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Best
French Films of the
2000s
Agnès Jaoui (2000) |
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Dominik Moll (2000) |
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This sophisticated romantic comedy was a hit in France and features
Jean-Pierre Bacri playing a businessman struggling to acquire a
taste for art, with hilarious consequences.
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This superlative black comedy, winner of four Césars in 2001, consists
of an extraordinary sequence of comic situations. Sergi López is
both enchanting and disturbing as the friend who just can't help doing
a good turn.
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Cédric Kahn (2000) |
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François Ozon (2000) |
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Stefano Cassetti gives a remarkably intense performance as a
dangerous psychopath in this brutally realistic but compelling thriller.
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Charlotte Rampling is captivating in this haunting romantic drama
in which a woman tries to come to terms with the sudden loss of her husband.
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Patrice Leconte (2000) |
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François Dupeyron (2001) |
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Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil star in this poignant historical drama,
an unusually dark and introspective work from Patrice Leconte.
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A casualty of the First World War tries to rebuild his life as dedicated
surgeons mend his shattered face - an acutely poignant drama
with some extraordinary performances.
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Jean-Luc Godard (2001) |
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Laurent Cantet (2001) |
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A beautifully composed tribute to love, life and cinema, from the
master of the French New Wave. Godard has lost none of
his flair for innovation; this film both transcends and celebrates
the Seventh Art.
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A man's desperate attempts to keep the loss of his job from his family makes
a haunting existentialist drama - sombre, beautifully photographed and thoroughly
absorbing.
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Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001) |
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Michael Haneke (2001) |
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This surreal romantic comedy was a huge international success and propelled Audrey
Tautou to stardom. A beautifully poetic, very funny and hugely original film.
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Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes, this dark romantic drama
features a chillingly tortured performance from Isabelle Huppert.
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Jacques Rivette (2001) |
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Eric Rohmer (2001) |
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This sparkling romantic comedy drama boasts some magnificent performances
from a cast that includes Jeanne Balibar and Sergio Castellitto.
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An exquisitely composed portrait of an affair between an English
lady and her French aristocratic admirer, set during the darkest days of the
French Revolution.
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François Ozon (2002) |
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Cédric Klapisch (2002) |
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Eight of French cinema's classiest ladies are brought together to
fight it out in this deliciously seductive musical whodunnit,
a stylish and entertaining film.
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The trials and tribulations of a language student
in Barcelona make this a colourful and witty slice-of-life comedy-drama.
Romain Duris plays a young man in search of identity and a place to live.
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Nicolas Philibert (2002) |
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Lucas Belvaux (2002) |
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An immensely captivating portrait of a primary school
teacher and his class of infants, this critically acclaimed
film was a surprising commercial success.
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One of an innovative trilogy of films, this stands out as being
a particularly fine example of the modern breed of film noir thriller,
well-paced, beautifully filmed and harrowingly intense.
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Alain Chabat (2002) |
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Roman Polanski (2002) |
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A spectacular comedy extravaganza which does justice to the original
Astérix comic books, this is probably the biggest commercial
success in French cinema. It's certainly very funny.
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Based on a true story by the pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, this stunningly realised
wartime drama from Roman Polanski is a brutal, compelling work,
one of the director's finest achievements.
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Zabou Breitman (2002) |
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Patrice Leconte (2002) |
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Isabelle Carré is extraordinary as a
young woman who is gradually losing her memory through a brain
disease. It's a bleak, poignant film, but also strikingly poetic.
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French pop icon Johnny Hallyday and veteran actor Jean Rochefort
make an unlikely pairing that works surprisingly well in this
sombre contemplative drama.
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André Techiné (2003) |
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Alain Corneau (2003) |
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Emmanuelle Béart stars in this
unsentimental wartime drama revolving around a married woman's
growing dependency on a younger man who refuses to talk about his past.
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A shocking yet also hilarious portrait of how a young Belgian woman
is abused in a Japanese mega-corporation. Sylvie Testud won the best
actress César for her enchanting performance in this film.
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Sylvain Chomet (2003) |
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Bruno Podalydès (2003) |
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This hilarious adult animated feature is destined to become a classic.
With its fascinating grotesque characters, an amazing thriller narrative and
some surreal comedy, it's tirelessly entertaining - and totally unique.
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Denis Podalydès plays the amateur detective Rouletabille in
this off-the-wall comedy thriller. It's totally potty, but
enormous fun, and a most unusual style for its genre.
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Michael Haneke (2005) |
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Jacques Audiard (2005) |
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Hidden guilt has the power to destroy... Juliette Binoche and Daniel
Auteuil star in this taut psychological thriller with a shock ending.
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This stylish noir thriller is set alight by a remarkable performance
from Romain Duris. The film won no less than 8 Cesars and is worth every one of them.
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