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!
Water Drops On Burning Rocks (2000)
6.8/10
Director: Francois Ozon
Starring: Bernard Giraudeau, Malik Zidi, Ludivine Sagnier
In 1970s Germany, a 50-year-old businessman falls in love with a 20-year-old man. Read more
We'll End Up Together (2020)
Director: Guillaume Canet
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Gilles Lellouche, Francois Cluzet
When Guillaume Canet’s star-studded comedy Little White Lies exploded at the global box office in 2010 (achieving a stunning 5.2 million admissions),... Read more
Weekend (1967)
7.2/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
A mind-expanding anti-Western diatribe about one woman's road to guerrillahood is among Godard's more fully realised works, with a long traffic-jam se... Read more
Welcome (2009)
7.6/10
Director: Philippe Lioret
Starring: Vincent Lindon, Audrey Dana, Firat Ayverd
This multi award-winning film from writer/director Philippe Lioret tells the story of Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee, who has s... Read more
Welcome Aboard (2012)
5.9/10
Director: Jean Becker
Starring: Jacques Weber, Miou-Miou, Patrick Chesnais, Jeanne Lambert
Taillandier (Patrick Chesnais) is a well-known painter in his sixties, but despite his success he finds himself overwhelmed by depression and decides... Read more
Welcome to the Sticks (2008)
7.1/10
Director: Dany Boon
Starring: Kad Merad, Dany Boon, Zoe Felix, Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret, Anne Marivin
A huge hit in its native France, this 'city slicker meets the yokels' comedy stars Kad Merad as a postal worker whose attempts to orchestrate a transf... Read more
Western (1997)
6.9/10
Director: Manuel Poirier
Starring: Sergi Lopez, Sacha Bourdo, Elisabeth Vitali
An intelligent and sensitive road-movie about two foreigners spending three weeks together hitch-hiking through northern France. Crackling with traged... Read more
What's in a Name? ( Le prenom ) (2012)
7.3/10
Director: Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patelliere
Starring: Charles Berling, Francoise Fabian, Valerie Benguigui, Patrick Bruel, Judith El Z...
A.k.a. "Le prénom". Vincent (Patrick Bruel), a successful forty-something Parisian businessman, is about to become a father for the first time. He is... Read more
White Material (2009)
7/10
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Isabelle Huppert, Michel Subor, Isaach De Bankole
Isabelle Huppert delivers an intense performance in this gripping drama about a French woman who refuses to abandon her family's African coffee planta... Read more
Witnesses (2014)
7.3/10
Starring: Catherine Mouchet, Thierry Lhermitte, Laurent Lucas, Marie Dompnier
Set in a small coastal village in France, this is a quiet thriller of crime and dark secrets. The opening sequence takes place in a house just put out... Read more