Ranking French Movies
Home of the slow-burners, crime capers, heist lords, and wanna-be romantics
to the men who inspired the era of crime drama greats
to the men who inspired the era of crime drama greats
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14 titles
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJean ServaisCarl MöhnerRobert ManuelFour men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...“Rififi”
This gangster-heist film noir was a one-of-a-kind when it first came out , and still one of the best to do it today. An inspiration for many to come, this is a multi-layered crime movie beyond just the heist itself.
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Tony is fresh from jail and is deteriorating in health and gambling debt. His old friend, Jo, reaches out to Tony with a heist to get him off his feet: a window-shop diamond robbery. Tony declines at first, but after learning his ex-wife (whom left him while in jail) is in town and in bed with a nightclub owner Grutter (with ties to the mob and police), he accepts Jo’s offer on two conditions: no guns, and they go for the bigger stash inside the safe.
Tony and Jo are accompanied with two men: Mario the keymaker, and Cesar the safecracker. The four of them scout out the landscape: traffic times, surrounding store hours, postman or floral delivery schedules, police patrol schedules, etc. They get their hands on the bank’s security system and run test trials to ensure they have sure-fire ways of diffusing the system. They manage to execute the perfect heist and everything goes to plan …. Except fore the “human element” …
Cesar fell in love with a singer who works at Grutter’s nightclub, and he discovers who are the players behind the heist. He hires his dope fiend brother to kidnap Cesar , whom then snitches on Mario ,, who takes the fall for Tony - costing both him and his wife their life. Tony, still hungry for revenge over Grutter taking his wife, now wants vengeance for his good friend’s death. Grutter kidnaps Jo’s son and holds him for ransom, and Tony gets the drop on Grutter’s secret villa. Jo isn’t aware Tony is breaking his son out and delivers the money to Grutter ……….
Long story short things get ugly in the name of stolen money
10/10 - DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsAlain DelonBourvilGian Maria VolontèAfter leaving prison, master thief Corey crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic former policeman. The trio proceed to plot an elaborate heist.Audience engaging intelligent Jewel Heist movie .. very silent movie
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The Red Circle - Corey (fresh out of jail), Vogel (fugitive on the run), Jansen (crack-shot insane ex-detective), the Fence (converts diamonds to cash), and the Prison Guard (gives Corey heist mission) .
The people outside the circle are Inspector Mattei (tasked with finding Vogel), Rico (the one responsible for getting Corey in jail), and Santi (mobster turned nightclub owner turned informant) .
Corey is given the mission for a diamond heist; pays a "visit" to the man who set him up and stole his girl; gets paid "visit" from Rico's gangsters to get the money back; Vogel breaks free from Mattei; statewide manhunt ensues; Corey picks up hitch-hiker Vogel as rebels on the loose; gets paid another "visit" by Rico's gangsters, this one far more dangerous; Corey fills Vogel in on diamond heist; Vogel gets his old cop friend Jansen involved too
Mattei pays visit to Santi for "information"; Jansen surveys the hot zone; Corey gets the Fence involved; the Break-In and Diamond Heist; Santi blackmails the Fence to take Corey's jewels; Santi's son overdoses in botched police investigation; The Trio knowing something is fishy and preparing for the worse; the Final Exchange
9/10 - DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsLubna AzabalMélissa Désormeaux-PoulinMaxim GaudetteTwins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJacqueline BissetJean-Pierre LéaudFrançois TruffautA committed film director struggles to complete his movie while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.A movie about making a movie - Parody life on the inside with the cast and crew.. Mishaps happen along the shoot: pregnancies, drunken actresses, young inexperienced lovebirds, a beautiful British Frenchie, lots of random sex (actors specialize in "lovemaking"), fun assistants, and Truffaut starring as the director himself
Feel good movie about making movies - DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVincent CasselCécile de FranceGérard DepardieuThe story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life before the early 1970s and the events that led to him being declared Public Enemy No. 1 in France.The Frenchman's Goodfellas , similar structure and pacing , based on true story.
