French period dramas
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- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsGérard DepardieuJean-Pierre MarielleAnne BrochetThe story of Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, fierce and somber man, grand master of the viola da gamba and professor of Marin Marais, prestigious musician in the court of Louis XIV.
- DirectorPatrice ChéreauStarsIsabelle AdjaniDaniel AuteuilJean-Hugues AngladeYoung Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsJane MarchTony Ka Fai LeungJeanne MoreauIn 1929 French Indochina, a French teenage girl embarks on a reckless and forbidden romance with a wealthy, older Chinese man, each knowing that knowledge of their affair will bring drastic consequences to each other.
- DirectorBertrand BonelloStarsNoémie LvovskyHafsia HerziCéline SalletteAt an elegant Parisian bordello at the dawn of the 20th century exists a cloistered world of pleasure, pain, hope, rivalries--and, most of all, slavery.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsIsabelle AdjaniBruce RobinsonSylvia MarriottThe story of Adèle Hugo's unrequited love for a lieutenant.
- DirectorMichel HazanaviciusStarsJean DujardinBérénice BejoJohn GoodmanWhen George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
- DirectorBruno NuyttenStarsIsabelle AdjaniGérard DepardieuMadeleine RobinsonCamille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.
- DirectorChristophe GansStarsSamuel Le BihanMark DacascosJérémie RenierIn 18th-century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American friend Mani are sent to the Gevaudan province at the king's behest to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsOlivier MartinezJuliette BinochePierre ArditiIn a time of war and disease, a young officer gallantly tries to help a young woman find her husband.
- DirectorClaude MillerStarsAudrey TautouGilles LelloucheAnaïs DemoustierAn unhappily married woman struggles to break free from social pressures.
- DirectorBenoît JacquotStarsLéa SeydouxDiane KrugerVirginie LedoyenA look at the platonic relationship between Marie Antoinette and one of her female readers during the first days of the French Revolution.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsAsia ArgentoFu'ad Aït AattouRoxane MesquidaSecrets, rumors and betrayals surround the upcoming marriage between a young dissolute man and virtuous woman of the French aristocracy.
- DirectorStéphanie Di GiustoStarsSokoGaspard UllielMélanie ThierryLoïe Fuller was the toast of the Folies Bergères at the turn of the 20th century and an inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec and the Lumière Brothers. The film revolves around her complicated relationship with protégé and rival Isadora Duncan.
- DirectorAnne FontaineStarsAudrey TautouBenoît PoelvoordeAlessandro NivolaThe story of Coco Chanel's rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouGaspard UllielJodie FosterTells the story of a young woman's relentless search for her fiancé, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsFanny ArdantEmmanuelle BéartDanielle DarrieuxA man is murdered in an isolated chalet, and the eight female residents are all suspects; their secrets are revealed as they try to determine who is guilty.
- CreatorAgatha ChristieThierry DebrouxSylvie SimonStarsBlandine BellavoirSamuel LabartheElodie FrenckAgatha Christie's masterful storytelling gets a soupçon of French flair in these attractive, witty mysteries. These French adaptations are a fresh, stylish twist on classic Christie tales.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsIsabelle HuppertJean-François BalmerChristophe MalavoyIn nineteenth-century France, the romantic daughter of a country squire marries a dull country doctor. To escape boredom, she throws herself into love affairs with a suave local landowner and a law student, and runs up ruinous debts.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsIsabelle HuppertStéphane AudranJean CarmetIn an interwar France struggling with profound social and political change, 18-year-old Violette Noziere rebels against the constraints of her claustrophobic, working-class (and possibly incestuous) family, with troubling consequences.
- DirectorRithy PanhStarsIsabelle HuppertGaspard UllielAstrid Bergès-FrisbeyA troubled mother's spirit crumbles when her adult children strike out for independence. Feeling abandoned she contemplates taking drastic action.
- DirectorPatrice ChéreauStarsIsabelle HuppertPascal GreggoryClaudia ColiThe marriage between Gabrielle and Jean begins to fray after the discovery of a letter that belongs to Gabrielle.
