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French Films at the UTSA Library

This list is only a sample of classic and contemporary French films available at the UTSA Library.
Search UCAT to find more films - limit the search by Videorecording.

36 Fillette
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .T48 1999
Written and directed by Catherine Breillat, this is the story of fourteen-year-old Lili's journey toward sexual awakening with a middle-aged man. An insightful drama about sexual politics and male hypocrisy. DVD. In French with English subtitles.

À Bout de Souffle = Breathless
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .B741 1997
In this film by director Jean-Luc Godard, based on a story by François Truffaut, a playful car thief accidentally shoots a policeman, then hides out in Paris with a hip American girl, trying to hustle enough cash for a getaway. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

À Nous la Liberté = Liberty for Us
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1995.9 .C55 N68 1994
Originally released as a motion picture in 1931, this highly stylized comedy by director René Clair, satirizes the mechanization of modern life and is considered to be the possible inspiration to Chaplin's "Modern times." VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Les Amants = The Lovers
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1995.9 .F67 L69 1992
Written and directed by Louis Malle, this landmark film of both modern French cinema and screen eroticism portrays a provincial wife whose shallow life changes overnight when she meets an unpretentious young man. Videocassette release of the 1958 motion picture. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Au Revoir les Enfants = Goodbye, Children
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .A85 1989
Based on the director's life, this film chronicles Malle's experiences during the German occupation of France during World War II. Julien (Malle) is 12 years old, and the smartest boy in his class at boarding school when a new student appears. The two form a friendship even though Julien senses that his new friend is hiding something. Winner of seven Cesars in 1987, including Best Picture. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Le Ballon Rouge = The Red Balloon
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .R433 1999
A classic childhood fantasy, this is the story of Pascal, a French boy who befriends a red balloon that follows him everywhere; a touching allegory of the magic powers of love and friendship. Written and directed by Albert Lamorisse. Academy Award, Best original screenplay (1956); Cannes Film Festival, Grand prize (1956); New York Film Critics Award (1956); American Film Festival, Best Film of the Decade (1968); VHS. No dialog.

Belle de jour
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .B42 1995
Originally released as a motion picture in 1967, this subtle, erotic film tells the tale of a wealthy young surgeon's wife who indulges her fantasies by working as a part-time prostitute in a Paris brothel. Directed by Luis Buñuel. Based on the novel by Joseph Kessel. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

La Belle et la Bête = Beauty and the Beast
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .B427 1984
Originally released as a motion picture in 1946, this film, written and directed by Jean Cocteau, is an inventive and stylized depiction of erotic obsession, about a young woman's discovery of a ravaged soul beneath a monstrous beast. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie = The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .D57 2000
"This Academy Award winning film from Luis Buñuel is a priceless satire on the absurd lifestyle of the upper class. As six well-to-do Europeans attempt to have a 'civilized' meal, their plans are continuously thwarted by unlikely, if not outrageous, circumstances." Videocassette release of the 1972 motion picture. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Un Condamné à Mort s'est Échappé, ou, Le Vent Souffle où Il Vent = A Man Escaped
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .C663 1994
This film by director Robert Bresson is based on the true story of French Resistance fighter André Devigny's escape from a Nazi prison. Cannes Film Festival, Best Director, 1957. Videocassette release of the 1956 motion picture. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Le Dernier Métro = The Last Metro
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .D453 1984
A poignant, compelling drama, set in Nazi-occupied Paris, unfolds in the Theatre Montmartre, as a group of actors rehearse. Jewish director Lucas Steiner is forced to hide in the basement of his theater during the Nazi occupation while his wife stars in its latest production. At the same time, a pro-Nazi theater critic ensconces himself in the theater, causing stress to the entire cast. Directed by François Truffaut and originally produced as a motion picture in 1980. DVD. In French with English subtitles.

Diabolique
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .D52 1989
Originally released as a motion picture in 1955, this film tells the story of the sadistic headmaster of a boys' school who is murdered by his tremulous wife and vengeful mistress. Although they dispose of the body, the deceased appears in a recent photograph. The suspense builds to an explosive climax in this classic thriller by director Henri-Georges Clouzot. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Un Dimanche à la Campagne = A Sunday in the Country
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .D56 1993
Winner of the Best Director Prize, Cannes Film Festival, 1984, this is "Bertrand Tavernier's poetic study of an aging Impressionist painter, emotionally withdrawn from his family and disappointed by their accomplishments, who makes one final attempt at reconciliation." VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Les Enfants du Paradis = Children of Paradise
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .E54 2002
Marcel Carné's masterpiece, set in 1840s Paris on the Boulevard du Crime, home of Parisian popular theater, "relates the vicissitudes of four men whose existences are intertwined through their irresistible passion for the same woman." This DVD release of the 1945 motion picture is a new digital transfer and includes a new and improved English subtitle translation, filmographies for director Marcel Carné and producer Jacques Prévert, as well as commentaries by film scholars. DVD. In French with English subtitles.

