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!
In the Shadow of Women (2015)
6.4/10
Director: Philippe Garrel
Starring: Stanislas Merhar, Lena Paugam, Clotilde Courau
Aka 'L'ombre des femmes'. Pierre and Manon are a pair of poor documentary makers, who scrape by with odd jobs. When Pierre meets young trainee Elisabe... Read more
Incendies (2011)
8.2/10
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Remy Girard, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulan, Lubna Azabal, Maxim Gaudette
In the highly-acclaimed suspense thriller 'Incendies', a mothers dying wish creates a painful puzzle her children are forced to solve. At the reading... Read more
Incendies (Blu-ray) (2011)
8.3/10
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Remy Girard, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulan, Lubna Azabal, Maxim Gaudette
In the highly-acclaimed suspense thriller 'Incendies', a mothers dying wish creates a painful puzzle her children are forced to solve. At the reading... Read more
Indochine (1992)
7.1/10
Director: Regis Wargnier
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham
Set in 1930's French Indo-China this film studies the fascinating relation-ship between two women - a French mother and her adopted Indochinese daught... Read more
Inside Paris (2006)
Director: Christophe Honore
Starring: Romain Duris, Louis Garrel, Guy Marchand, Joana Preiss
AKA 'Dans Paris'. Following a nasty break-up with his girlfriend, young Frenchman (Romain Duris) goes to live with his father (Guy Marchand) and young... Read more
Intimate Strangers (2004)
7.1/10
Director: Patrice Leconte
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire, Fabrice Luchini, Anne Brochet, Michel Duchaussoy
In the midst of marital problems, distressed wife Anna decides to see a psychologist. After entering the wrong office, she begins pouring her heart ou... Read more
IP 5: L'ile Aux Pachydermes (1992)
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Starring: Olivier Martinez, Yves Montand, Geraldine Pailhas
Two young Parisian lawbreakers meet a mysterious older man (Yves Montand, in his final screen role) after hitching a ride in the back of a delivery tr... Read more
Irma Vep (1996)
7/10
Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard
This dig at French film-making stars Jean-Pierre Leaud as a faded auteur, who having seen Maggie Cheung in some Hong Kong action flicks, casts her as... Read more
Irreversible (2002)
7.4/10
Director: Gaspar Noe
Starring: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Jo Prestia
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a s... Read more
Ismael's Ghosts (Les Fantômes d'Ismaël) (2017)
5.6/10
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hippolyte Girardot, Mathieu Amalric, Marion Cotillard, Lou...
Twenty-one years ago, she ran away -- and 21 years later, Carlotta is back from the void. But Ismael has been busy rebuilding a life for himself with... Read more