- DirectorOlivier DahanStarsMarion CotillardSylvie TestudPascal GreggoryBiopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
- DirectorGabriel AghionStarsVincent PerezFanny ArdantJosiane BalaskoThe 'philosopher' (modernist intellectual of the French 18th-century Enlightenment) Denis Diderot is part of an aristocratic circle which practices the libertarian principles on the rural castle estate of the baron of Holbach, and prints their forbidden publication, the Encyclopédie, drowning the noise of the presses in Jewish assistant Abraham's organ playing. Then arrives Madame Therbouche, a flirtatious painter, from the Prussian metropolis Berlin, and convinces Diderot to pose for her more daring then his idol fellow-philosopher Voltaire in Berlin: in the nude, leading to an animated row with his wife Antoinette, still naked except for a very unsteady sheet, all over the estate's park. Worse, the saucy scene is witnessed by a feared visitor, Holbach's brother the Cardinal, who is hunting for the illegal Encyclopaedia printers; to divert him, the baroness confesses her real and imagined sins since years and next sends in every female to do the same, later joined spontaneously by chevalier (marquis in the end credits) de Jerfeuil, who got a livelier show the he bargained for when accepting to be shown two inseparable marquis's 'sabre collection' which proves not of the military variety. The baroness also treats her guests to (then) most exotic foods and naughty pictures, yet even for her the freedman Turkish hamam eunuch Mohamed takes hospitality for female guests too far into intimate massage to their taste. His personal experience keeps changing Diderot's ideas, and therefore the article he is writing on 'morale' (morality). Secrets end up getting out, both the portraitist's true agenda and what goes on in the chapel, which the Cardinal finally gets into to 'recollect himself' after hearing so many unsettling lustful sins...
- DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVincent CasselPatrick ChesnaisAugust DiehlVidocq escapes captivity in 1805; years later he's a fabric merchant in Paris under an alias. He makes a deal of amnesty for catching criminals. He builds an efficient team of ex-cons to catch or kill them.
- DirectorStéphanie PilloncaStarsDéborah FrançoisBenjamin BiolayJonathan ZaccaïA serial killer strikes fear into the lives of residents of a quiet French community during the early 19th century.
- DirectorPhilippe de BrocaStarsDaniel AuteuilFabrice LuchiniVincent PerezThe Comte de Gonzague schemes against his cousin, the Duc de Nevers, even though he is the Duke's heir and will inherit his estates. The Count has kept secret the existence of the Duke's bastard, recently born. When the Duke learns of his child, he journeys to wed the mother, a baron's daughter, in her father's isolated chateau. The occupants of the castle are surprised and murdered by the Count and his men. The only ones to escape are the Duke's friend, the skilled swordsman Lagardère, and the infant, a girl, now the rightful heiress to the Duke's vast fortune. The Count believes the pair to have drowned, when in fact they have been concealed by a travelling troupe of Italian players. Twenty years pass. The Count has discovered that the two survive and seeks to have them slain. But Lagardère gains the confidence of the Count, and employment as his bookkeeper, through his clever disguise as a hunch-back...
- CreatorCatherine RambergKarin SpreuzkouskiStarsAudrey FleurotJulie De BonaCamille LouAfter a devastating fire in 1897 Paris, three women find their lives upended by betrayal, deception and romantic turmoil. Inspired by real events.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsNoémie MerlantAdèle HaenelLuàna BajramiOn an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
- DirectorNicole GarciaStarsMarion CotillardLouis GarrelAlex BrendemühlIn 1950s France, Gabrielle is a passionate, free-spirited woman who is in a loveless marriage and falls for another man when she is sent away to the Alps to treat her kidney stones. Gabrielle yearns to free herself and run away with André.
- DirectorAnh Hung TranStarsAudrey TautouBérénice BejoMélanie LaurentThe story of the women and relationships that define a family across a century.
