You might be thinking that all this sounds great, but how are you, a beginner, going to understand an entire French movie?

Driss bids Philippe farewell and walks away as Phillipe and Eléonore chat and enjoy each other's company. Most libraries either allow patrons to borrow movies for free, or for a small yearly fee. and “documentaire”. This story is written in the present tense, and the audio is a little faster than our other stories. [38], The film has also done well in several other European countries, topping charts in Germany for nine consecutive weeks, Switzerland for eleven weeks, Austria for six weeks, Poland for three weeks, and Italy, Spain and Belgium for one week, as of 20 May 2012.

Still, this list should be a way for you to discover some of the best-known French films. If you can, try to keep going on to the next scene. It’s awesome how DVD’s, streaming services, and other media today offer subtitles and closed captioning options.

At night in Paris, Driss (Sy) is driving Philippe's (Cluzet) Maserati Quattroporte at high speed. The consensus states, "It handles its potentially prickly subject matter with kid gloves, but Intouchables gets by thanks to its strong cast and some remarkably sensitive direction.

I can’t seem to find others that are at my level or hold my interest. Look for French bookstores. Many of these characters and their lines of dialogue are extremely well-known among the general French population, and the movie is usually aired at Christmas, of course. He grows a beard and looks ill. Yvonne becomes worried and calls Driss back. There are two main things watching movies in French with help you with: listening skills, and cultural knowledge. It’s a great way to practice listening to younger French speakers who use a lot of slang, swallow their words, and so on. Pronuciation and hearing understanding capabilites. And of course, there’s entire genres and subgenres of films that are cultural references for certain groups (kids, inner city teenagers, anime fans, etc. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll find these movies now! Simon Curtis was to direct Cranston and Hart from a screenplay written by Feig. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it! Dubbing for documentaries is usually virtually unnoticeable, since they’re usually narrated off-screen, anyway, and often, interviewees who speak another language are dubbed, anyway. It’s a very, very heavy and difficult film to watch, but is one of the most famous and critically acclaimed French documentaries – and of course, hard as films like this are to watch, it’s important never to forget.

I’m glad you thought this list was helpful, and i love how you describe the role of watching movies in your French learning process! Philippe agrees with Driss to send a photo of him in a wheelchair to her, but he hesitates and asks his aide, Yvonne, to send a picture of him as he was before his accident. What's this film's excuse? Culture Trip stands with Black Lives Matter. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Ralph Fiennes as the leading Nazi executioner, the infamous commandant Amon Goeth. [8], Upon the film's 21 September 2012 UK release under the title Untouchable, The Independent called it "a third-rate buddy movie that hardly understands its own condescension....Why has the world flipped for this movie? Watching a French movie with French subtitles is an excellent way to train your ear. [35] After sixteen weeks, more than 19 million people had seen the film in France. This biographical drama documents the life of Solomon Northup, a free black man from Upstate New York, who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.

This iconic film is a stark, sad meditation about the destruction of war and love. Buy or rent a digital copy. This organization is dedicated to promoting French learning around the world. It became immensely popular in France when it was released in 2002.

These may carry French movies on DVD or Blu-Ray, too. The best movie genre to start with is probably documentaries. The project was produced by brothers Morgan and Mason McGrew. The film has grossed $166 million in France and $444.7 million worldwide as of 12 May 2013. The next day, Driss returns and is greeted by Yvonne, Philippe's aide, who tells him that he has been given the job of live-in caregiver on a trial basis. You don’t have to be from a particular country to find out about and participate in things like garage sales or movie screenings that are being organized by community members.

It’s about two “émotifs” – people who are easily overcome by their emotions – and how they navigate falling in love. Some French movies are worth watching because they’re cultural references. However, when he was finally released from his duty of war and comes back home, Kyle struggled to escape the haunting shadow of war and death, and had difficulty reconnecting with his wife and children. It’s underpinned with a wish to be free and independent, escape the norms of society and discover transcendence in nature. Upon arrival, he decides to drive Philippe in the Maserati, which brings the story back to the initial police chase. A true-story movie about one man’s spiritual journey through the natural world, Into the Wild reflects the many conflicts and problems that trouble those uneasy with a materialistic life. Keeping all that in mind, here is the list…. But there’s also the cultural impact. [3] It also became the most viewed French film in the world with 51.5 million tickets up to 2014 and the success of Lucy. [125], In March 2016, it was announced that Bryan Cranston was cast, replacing Firth.

