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French films War
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Jean Renoir’s most overtly comical and anarchistic film, Tire au flanc is the definitive comedy of army life, a popular subject at the time (stemming most probably from the unpopularity of military service). Noticeably less restrained and less technically accomplished than Renoir’s other silent films, it is clear that the director’s main preoccupation here was to entertain...
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1928 was a year of optimism in Europe. Ten years after the end of the First World War, the spirit of Franco-German reconciliation was in the air and both countries were looking forward to a future of peace and prosperity. As part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the signing of the 1918 Armistice, a series of films were commissioned...
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Les Croix de bois is one of the most harrowing and most realistic war films to have been made in France, and bears a favourable comparison with Lewis Milestone’s legendary American equivalent, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Based on a well-known novel by Roland Dorgelès (first published in 1919), the film shows the horror of the Great War through the eyes of an ordinary...
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This enduring classic of French cinema is often cited as director Jacques Feyder’s finest film and it certainly earned him great acclaim on its release in 1935. It was awarded the Grand Prix du Cinéma Français and also a medal by the Societé d’Encouragement à l’Art et l’Industrie...
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One of the undisputed masterpieces of cinema history, La Grande illusion is a film of enduring popularity and one of the most powerful anti-war films of the Twentieth century. It stands beside Jean Renoir’s other triumph, La Regle du jeu, as one of the all-time great French films. The film tackles the anti-war theme from a very subtle angle...
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Abel Gance’s remake of his earlier 1919 film displays all the passion and power of that earlier film, but with the addition of sound to articulate the director’s protest against war. The final scenes where the dead soldiers return to life are haunting and beautifully filmed, but earned the film a horror classification when released in the UK...
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This engaging wartime comedy-drama from director Raymond Bernard features two of the most well-known actors of the 1930s: Charpin and Saturnin Fabre. Although they are virtually forgotten today, these two immensely talented character actors had distinguished film careers, each bringing great depth and intelligence to their characterisation...
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Based on two of Guy de Maupassant’s short stories, Boule de suif was one of the first films to be made in France after the Liberation in 1944. Freed from the yoke of German censorship, director Christian-Jaque made full use of the opportunity to ridicule the German oppressor, to condemn the hypocrisy of the complacent bourgeoisie and to honour the spirit of resistance epitomised by...
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Now regarded as a classic of French cinema, La Bataille du Rail was almost universally praised when it was released in 1946. It won the Grand Prize at the first Festival of Cannes in 1946 and established René Clément as a great director. Whilst it is undoubtedly an impressive film, it is probably its historical significance that gives it its legendary status...
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Un ami viendra ce soir was one of the surprisingly few films made in France immediately after the Second World War which attempted to recount the experiences of the war. The only other film of note made at this time and tackling the same subject is René Clément’s La Bataille du rail (1946). Both of these films are heavily preoccupied with repaying the debt owed to the...
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This was the first notable film from Jean-Pierre Melville, a director who would establish himself as the master of the French crime thriller genre in the 1950s and 1960s. Despite its low budget (most of the film taking place in one room with three characters), this is a compelling film which makes a powerful anti-war statement in the most subtle way imaginable....
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Jeux interdits is almost unquestionably the most compelling and intensely poignant drama featuring young children ever filmed. The film retains its power to shock and to drive its audience to tears, fifty years after its first release. Few films possess the purity of expression and haunting poetry which this film sustains from start to finish...
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The scope of this film and its scale are breathtaking – but the end result is only partially successful. Even in his formidable epic of the 1920s, Abel Gance was unable to cram the whole of Bonaparte’s life into just one film. Sacha Guitry aims to achieve just that, in a truly lavish project, but the objective is just too ambitious...
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The bringing together of two great comic actors of the calibre of Jean Gabin and Bourvil could not fail to be great success, but this film surpasses the audience’s expectations by several hundred kilometres. For both actors, this is a real tour de force. Bourvil is the hapless stooge to Gabin’s outrageously forceful character...
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Although it has some fierce competition, this is probably the best film made by French film director Robert Bresson. It somehow encapsulates every element of Bresson’s unique kind of cinema at the same time as being one of the most compelling and beautiful films ever made. The story is based on the real-life memoirs of a French Lieutenant...
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Paris during the Nazi Occupation. A patrol of German soldiers raid a house from which illicit radio transmissions are being sent. The man inside is killed whilst trying to escape but his wife, Cora, manages to get to safety. Cora decides to have her revenge by taking her husband’s place in the French Resistance. Her first assignment...
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This good-humoured wartime comedy was directed by Christian-Jaque, who is probably best known for his historical adventure films Fanfan la Tulipe (1952) and La Tulipe noire (1964). Producer Raoul Lévy initially offered the directing job to Roger Vadim, but he declined when Martine Carol turned down the leading role and was replaced by Brigitte Bardot...
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This is a moving tale about one man’s unceasing initiative and stoical determination to regain his freedom in the face of overwhelming odds – clearly a metaphor for France’s struggle for freedom during the Nazi Occupation. That man is played by Fernandel, one of the true legends of French cinema, better known for his comic roles...
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Le Chemin des écoliers isn’t so much a film as a head-spinning confluence of some of the most impressive acting talent in French cinema in the late 1950s. Established stars Bourvil and Françoise Arnoul find themselves in the midst of a veritable cavalcade of up-and-coming talent, in the form of Lino Ventura...
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Over forty years after making his landmark epic Napoléon , Abel Gance returns to the life of France’s most famous general in this lavish production which focuses on one comparatively short but decisive point in his life. Whilst Austerlitz is visually impressive, with great attention to period detail, and is historically about as accurate as a film can be...
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