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsLucy RussellJean-Claude DreyfusAlain LiboltDuring the French Revolution, a Scottish aristocrat and her former lover, the Duke of Orleans, find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
- DirectorBenoît JacquotStarsIsabelle AdjaniStanislas MerharJean YanneThe action takes place at the turn of the 19th Century. Adolphe (Stanislas Merhar) is a carefree, somewhat jaded 22-year-old, scion of a preeminent aristocratic family, with a very promising political career ahead of him. To Adolphe, love means conquest, and since he is bored, love is a good pastime. At a soirée given by the Count (Jean Yanne) in his sumptuous castle, Adolphe sets his eyes on the beautiful Ellénore (Isabelle Adjani), a young widow, ten years his elder, mother of two children. She also happens to be the Count's mistress. Adolphe falls in love with Ellénore, for lack of a better thing to do. At first, Ellénore resists Adolphe's feverish advances. He insists, becoming an overwhelming presence (and nuisance) in Ellénore's life. Eventually, she surrenders. Soon after, the novelty of this adventure wearing out, Adolphe tries to liberate himself from his new lover, who has become a burden in his life, an obstacle to his freedom. However, he cannot bring himself to altogether sever his relationship with Ellénore, as the idea of making her suffer is to him unbearable. Ellénore loses everything as she tries desperately to "hang onto" her lover: her children, the Count's protection, her status in society. For his part, Adolphe's life is in limbo, as he is unable to break once and for all with his now dying love affair. He offends his father, who demands his return to a more conventional life, and he abhors his own indecisiveness, his inability to end his love affair and regain his freedom. What follows is the fallout of an obsessive relationship: unbearable guilt, accusations, and poison letters of recriminations between the two parties. Eventually this emotional charade ends up in death and misery.
- DirectorLéa FazerStarsMarie DenarnaudAïssa MaïgaGrégori DerangèreThe daughter of one of the architects who built the Eiffel Tower gets framed for a murder that has taken place there, so she and her girlfriend embark on a quest across Paris to solve the mystery.
- DirectorEmmanuel MouretStarsCécile de FranceEdouard BaerAlice IsaazFooled by a notorious libertine, a widow plans her revenge.
- DirectorMarc DugainStarsLambert WilsonAnamaria VartolomeiOlivier GourmetIn 1721, the Regent of France, wanting to seal the peace with Spain, offers to the Spanish King, a marriage between their respective heirs: Louis XV, age 11, and Maria Anna Victoria, the 4-year-old Spanish Infanta (princess). The Regent of France also offers to marry his daughter, Mademoiselle deè Montpensier, 12, to the Prince of Asturias, the 14-year-old heir apparent to the Spanish throne. Madrid responds enthusiastically to both proposals, and the ceremonies are promptly organized. The exchange of the princesses is to take place with great pomp on a small island, in the river bordering the two countries. Everything has been done to expect the best of the children, but nothing will proceed as planned.
- DirectorÉdouard MolinaroStarsFabrice LuchiniManuel BlancSandrine KiberlainThe life story of the titular Beaumarchais, playwright and adventurer, who gets himself into numerous different scrapes and romantic encounters in 18th Century France.
- DirectorGuillaume NiclouxStarsPauline EtienneIsabelle HuppertLouise Bourgoin1760s France. Suzanne is shocked when her bourgeois family sends her to a convent. There she faces oppression and torment, leading her to fight back and expose the dehumanizing effect of cloistered life.
- DirectorXavier GiannoliStarsCatherine FrotAndré MarconMichel FauIt is party day at Marguerite Dumont's castle. She sings wholeheartedly, but terribly out of tune. Marguerite has been living her passion in her own bubble, and the hypocrite audience acts as if she was the diva she believes she is.
- StarsDominique BlancDidier SandreValentine VarelaDrama centering around the life at the court of Louis XIV and the role of the Marquise de Maintenon.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsMélanie ThierryLambert WilsonGaspard UllielBased on the classic didactic novel, the action centers on the noble lady who soon becomes exposed to the sexual and political intrigues of the French court of the religious wars era.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsCharles BerlingJean RochefortFanny ArdantTo get royal backing on a needed drainage project, a poor French lord must learn to play the delicate games of wit at court at Versailles.
- DirectorBenoît JacquotStarsLéa SeydouxVincent LindonClotilde MolletA scheming servant works for a wealthy couple in France during the late 19th century.
- DirectorMarie NoëlleStarsKarolina GruszkaArieh WorthalterCharles BerlingFollows the famous physicist and chemist Marie Curie and her struggle for recognition in the male-dominated science community in early 20th century France.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsJuliette BinocheJessica ErreroRobert LeroyWinter, 1915. Confined by her family to an asylum in the South of France - where she will never sculpt again - the chronicle of Camille Claudel's reclusive life, as she waits for a visit from her brother, Paul Claudel.
- DirectorDiane KurysStarsJuliette BinocheBenoît MagimelStefano DionisiA story of doomed passion between two genius writers of the 19th century - novelist George Sand and poet Alfred de Musset.