French film photo galley for Romance/Comedy

French films Romance/Comedy

Ein Engel auf Erden (1959)

One of the lesser works from Hungarian filmmaker Géza von Radványi, Ein Engel auf Erden is an absurd fantasy comedy that is memorable only for its cast, which includes some of the best loved actors in French cinema – most of whom were at an early stage in their career. At the time she made this film... [More...]

Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (1959)

Although nearing the end of his film-making career, Renoir still managed to deliver this charming satirical comedy. Whilst the film lacks the punch and intensity of the great director’s earlier films, it provides an amusing tongue-in-cheek swipe at scientific progress and re-affirms Renoir’s belief that there is no substitute for love... [More...]

Le Baron de l'écluse (1960)

In this light romantic comedy, Delannoy plays on his strengths as a director and also capitalises on the formidable acting talent in his cast – notably Jean Gabin and Micheline Presle. Gabin is particularly impressive as the gentleman gambler who appears wealthy and imposing, but in truth has scarcely a sou to his name... [More...]

Ravissante (1960)

This engaging comedy was written and directed by Robert Lamoureux, a popular figure in French cinema of the 1950s. Not surprisingly, Lamoureux also takes a lead role in this film as the seductive Thierry. This film may not be in the same league as the contemporary New Wave films of the early 1960s, mainly because it is allied too closely with the traditional romantic cinema of the 1950s... [More...]

Une femme est une femme (1961)

This is probably director Jean-Luc Godard’s funniest film, although it is in his characteristically tongue-in-cheek, slightly anarchistic style that uniquely identified his contribution to the French New Wave. This is a film that is fast, charged with energy and colour, with some genuinely comic moments that seem to surpass comedy in their brilliance... [More...]

Pierrot le fou (1965)

Although it was originally conceived as a modest, low budget homage to the American gangster film, Pierrot le fou quickly earned a reputation as one of the most important films in French cinema and today is regarded as one of the most revolutionary films ever to have been made. It is a film that defies classification, is both loved and loathed by film enthusiasts... [More...]

Masculin, féminin (1966)

This is another exquisitely funny and very stylish piece of cinema from one of France’s greatest directors, Jean-Luc Godard. It is also significant in that it is the first of Godard’s films in which the director directly broaches major political issues of the day. 1965, when the film was made, represented a turning point in French political history... [More...]

Baisers volés (1968)

Six years after Antoine Doinel appeared in the Antoine et Colette segment of the compendium film L’Amour à vingt ans, François Truffaut felt the time was right to resurrect his famous alter ego, who first saw the light of day in Les Quatre cents coups. By this time, Jean-Pierre Léaud, the young actor who played Antoine in these two earlier films... [More...]

Domicile conjugale (1970)

Domicile conjugal is the fourth, and arguably the most humorous, installment in François Truffaut’s semi-autobiographical Antoine Doinel cycle of films. It follows directly on from the previous film in the series, Baisers volés, with Jean-Pierre Léaud once more reprising the role of Truffaut’s hapless but loveable altar ego... [More...]

Les Mariés de l'an II (1971)

Les Mariés de l’an II is typical of the ebullient and witty period drama which French cinema has been consistently good at producing for many decades. As would be expected from Jean-Paul Rappeneau, the director of the 1990s hit Cyrano de Bergerac, this is an intelligent, good humoured romp which capitalises on its historical setting to great effect... [More...]

César et Rosalie (1972)

With its memorable dream-like photography and impassioned acting performances, César et Rosalie – quite possibly Claude Sautet’s best film – is a haunting evocation of the pain and faltering uncertainty of love. The story of an irreconciable love triangle is told with a conflicting combination of poetry and realism... [More...]

Le Magnifique (1973)

Very redolent of the era in which it was made, Le Magnifique is an ebullient mix of the truly bizarre and original which gives it a rare timeless quality. It is a hugely entertaining film to watch, and re-watch, filled with some outrageous but very effective comedy. Although the film starts out resembling a spoof of the action/spy thriller... [More...]

À nous les petites Anglaises! (1976)

Director Michel Lang made a promising feature debut with this bittersweet portrayal of adolescence, set in Ramsgate (that well-known Mecca for French students) during the rock and roll years. Characteristically for this director, the cast consists mainly of inexperienced and non-professional actors and is shot almost entirely on location... [More...]

L'Homme qui aimait les femmes (1977)

Witty, incisive and masterfully narrated, L’Homme qui aimait les femmes is one of François Truffaut’s most entertaining films, but it is also one his most introspective and melancholic. As in many of Truffaut’s works, it deals with the subject of a compulsive need for love, a need which can never really be satisfied... [More...]

Le Pion (1978)

Not a great film, admittedly, but Le Pion isn’t without a certain charm, thanks to its sympathetic cast and plethora of imaginative visual gags. The film is a gentle satire on state education and the world of contemporary literature, both of which appear to be tainted by snobbery, malice and petty self-interest. It is unevenly paced and at times lacking in focus... [More...]

Préparez vos mouchoirs (1978)

In this very entertaining light romantic comedy, Bertrand Blier re-unites the dream team Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere, in a near reprise of their roles in his 1974 film Les Valseuses. However, the similarities with that earlier film are very superficial. This film, like Les Valseuses, centres on the lives of two grown men... [More...]

L'Amour en fuite (1979)

With L’Amour en fuite, the fifth and final instalment in the Antoine Doinel saga, François Truffaut closes the book on his favourite character – a character that bears more than a passing similarity to Truffaut himself. Although the film does not stand up too well in its own right, it manages to drawn together the life of its central character very well and the overall... [More...]

Le Cavaleur (1979)

Whilst clearly not in the same league as Philippe de Broca’s exuberant adventure comedies, Le Cavaleur provides a fair quota of laughs, courtesy of Michel Audiard’s witty dialogue and a magnificent turn from the seemingly indefatigable Jean Rochefort (who looks like an advertisement for a well-known brand of long-lasting battery as he zips about like Casanova on steroids)... [More...]

Je vous aime (1980)

This is a bittersweet romantic comedy which was quite controversial at the time. Catherine Deneuve, in one of her best performances, plays a beautiful career woman who is unable to sustain a monogamous relationship. In some ways, the film is a modern day version of Flaubert’s novel, Madame Bovary, questioning the validity and basis for long-term relationships... [More...]

La Boum (1980)

Although it is hardly groundbreaking material, La Boum is one of those inconsequential French romantic comedies which you cannot help falling for. The film was an enormous commercial success when it was released in 1980 and a sequel, imaginatively titled La Boum 2, was soon put into production. Sympathetic performances from Claude Brasseur and Brigitte Fossey bring a touch of humour and poignancy... [More...]

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