French Cinema
The influence of France on the world screen is undeniable. From early inventors and pioneers such as the Lumiere Brothers, George Melies and Alice Guy Blache, the birth of cinema can virtually be traced back to French shores. Cinematic innovators such as Jean Renoir and Michael Carne followed. By the 1960s New Wave directors like Truffaut, Godard and Chabrol had an indelible impact on fledgling American film makers such as Scorsese, Coppola and Bogdanovich who revolutionised the way films were made in the US; studios fell, auteurs ruled. With the advent of television, French film budgets shrank but thanks to government intervention and a good deal of imagination, French cinema is still going strong with contemporary talents like Jean-Jaques Beineix, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Luc Besson and the controversial Gaspar Noe.
At Alice we're very proud of our extensive French collection, covering all genres from French farce to period drama, magical realism to mystery and suspense. Viva la France!
Goodbye, First Love (2011)
6.6/10
Director: Mia Hansen-Love
Starring: Lola Creton, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Magne-Havard Brekke
Following the critically acclaimed "Father of my Children", Mia Hansen-Love returns with this equally impressive, and loosely autobiographical, coming... Read more
Hail Mary (1985)
6.7/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Myriem Roussel, Thierry Rode, Philippe Lacoste
A reverent modern retelling of the Incarnation and Birth of Christ. The setting is 1980s France where Mary works at her father's gas station. Her sele... Read more
Happenstance (2000)
6.9/10
Director: Laurent Firode
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Faudel , Irene Ismailoff, Eric Feldman
"Happenstance" is set in Paris, the Paris of the everyday. The story celebrates the chaos theory, that the beating of a butterfly's wings on one side... Read more
Happiness Never Comes Alone (2012)
6.5/10
Director: James Huth
Starring: Sophie Marceau, Gad Elmaleh
Sacha (Gad Elmaleh) likes his friends, his piano and partying. He spends his evenings playing in a jazz club where he seduces pretty girls. He is happ... Read more
Happy End (2017)
6.8/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mathieu Kassovitz, Toby Jones, Laura V...
Although a middle-class family living in Calais deal with a series of setbacks, they pay little attention to the grim conditions in the refugee camps... Read more
Harry, He Is Here To Help (2000)
Director: Dominik Moll
Starring: Sergi Lopez, Laurent Lucas, Mathilde Seigner, Sophie Guillemin
Aka "With a Friend Like Harry..." A nail-biting and blackly comic thriller that has been compared to the work of Alfred Hitchcock and the Coen Brother... Read more
Haute Cuisine (2012)
6.4/10
Director: Christian Vincent
Starring: Hippolyte Girardot, Catherine Frot, Jean d'Ormesson
French comedy drama based on the extraordinary true story of President Francois Mitterand's private cook. Hortense Laborie, a renowned chef from the... Read more
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2002)
6.6/10
Director: Laetitia Colombani
Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Audrey Tautou, Sophie Guillemin
Aka "A La Folie Pas Du Tout". For young gifted art student Angelique love has a name: 35-year-old cardiologist Loic. The only problem is that the obje... Read more
Heading South (2005)
6.4/10
Director: Laurent Cantet
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Karen Young, Louise Portal, Menothy Cesar
Set in the 1970s, three women in their mid-life head to Haiti, as many women did, to soak up the sun and explore their sexual fantasies with willing y... Read more
Heartbeat Detector (2007)
6.2/10
Director: Nicolas Klotz
Starring: Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Lou Castel, Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Edith Scob
This chilling corporate thriller from France follows company psychologist Simon Kessler (Mathieu Amalric) who is assigned with investigating a CEO who... Read more