Start with a scene that you’re familiar with and turn off the subtitles. This 1980’s ensemble comedy features some of the best-loved French actors and comedians of the era, many of whom are still working and beloved today. Period dramas tend to have clear dialogue, but it depends on the subject and also on whether or not the director chooses to feature a lot of background noise or obscure words and speech patterns (although it’s much easier to understand French from centuries ago than it is to understand older forms of a language like English). Hi, this is a great article with terrific suggestions. But Delicatessen is much savvier and funnier, in my opinion. Driss encourages him to meet her, but Philippe fears her reaction when she discovers his disability. Using French movies to practice your French listening skills doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing measure, but a gradual process. Watching movies with French subtitles was a breakthrough for me, and has really improved my listening comprehension.

Hopefully these lists have helped you find some French movies to practice your listening skills.

I can’t help but laugh every time, especially when killer Ben (the always entertaining Benoît Poelvoorde) shows his sensitive side with a poem about pigeons. You may need that time, yourself, to get into the “French zone”. Directed by Alain Resnais, this documentary was filmed 10 years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, and features footage from when the camps were in operation. A truly epic masterpiece. I have to admit I can’t get through the whole thing, but give it a try – maybe you’ll discover you agree with most of the French. Brockovich, without any suitable educational background, gets hired as a lawyer, accidentally stumbles upon a major case of water poisoning that has lead to many cancerous diseases in her town and takes the fight to big business. Driss, a candidate, has no ambitions to get hired. Omar Sy, François Cluzet & Audrey Fleurot – "Des références..." (1:08), Ludovico Einaudi – "Writing Poems" (4:09), Omar Sy & François Cluzet – "L'arbre qui chante" (1:01), François Cluzet & Omar Sy – "Blind Test" (2:21), Ludovico Einaudi – "L'origine nascosta" (3:12), This page was last edited on 5 November 2020, at 15:23. Some well-known children's stories translated into French and spoken by a native French speaker. As long as you’re watching most of these without needing subtitles, you can give yourself a pass for an especially tough one. It was believed to be impossible to escape from until three daring men (played by Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau) made a successful attempt at it in 1962. Much as I love this one, I hesitated to include it on this list. For generations, Disney movies have been a big part of life for French people as much as they have for Americans. They often screen classic and foreign movies, which could mean you’d get to see some of the movies mentioned in this article on the big screen. [39], In 2015 it was announced that Vamsi Paidipally would be directing a Telugu adaptation titled Oopiri, which would also be shot in Tamil as Thozha. This is an engaging watch that also gives you two very different kinds of French – the classic accent, speed, and vocabulary choices of Philippe (played by François Cluzet) and Driss (Omar Sy)’s banlieue-infused, energetic expressions. You may notice that some translation choices are a bit unexpected.

Its simple dialogue also makes it easy to understand – although you may be too shaken to really notice, by the end of it. Good luck and happy watching! A friend of Philippe's reveals Driss's criminal record which includes six months in jail for robbery. Overhearing, Philippe recognizes Driss's need to be supportive to his family and releases him from his job, suggesting he may not want to push a wheelchair all his life. Read more.

One moment, I was practicing, going through the motions, and then – I got it. It’s not my favorite, by a long shot, but give it a try and see if its very French humor appeals to you. ... look no further than the French author Colette, ... SHARE THIS STORY. The film ends with shots of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou, the people on whom the film is based, together on a hillside, reminiscent of the paragliding scene earlier in the film. Remember, too, that for many movies, opening scenes have to grab the audience’s attention, so the noise, dialogue speed, and general pacing may be extremely ramped up compared to the rest of the film. Nine weeks after its release in France on 2 November 2011, it became the second biggest box office hit in France, just behind the 2008 film Welcome to the Sticks. The story of two medieval peasants who time-travel to early 1990’s France, this is another movie French people seem to universally love and often reference.