Compiling a list of the top 100 French film comedies is probably as rational as writing out the complete works of J.K. Rowling in Egyptian hieroglyphics.  After all, one man’s comedy is another man’s political career.  There are no hard and fast criteria by which comedy can be judged.  Something which was hilarious last week may fail to elicit even the faintest glimmer of a laugh on the day that your beloved Jack Russell gets the worst of an encounter with a five tonne steamroller.

What exactly makes a great film comedy?  Acerbic dialogue? Madcap slapstick? Or a lead actor with the physiognomy of a constipated baboon?  Just about anything can be funny, if viewed from the right perspective (even a dog doing a pancake impression).  It is possible to laugh yourself into a life-threatening infarctus by reading Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, although a well-developed sense of irony (and a certain amount of alcoholic beverage) is usually required to achieve this outcome.  With the caveat that our selection is based on our warped, and possibly certifiable, sense of humour, we timorously present the Films de France Top 100 French film comedies...