Features: short stint as French Soldier, adventures with Sarah and Arab pimp, first robbery at elderly home, marriage life with Sofia, Goodfellas bar-fight homage, first visit to jail and attempt to go clean, domestic violence w/ gun in mouth, killing politician, meeting Jeanne, robbing casino, mob retaliates, Guido and Paul death, adventures with Canadian millionaire, second stint in prison SCU, prison break, attempted prisoner rescue turned shootout, robbery adventures with Mercier, Jeanne break-up, National Park Guards murder - DirectorJean-Stéphane SauvaireStarsJoe ColeVithaya PansringarmCherry MikoThe true story of an English boxer incarcerated in one of Thailand's most notorious prisons as he fights in Muay Thai tournaments to earn his freedom.Ruthless more than anything . Feels like the whole movie was shot on a 50mm lens
Follows a boxer hooked on heroin journey in a Thai prison. Adventures with his inmate gang, romance with prison girl, and his escape through boxing and violence when as he suffers withdrawals from his fix
Features: hardcore prison rape scene , random scenes of male backside - DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsAlain DelonFrançois PérierNathalie DelonAfter professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.A hitman is hired to execute a nightclub owner . Upon completion several people witness the caped man including the pianist, the bartender, and the host .
Police are called in to investigate and the chief detectives orders a roundup of all "suspects" with top hats and overcoats . Due to 50/50 witness testifying and Costello's cold demeanor , the chief orders his men to tail the hitman and uncover his tracks .
After Costello's release his employers suspect he may be trailed , and order for his execution aswell . Joe decides to find the people who ordered the hit , before they find him - all the while dodging the police's trails and mouse-traps
The Caper Thriller that inspired a new-age of filmmakers
Slick spy/detective storytelling featuring: staged alibis, police rigging and tracking, contract killer's collaborators
8.5/10 -- Classic Crime Drama - DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsJean-Paul BelmondoSerge ReggianiJean DesaillyA burglar betraying other criminals prepares for a big heist with a trusted friend who might be as untrustworthy as he.
- DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVincent CasselLudivine SagnierMathieu AmalricThe story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life and death as France's Public Enemy No. 1 in the 1970s.Continuation of life of Mesrine.
Features: robberies with Grainger, arrest, break-out with judge hostage, botched bank heist turned shootout, fourth arrest, break-out with Besse, casino robbery and shootout with cops, taking family hostage for safe transportation, adventures with Sylvia, ransoming millionaire, "killing" news reporter, final death - DirectorMathieu KassovitzStarsVincent CasselHubert KoundéSaïd Taghmaoui24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.French New Wave version of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing"
Follows three friends (Jew, White, Black) during their 24 hours in a French slum during a wave of riots and protests in response to a police brutality killing. The Jew voices his complaints on the riots but does not partake, the white guy actually partakes in some of the violence and madness, and the black guy runs a boxing gym and wants no part of the riots or violence.
By the end of the day an event will take place that will change the friends lives forever - DirectorJacques AudiardStarsTahar RahimNiels ArestrupAdel BencherifA delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.Crime movie about an Arab immigrant surviving in a French prison by gaining protection from a prominent gang and climbing up the ranks
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsJean GabinAlain DelonLino VenturaAn ambitious young mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.Mr. Sartet hires a family of Sicilians to break him out of jail . On top of that he wants them in on a jewel heist of a bank he got the blueprint of while in jail. A pent-up inspector is hot of his tail , phone tapping the love ones around him to fish Sartet out .
The jewel heist seems too hot to tackle , and the Elder of the family suggests that hijack a cargo-plane carrying diamonds instead . The plan is successful and everything goes according to plan , until the secret comes out Sartet had an affair with one of the son's french wife .
7.5/10 - DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Paul BelmondoJean SebergVan DoudeA small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.Car - thief has bigger dreams than he can handle; on the run for murdering a cop , while trying to convince a girl she's the Bonnie of his life while only using her as a sex escape
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsAlain DelonRichard CrennaCatherine DeneuveAfter a shaky first heist, a group of thieves plan an even more elaborate and risky second heist.A Cop on a narc case gets dragged into a bank heist which may be connected to the drug sting; the Cop is having an affair with the wife of the lead robber involved in the heist ..
Features: bank heist in beginning, train heist involving magnets
6/10