Discover the Most Engaging Movies to Learn French
Whether you want to learn more about the culture, improve your grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation or simply have a good time, these popular French movies are perfect for you!
1. Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain
One of the most famous romantic French movie, and one which gave many people the desire to visit Paris. Amélie, a young and innocent girl working as a waitress in Paris does her best to help people around her and hopes to find love in the French capital. Her quest makes her realize she forgets about herself and she decides to take control of her destiny.
2. LES MISÉRABLES
In Montfermeil, where Hugo set his original Les Misérables, Stéphane (Damien Bonnard) a cop newly recruited to the anti-criminal brigade finds himself on a team whose questionable methods lead them into direct conflict with the neighbourhood gangs in their jurisdiction. When an arrest turns violent, events boil over into a dramatic clash that threatens to burn the suburb to the ground.
Inspired by the riots of 2005, Ladj Ly (co-director of the movie Speak Up) makes his kinetic feature debut with a powerful, thrilling work that swings between brutal social realism and moments of electric melodrama. Les Misérables critiques systemic corruption and explores the fraught tension between cops and teenagers with a sensitivity to the complicated perspectives at play on both sides.
Les Misérables was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. It was selected as the French entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.
3. La Haine
If what’s going in the French suburbs interests you, La Haine is the movie you should watch. After a fight with the police, Abdel, a young man falls unconscious Riots follow and violence escalates.
La Haine is a particularly touching movie and pretty accurate representation of what’s happening in some French suburbs. Wile this certainly isn’t a movie for everyone, this is the perfect way to safely learn more about the problems France is facing.
4. The Intouchables
When a rich Frenchman in a wheelchair meets a young and dynamic French from the banlieue (the outskirts of Paris), you get The Intouchables. A touching movie which highlights the clash between rich and poor suburbs but also shows the difficulties handicapped people face in their daily life. This is also the story of a beautiful and unexpected friendship between two persons who seemed to have nothing in common. This is one of my top movies to learn French and I am sure you will love it too.
5. The Chorus
Can a teacher change his students’ lives? That’s what a new teacher at a at a severely administered boys’ boarding school tries to do in the twentieth century. Clément Mathieu decides to use music and to create a chorus to positively change his students’ life. Will he succeed? The beautiful music, touching story and special atmosphere of this movie make it one of the most successful French movie of all time.
6. The Spanish Apartment (L’auberge espagnole)
Xavier, a French student travels to Spain via the ERASMUS program, which allows many European students to spend a few semesters in another European university. Xavier quickly realize that moving to a new country isn’t as easy as he imagined and faces many obstacles as soon as he lands in Barcelona. What was supposed to be a simple semester abroad turns out to be a truly life-changing experience. The Spanish Apartment speaks to an entire generation of students who experienced a similar adventure. This is a must-watch French movie if you ever spent a semester abroad or plan to do so.
7. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
This parody of James Bond shows a French spy full of himself, sexist and racist who makes mistake after mistake and finally ends up looking almost sweet. The perfect movie to relax after a hard day of work.
8. OSS 117 Lost in Rio
If you enjoyed watching OSS 117 Cairo Nest of Spies, its sequel won’t disappoint you. This time our hero is looking for a former Nazi and desperately trying to seduce the charming Mossad agent he is working with.
Did you watch any of these French films?
What are your top movies to learn French?
Quel est votre film français préféré ?
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