French Movie Reviews

Safe Conduct Bertrand Tavernier loves cinema. And he also loves France and her proud cultural heritage, of which he has become a spokesperson. Finally, he loves history, which often nourishes his films. These three loves form the unifying topic of his latest film, which is also explicitly expressed in the dedication to "All those who lived this history" and in "Safe Conduct", which echoes the worst.

Sansa In Sansa, artist/writer/director Siegfried follows a street hustler/artist who makes his way from Paris to Russia using his street smarts.

Seaside A first film which, through a gallery of portraits, looks like a commercial for a beach resort in the bay of Somme, France.

The Secret of the Grain Set in a small port in the south of France, The Secret of the Grain chronicles the journey of an old man who after being downsized out of a job decides to use his small savings to open a couscous restaurant on a junkyard boat.

Secrets of State Positioned as a realistic look at the War of Intelligences and aiming at capturing both angles, Secrets of State leaves you with the feeling that becoming a secret agent is easier than you think.

Slogan Filled with beautiful images and not much content, Pierre Grimblat's Slogan looks like a glossy fashion magazine, and had it not have been for the presence of its stars, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, it would have been forgotten.

Someone I Loved Someone I Loved centers on an affair between a middle-aged married man and a beautiful young woman.

The Snake The Snake belongs to a formulaic and fading sub-genre where everything has been seen before. While you feel the effect of the bite momentarily, the venom of this snake is inoffensive afterwards.

The Son With The Son, the Dardenne brothers are back with their mascot, actor Olivier Gourmet, in a film where a man finds himself face to face with the murderer of his son.

Spy(ies) French writer/director Nicolas Saada's debut film might be called Spy(ies) but the world he describes here is at the opposite of the glamour clichés usually associated with the genre.

Sweat Bathed by a scorching sun, Sweat, a truck road movie, plunges us into the dryness of the Moroccan desert following the transport of a stolen load of gold.

Swimming Pool With Swimming Pool, director François Ozon has touched bottom.

Tell No One Despite a good ensemble cast and a few intriguing moments, director Guillaume Canet's Tell No One fails, and the title gives a warning spectators should follow scrupulously.

Time of the Wolf Following his provocative Piano Teacher, Michael Haneke has chosen to study the evolution of social codes following a disaster.

Time to Leave The second chapter in his trilogy about death, François Ozon's Time To Leave follows the last days of a young man who has just discovered that his days are numbered and embarks on an odyssey to find peace with himself and his family.

The Triplettes of Belleville The Triplettes of Belleville, Sylvain Chomet's first full-length film, is undoubtedly a good surprise: Action, humour, poetry and incredible technical control.

Try To Remember Loss of memory is a very popular theme in today's cinema and its consequences have varied, from pure escapism to twisted machinations and sexual (re)discovery. Rather than capitalizing on the results of amnesia, Try To Remember examines the degenerative process of loss.

Twice Upon a Time Twice Upon a Time shows that romantic comedies can work without a youthful and glamorous cast, as long as the actors have enough charisma to transcend their age.

The Valet The Valet is another entry in a saga based on a recurrent character FranÃâ§ois Pignon, an average Joe that French screenwriter/director Francis Veber likes to throw into the most awkward situations, as in The Dinner Game and The Closet.

Vidocq Pitof, a former special effects supervisor on several French blockbusters, directs Vidocq, the first film entirely shot in digital. The much-anticipated work is disappointing.

Wasabi Luc Besson and Jean Reno are icons in the Empire of the Rising Sun. Just ask young Japaneses to mention a French director and Luc Besson's name will be the first to roll off the tongue and then Jean Reno will be the first actor that comes to mind.

Water Lilies Centered around a synchronized swimming team, Céline Sciamma's debut studies the nascent sexuality of three teenage girls struggling with their own desires.

Welcome to Switzerland For her first film, Lea Fazer chose self-mockery by drawing up an exhaustive list of all the stereotypes and clichés in force concerning her Swiss compatriots. Too ridiculous to be honest.

Welcome to the Land of Ch'tis While the entertaining Welcome to the Land of Ch'tis is the biggest box office hit in France's history, it's unfortunately difficult to envision parallel success here. Or even in Quebec for that matter.

White Material Shot with a languid pace reflecting the African heat and the slow death of colonialism, White Material takes on colonialism with a different angle, portraying it as broken dream that shouldn't have happened in the first pace.

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