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Best
French Films of the
1990s
Jean-Paul
Rappeneau (1990) |
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Yves
Robert (1990) |
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Gérard
Depardieu gives a towering performance as the famous swordmaster and poet
Cyrano de Bergerac in this lavish swash-buckling film version of Edmond
Rostand's play.
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With
its beautiful images of Provence and heart-warming scenes of family life,
this film evokes the wonder and frustration of childhood, as seen through
the eyes of a young Marcel Pagnol.
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Patrice
Leconte (1990) |
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Leos Carax (1991) |
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A
dark but seductively compelling portrait of obsessive love between a hairdresser
and her husband. In arguably his best film, Patrice Leconte perpetuates
the tradition of poetic realism and bleak existentialism.
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With
its extraordinary melange of hard-edged realism and glittery fairytale,
this depicts a poignant love story involving two homeless people.
The film has some remarkable visuals and features a stunning Juliette
Binoche.
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Jacques Rivette (1991) |
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Jean-Pierre Jeunet et Marc
Caro (1992) |
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Jacque
Rivette's masterwork in which an ageing artist struggles to complete a
painting he abandoned years ago. An austere but compelling work with
excellent performances from Michel Piccoli and Emmanuelle Béart.
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One
of the icons of French cinema in the 1990s, Delicatessen paints
a disturbing vision of the future, where people resort to canabalism and
the world is policed by frogmen. Brilliantly imaginative.
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Krzysztof Kieslowski (1991) |
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Maroun Bagdadi (1991) |
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With
some unsettling dream-like cinematography, Kieslowski tells
a simple but hauntingly unreal love story, in which the experiences of
one woman are inexplicably marked by the tragic death of another.
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A
graphic portrait of the experiences of a journalist who is taken hostage
during the war in Lebanon. Despite the harrowing images, the film
conveys a profound sense of humanity.
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Eric Rohmer (1992) |
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Jean-Marie Poiré
(1993) |
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This
is perhaps the best known of the films in Rohmer's acclaimed Four Seasons
series. Each film provides a compelling portrait of a character trying
to cope with a period of emotional isolation.
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This
hilarious farce featuring a time-travelling knight and his vassal proved
to be a staggering box office success in France. Unlike the sequel
and the dire American remake, this film is genuinely funny.
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André Téchiné
(1994) |
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Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994) |
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A
charming depiction of adolescence set in a boarding school in Provence
during the Algerian war. Beautifully filmed and acted, this remains
Téchiné's best work to date.
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The
third installment in Kieslowski's highly rated Three Colours
cycle is surely the director's masterpiece, a captivating tale of repressed
desire and impossible love, with eerie supernatural undercurrents.
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Mathieu Kassovitz (1995) |
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Claude Sautet (1995) |
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One
of the most contraversial and talked about films of the 1990s, La Haine
paints a disturbing picture of racial intolerance and exclusion.
The harsh editing and unsettlingly fluid photography give the film a rare
dramatic intensity.
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Sublime
performances from Michel Serrault and Emmanuelle Béart makes this
a compelling and infinitely subtle romantic drama.
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Gilles Mimouni (1996) |
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Claire Denis (1996) |
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This
unusual blend of thriller and romance benefits greatly from some great
acting and some truly imaginative direction. A well-paced and captivating
film where the audience is constantly surprised.
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A
keenly observed and potent depiction of estrangement and isolation, in
which a young brother and sister are re-united.
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Jaco van Dormael (1996) |
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Philippe de Broca (1997) |
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A
stressed out business executive discovers a new lease of life when a Downs
syndrome sufferer enters his life. A poignant and hugely uplifting
film which dares to challenge our assumptions about the disabled.
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This
lavish swash-buckling comedy drama features some of the biggest names in
French cinema (including Daniel Auteuil and Fabrice Luchini) and is a hugely
entertaining period romp.
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Alain Resnais (1997) |
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Claude Miller (1998) |
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Inspired
by Dennis Potter, Alais Resnais uses the impromptu burst of song to liven
up this complex romantic drama. The result is a bizarre but overall
entertaining piece of cinema.
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A
shocking thriller which shows the danger of society's overly protective
attitude towards children. Scenes of visceral horror reflect the
tainted imagination of a boy who is conditioned to think the worst.
An effective and disturbing work.
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Francis Veber (1998) |
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Erick Zonca (1998) |
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The
film version of Veber's long-running stage play proved to be a huge box
office success in France. The scintillating dialogue and sparkling
comic performances make this is a very entertaining film.
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This
poignant slice of life drama featuring two vulnerable young women trapped
in their own dream world won critical acclaim for its director Erick Zonca
and his two lead actors, Élodie Bouchez and Natacha Régnier.
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Bruno Dumont (1999) |
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Tonie Marshall (1999) |
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Contraversial
winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1999, this presents a traditional
crime thriller from the unique perspective of an emotionally traumatised
police man. Dumont's minimalist cinematography exposes a work of
great passion and humanity.
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Three
women working in a posh beauty clinic lead troubled love lives in this
popular multi-layered comedy drama. Nathalie Baye gives a sublime
performance as a middle-aged woman who is unable to cope with love.
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