10 Unclichéd Movies To Learn French Language And Culture
French movies can still be a great way to learn about culture, music, history, people, and accents around the Francophonie. They can also be a great way to loosen your grip so that language learning remains a joyful activity and not just a game of learning the subjunctive. So, whatever your goals are, movies for learning French should be evenly spread throughout your calendar.
During my 50-days French Challenge (yes, with a capital C), I spent my procrastination hours retrieving French movies from the immense archives of Canadian Netflix. And I hereby declare that I watched probably everything that could be useful for learning French. That's how I've put together this collection of good stuff to watch in French.
I decided not to be obvious and avoided spamming the list with Intouchables and Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. But if you happened to miss these two, make sure to add them to your personal "to-watch" list.
Which movies should you watch to learn French?
#10: Huit femmes / 8 Women
French cinema can be weird. If you didn't get this point earlier with Amelie or Taxi, this masterpiece from the Canadian Francophonie will certainly set things straight.
But! Never in my life have I seen a more hilarious movie than 8 Women.
What do you think you can expect from eight women locked down in a mansion with one dead body? While they all try to decide which one of them actually killed the man, accusing each other of current and past sins, the house slowly turns into a serpentarium, and you, my dear friend, learn the top secrets of the family. And these secrets spread far beyond what you think is possible.
And so you don't get shocked: it's a musical movie, so they're going to sing, and sing a lot. Just try not to give up after the first song and let the plot develop.
#9: Jeux d'enfants / Love Me If You Dare
You might have watched this one, probably not as one of the movies to learn French but as a sweet romantic comedy... or drama. I guess it falls on both sides.
Jeux d'enfants is another proof that Frenchmen are strange. In this movie, you follow the story of Sophie and Julien, two students who still cannot outgrow their childhood game of "outdo." And as they grow older, their pranks become more daring, surpassing innocent acts like peeing in front of the headmaster, and pushing the boundaries between life, death, and love.
It's very exciting to watch.
#7: Le Brio
Le Brio is my personal Top #1.
I was lucky enough to watch it at CineFranco, the festival of French cinema in Toronto. The absence of this movie on Canadian Netflix is one of the reasons that make me dislike Canada in general. But let's come back to the movie.
Le Brio tells the story of two stubborn characters who learn to deal with each other. There's an excellent French professor who, unfortunately, is a racist and doesn't hide it, and a brilliant student who, unfortunately, is an immigrant and appears too provocative for the former to ignore. Moreover, both have sharp tongues and struggle to control them. And, of course, their paths cross, because where's the intrigue otherwise?
The movie is filled with intelligent humor, clever wordplay, and provocation. It may be hard to understand without subtitles, but after watching Le Brio, you will fall in love with the French language.
#6: Le Grand Bleu / The Big Blue
Le Grand Bleu is actually a good blend of Italian, American, and Greek cultures, but it tells the story of a French guy... and some dolphins around him.
Do you know Jacques Mayol, the French diving legend who still holds a good number of world records in freediving? Le Grand Bleu is about him, his life, and his relationships: both with humans and - you guessed it - with dolphins. It has a spiritual touch, as Jacques Mayol's dilemma went beyond normal human thinking anyway.
He had two worlds he loved: the one we all live in and the underwater world. In the end, he had to choose where to stay.
There isn't much dialogue here (although you might expect some, even from dolphins, if you watch movies to learn French and not just for fun). So, once again, shift your focus. There are so many things to enjoy here, such as the soundtrack by Eric Sierra that transports you to a whole different universe.
#5: Banlieue 13
Here are a few things you can learn from Banlieue 13:
How to swear in French
What to do with an activated bomb
How to blackmail the government
How to jump between rooftops
I suppose I have a ton of political reasons not to include this in the list of movies to learn French. But let's agree: these things sound too cool to ignore.
Both Banlieue 13 and Banlieue 13: Ultimatum are awesome movies full of Jackie Chan-like fights, dizzying parkour tricks, and the epic music by Octupusss. There's also a 99% chance that you won't understand much of the dialogue, regardless of your level of French proficiency. This is because 99% of the dialogue contains slang, swearing, and other elements of "banlieue" code.
Nevertheless, both the first and second parts of B13 are worth watching to learn more about Parisian street culture and, of course, to see David Belle, the creator of parkour, jumping walls.
#4: Léon: Le Professionel / Leon: The Professional
Out of all the movies to learn French, this one is probably the most popular.
I mean, there's just nothing to compare it with... What else can evoke such a spectrum of emotions as Jean Reno carrying around his ficus while killing bad guys? Or Gary Oldman hysterically yelling, "E-e-e-everyo-o-one?" But that's an English story. Should you watch Léon in French, everything changes.
No, the sexy French language doesn't turn this thriller into an erotic drama. You wish.
Instead, Léon alters your entire perception of the French language, making it sound suspicious, dangerous, and... okay, still a little bit sexy.
#3: L'Odyssée / The Odyssey
Nope, it's not about the Greek Odyssey as you might expect; titles can be misleading.
This French-Belgian version is about the adventures and misadventures of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the legendary French explorer and oceanographer who essentially introduced us to the underwater world. L'Odyssée will tell you the story of a Dreamer: with all his crazy ideas, money problems, discoveries, and failures. It will make you admire him, then dislike him, and then probably just accept him as he is.
In any case, not knowing Jacques-Yves Cousteau is a deadly sin for a French learner, so please, save your soul. Your efforts will be rewarded with mesmerizing underwater scenes, a beautiful love story, and absolutely wonderful classic French.
#2: Les Choristes / The Chorus
I've noticed that The Chorus is one of those movies that everybody has heard about but only some have managed to watch. So if that's your story, make things right and watch this movie in French.
Set in 1949, it takes place at a French boarding school for troubled boys whose parents either abandoned them or never returned from the battlefield. The institution is governed by fear, and discipline is enforced through force. There seems to be no future for these boys beyond the school walls, and they don't know what trust is. So what can a new teacher do to bring them out of this reality? And how can music transform their lives?
If you've watched the English version, you know that nobody dared to translate the musical parts; the boys still sing "La Nuit" and "Vois sur ton Chemin." So Les Choristes is something that should be watched in French to preserve the integrity of the movie.
#1: Avis de Mistral / My Summer in Provence
In this movie, Jean Reno mostly drinks and speaks to olive trees, but it's also an amazing family film that leaves warm feelings in your heart no matter how many times you've watched it.
Avis de Mistral is a modern drama that portrays the tragedy of three Parisian kids finding themselves in the middle of Provence for a summer. No WiFi, no friends, no fun, and a bad-tempered grandfather who cannot part with the bottle—what could be worse? However, as the summer days go by, the family learns to accept and love each other while discovering the positive aspects of village life.
My Summer in Provence is one of the essential movies for learning about French culture—or, as you'll see, French cultures.
Watching movies to learn French... or not
To be honest, I don't believe in learning French or any other language solely through watching movies.
Why?
In movies, there's too much individual variation. Accents, vocabulary, topics, and speech speeds vary from one film to another. Moreover, unless a movie is watched multiple times, it won't provide you with consistent auditory input. Therefore, if you want to improve your understanding of spoken French watching movies is likely to be the least effective method.
That's why I recommend leaving aside the attempts to fully comprehend a movie and instead, turning on English or French subtitles and simply enjoying the film.
If you know of any other great movies for learning French, feel free to share them in the comments below! These lists are never complete ;)
