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!
Notre Musique (2004)
7/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Ferlyn Brass, Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Rony Kramer, Georges Aguilar, Letica Gutie...
Part poetry, part journalism, part philosophy, acclaimed director Jean-Luc Godard continues his lifelong inquiry into the nexus between aesthetics and... Read more
Notre-Dame On Fire (2022)
6.5/10
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
A film relating from the inside the Notre-Dame de Paris fire of April 2019. Read more
Of Gods and Men (2010)
7.2/10
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale
Trappist monks living in Algeria find their Catholic faith tested to the limit after a revolution takes place and the government urges them to abandon... Read more
Of Love & Lies (2019)
Director: Julien Rappeneau
Starring: Francois Damiens, Andre Dussollier, Ludivine Sagnier
Théo would like to give some hope to his father, Laurent, a lonely alcoholic and disillusioned with life. The opportunity comes when Théo is about to... Read more
Oh, Woe Is Me ( aka Helas Pour Moi ) (1993)
6.4/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Gerard Depardieu, Laurence Masliah, Bernard Verley, Jean Louis Loca
Director Jean-Luc Godard's story of journalist Abraham Klimt's investigation into a case of divine possession. Godard takes his cue from the Greek myt... Read more
Olivier Olivier (1993)
7.6/10
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Francois Cluzet, Brigitte Rouan, Gregoire Colin
A brooding, based-on-fact account of a country couple whose young son mysteriously disappears. Six years later he 'reappears' but is no longer the spe... Read more
On Air (2012)
6.3/10
Director: Pierre Pinaud
Starring: Karin Viard, Nicolas Duvauchelle
A.k.a. "Parlez-moi de vous". 40-year-old Claire Martin (Karin Viard) is the most famous voice in France. As 'Mélina', host of an evening radio program... Read more
On My Way (2013)
6.4/10
Director: Emmanuelle Bercot
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Nemo Schiffman, Gerard Garouste, Camille , Paul Hamy, Mylene...
Deneuve plays over-60 ex-beauty queen Bettie. Jilted by her lover, harangued by her busybody mother, and about to lose the family seafood restaurant,... Read more
One Stays, One Leaves (2004)
Director: Claude Berri
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Daniel Auteuil, Miou-Miou, Nathalie Baye, Pierre Arditi
Two long-standing friends, Daniel and Alain, in their fifties and both married for fifteen years, fall in love. Daniel meets Judith when the son that... Read more
Only The Animals (2019)
Director: Dominik Moll
Starring: Denis Menochet
A woman disappeared. After a snowstorm, her car is discovered on a road to a small remote village. While the police don't know where to start, five pe... Read more