
The Woman Next DoorThe Woman Next Door
Drama1981105 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Happily married Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) has his life is thrown into turmoil when Mathilde (Fanny Ardant) - an old flame - moves into the house opposite.
La HaineLa Haine
Drama199598 minsDirector: Mathieu Kassovitz
Mathieu Kassovitz’s landmark mid-90s drama throws a cinematic Molotov cocktail at structural racism, police brutality and media manipulation.
The Last MetroThe Last Metro
Romance1979132 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Catherine Deneuve shines as the director and lead actor of a Parisian theatre struggling to survive under the Nazi occupation in Truffaut's wartime drama.
The Valley (Obscured by Clouds)The Valley (Obscured by Clouds)
Drama1972105 minsDirector: Barbet Schroeder
Different worlds collide when a chic young diplomat's wife meets an intriguing adventurer and his hippy friends in Barbet Schroeder's striking second feature.
Bed and BoardBed and Board
Drama197097 minsDirector: François Truffaut
In this typically ambivalent comedy from Truffaut, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) becomes a father... But is he mature enough for parenthood?
MoreMore
Drama1969116 minsDirector: Barbet Schroeder
The first feature by Barbet Schroeder (Maîtresse, The Valley), More created a sensation when it was released in 1969, quickly becoming a cult classic and famed for its Pink Floyd soundtrack.
The Aviator's WifeThe Aviator's Wife
Drama1980106 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
A bittersweet fable about a young man's jealous pursuits; the first film in Eric Rohmer's six-film series, Comedies and Proverbs.
The Passion of Joan of ArcThe Passion of Joan of Arc
Biopic192880 minsSilentDirector: Carl Th. Dreyer
An incontestable masterpiece of silent cinema, Carl Dreyer's deeply moving biopic features one of the most powerful performances ever captured on film.
Haute TensionHaute Tension
Horror200393 minsDirector: Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja defined a new breed of horror by bringing the American slasher format into French cinema.
The Wages of FearThe Wages of Fear
Crime1953153 minsDirector: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic, nail-biting suspense thriller won both The Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or in 1953.
Shoah (Second Era)Shoah (Second Era)
Documentary1985293 minsDirector: Claude Lanzmann
Claude Lanzmann's monumental chronicle of the Holocaust has been acclaimed by many as the greatest documentary ever made.
Shoah (First Era)Shoah (First Era)
Documentary1985274 minsDirector: Claude Lanzmann
Claude Lanzmann's monumental chronicle of the Holocaust has been acclaimed by many as the greatest documentary ever made.
Eyes without a FaceEyes without a Face
Horror195990 minsDirector: Georges Franju
Georges Franju’s gorgeous, poetic horror film about a surgeon’s dark obsession with restoring his daughter’s disfigured face.
Celine and Julie Go BoatingCeline and Julie Go Boating
Drama1974194 minsDirector: Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette’s biggest commercial hit is an exhilarating combination of theatricality, paranoia and ‘la vie parisienne’, around an entrancing examination of making and watching films.
The BeastThe Beast
Comedy197598 minsDirector: Walerian Borowczyk
An outrageous classic of erotic cinema, Walerian Borowczyk’s playful and subversive fantasy finds a horny heiress courting the ravenous desires of a wild beast.
Fantastic PlanetFantastic Planet
Animation & Artists Moving Image197372 minsDirector: René Laloux
René Laloux and Roland Topor’s surreal, psychedelic sci-fi animation imagines a world in which humanoid creatures are kept as pets by a race of giants.
MaitresseMaitresse
Drama1976113 minsDirector: Barbet Schroeder
Gerard Depardieu plays the young innocent who falls for the mysterious maitresse Ariane (Bulle Ogier), a leather clad dominatrix, in Barbet Schroeder’s controversial film.
La Peau DouceLa Peau Douce
Drama1964118 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Truffaut’s Palme d'Or-nominated account of an ill-starred adulterous affair boasts Hitchcockian precision and pitch-perfect performances.
Les Enfants du paradisLes Enfants du paradis
Drama1945190 minsDirector: Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné's masterpiece of French cinema portrays the theatrical milieu of Paris' 'Boulevard du Crime'.
OrphéeOrphée
Drama195096 minsDirector: Jean Cocteau
Magical retelling of the Orpheus myth by poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
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