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain = Amélie from Montmartre
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1995.9 .F67 .A445 2002
Jean-Pierre Jeunet creates a world of color, movement, romance, and whimsy in this César Award-winner. Because she was misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amélie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Despite all this, Amélie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. She decides to step into the lives of others around her to help them find love and happiness. DVD. In French with English subtitles.

La Femme Nikita
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .F46645 2003
Originally released as a motion picture in 1990, this film by Luc Besson tells the story of a cop-killer junkie (played by Anne Parillaud) who is forced by the government to become an undercover assassin for the French secret police or face a life in prison. "This suspenseful film is highlighted by Besson's stylishly decorous visual compositions and innate sense of dramatic pacing." Includes interviews and a documentary on the making of the film. DVD. French or English soundtrack with English, French or Spanish subtitles.

Hiroshima Mon Amour
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .H576 2003
This film, written by Marguerite Duras and directed by Alain Resnais, presents the love story of a French anti-war actress and a Japanese architect who engage in a brief intense affair in Hiroshima in 1959. Both deal with their personal memories of World War II - he by articulating his firsthand experience with nuclear disaster, she by remembering her traumatic affair with a German soldier. Cannes Film Festival, International Critics' Award and Film Writers' Award, 1959; New York Film Critics' Award, Best Foreign Film, 1960. DVD. In French with English subtitles.

Jean de Florette
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN 1997 .J436 1987
A marvelous tale of greed and intolerance, based on the novel by Marcel Pagnol; directed by Claude Berri. This is the story of Jean Cadoret, an accountant who inherits a farm from his mother and hopes to become a gentleman farmer. Before he even arrives, a powerful and villainous neighbor is plotting to steal his land. The result is heartbreak and tragedy for Jean, who is no match for his wily neighbor. The story is continued in Manon des Sources, released the same year. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Manon des Sources = Manon of the Spring
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN 1997 .M366 1988
Based on the novel by Marcel Pagnol, this perfectly realized drama picks up where Jean de Florette left off. Ten years after her father was destroyed by the greed of his neighbors, Manon (Jean's daughter) seeks revenge against those she holds responsible for her father's death. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Le Moine et la Sorcière = Sorceress
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .M656 2002
Truffault protégé Suzanne Schiffman crafts an intriguing drama, set in the 13th century concerning a Dominican friar, sent by the Pope to seek out heretics, and a forest woman who performs ancient healing rituals. An historically accurate dramatization of the conflict between ancient customs and religious dogma, this film raises timely questions on the role of the church and its oppression of women. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Mon Oncle d'Amerique = My Uncle from America
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .M64 1993
Faced with disappointment and frustration Jean, René, and Janine, two men and a woman from different generations and different backgrounds, whose paths meet at a crisis point in mid-life, all muse about a legendary "uncle in America", a guardian angel who gives them their hearts' desires and tells them exactly what they want to hear. Directed by Alain Resnais and originally produced as a motion picture in 1980. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Orphée = Orpheus
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .O76 1986
Originally released as a motion picture in France in 1950, this is Jean Cocteau's modern version of the Orpheus legend, based on his own play. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg = The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette M1527 .L42 P3 1997
This musical masterpiece by Jacques Demy and Michel LeGrand tells the tale of two lovers split up by the Algerian war. The girl marries another when she discovers she is pregnant. He also marries; yet they meet again. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Une Partie de Campagne = A Day in the Country
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .D39 1993
Based on "Une Partie de Campagne" by Guy de Maupassant, an innocent girl comes of age in Jean Renoir's lyrically tragic short film. Videocassette release of the 1936 motion picture. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Pauline à la Plage = Pauline at the Beach
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .P3813 1985
In this film, Eric Rohmer explores the complicated romantic and sexual entanglements of six people on summer holiday, as observed by teenage Pauline and her first boyfriend. Videocassette release of 1982 motion picture. In French with English subtitles.

Playtime
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .P73 2001
For Jacques Tati's now legendary character, M. Hulot, everything seems to be against him. Full of visual gags and inventive use of sound, Playtime is an hilarious comedy and satire on coping with the modern world. Videodisc release of the 1967 motion picture. In French with English subtitles.

Les Quatre Cents Coups = The Four Hundred Blows
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette PN1997 .Q3713 1986
One of the landmarks of cinema, which introduced the character of Antoine Doinel as the twelve-year-old boy left to his own devices in an indifferent adult world. Originally issued as a motion picture in 1959. VHS. In French with English subtitles.

Règle du Jeu = The Rules of the Game
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, DVD PN1997 .R4375 2004
Jean Renoir's masterpiece is a comedy drama set on the eve of World War II. It contrasts the affairs of the French aristocracy and the working class at a weekend house party where masters and their servants are involved in an immoral erotic charade that builds to a shattering climax. This special edition includes interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. DVD. In French with optional English subtitles.

Le Retour de Martin Guerre = The Return of Martin Guerre
Location: JPL Multimedia Center, Video Cassette DC112 .R7 1996
The plot revolves around the unraveling of the identity of a 16th century peasant who disappeared as a young husband, and the man who returns to resume his marriage nine years later. Is he the real Martin Guerre? Originally produced as a motion picture in 1982. VHS. In French with English subtitles.