LibGuides: French: Films in the Library

FIlms on Reserve

These films are on Reserve for your class and may be checked and viewed at home.

Mon meilleur ami | 791.43 MY Unlikeable antiques dealer François always gets what he wants, but there's one thing he's never had: a friend. Challenged to a bet by his business partner, François must find someone who will pose as his best pal in just 10 days. Enlisting the assistance of charming taxi driver Bruno, François goes to outrageous lengths to be a likeable guy.
Les quatre cents coups | 791.43 FOU Thirteen-year-old Antoine Doinet lives in a cramped apartment with his mother and stepfather, neglected by them and unlucky at school. Living an intensely imaginative life of his own he gets into trouble and is finally committed to reform school from which he escapes and runs towards the sea, which he has never seen.
Être et avoir | 791.43 ETR Charting the events within a small single-class village school over the course of one academic year, Etre et avoir takes a warm look at primary education in the French heartlands.
Le petit Nicolas | 791.43 PET The film is narrated from the perspective of young Nicolas who is content with his life, is loved by his family, and has fun with his school friends. One day, his classmate Joachim discovers his mother is pregnant and he is soon to have a little brother. Joachim laments about the extra responsibilities and the possible neglect as the baby will receive all the attention. That night, Nicolas overhears his parents talking and suspects his Mum is having a baby, and they will abandon him in the woods like Tom Thumb. Nicolas enlists the help of his friends to get rid of the baby by hiring a gangster to kidnap it, resulting in hilarious misadventures and laughs along the way.
Entre les murs | 791.43 CLA At a tough inner-city middle school in Paris, a teacher challenges his students over issues both academic and personal, with each side getting an education they'll never forget.
Monsieur Lazhar | 791.43 MON Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lazhar tells the poignant story of a Montreal middle school class shaken by the death of their well-liked teacher. Bachir Lazhar (Fellag), a 55-year-old Algerian immigrant, offers the school his services as a substitute teacher and is quickly hired. As he helps the children heal, he also learns to accept his own painful past. This moving film features exquisite performances by Fellag and a stunning ensemble of child actors.
Le placard | 791.43 CLO François Pignon, a very bland sort of man who works as an accountant in a condom factory, is about to be fired. His new neighbour comes up with an idea to prevent such a thing from happening: he creates photos and then spreads the rumor that François is gay so that the factory management might be afraid they'll be sued for sexual discrimination. Of course, nothing happens as it should, but the changes in François Pignon's life--and other people's too--is drastic!
The intouchables | 791.43 INT An irreverent, uplifting comedy about friendship, trust, and human possibility. Based on a true story of friendship between a handicapped millionaire and his street-smart ex-con caretaker, The Intouchables depicts an unlikely camaraderie rooted in honesty and humor between two individuals who, on the surface, would seem to have nothing in common.
La doublure | 791.43 VAL Pierre Levasseur is an important CEO who is photographed with his lover, Elena, a world-famous model. In an attempt to salvage his marriage, he tries to convince his wife that Elena is not his lover, but that of François Pignon, the porter who was passing by and ended up on the photograph. To make his story believable, Levasseur convinces Pignon and Elena to move in together and to pretend to be a couple. Things get more complicated when this creates tensions between Pignon and his former flatmate Richard and his love interest Émilie. Ultimately, Levasseur's wife discovers the truth and decides to play games with her husband.

Films on our Media Shelf

To find other films in French, use OneSearch, then use the filters on the left to choose format (film) and language (French).

Les quatre cents coups | 791.43 FOU Thirteen-year-old Antoine Doinet lives in a cramped apartment with his mother and stepfather, neglected by them and unlucky at school. Living an intensely imaginative life of his own he gets into trouble and is finally committed to reform school from which he escapes and runs towards the sea, which he has never seen.
Le ballon rouge | 791.43 RED Pascal is a young French boy who discovers a stray balloon on the streets of Paris that seems to have a mind of its own and begins to follow Pascal everywhere. The two become inseparable, yet the world's harsh realities finally interfere. A touching allegory of the magic powers of love and friendship.
La cite des enfants perdus | 791.43 CIT This fantastically twisted fairy tale is chock-full of curious characters and special effects. A sad and heartbroken madman, Krank, is aging prematurely because he can't dream. He kidnaps little children, hoping that eventually he will find a way to steal their sleeping thoughts. The story takes the form of a quest, as a sentimental harpooner-turned-fairground strongman, One, sets out to find his young brother on a dilapidated oil rig. He soon falls in love with the gutsy nine-year-old girl (who is head of the orphan gang), and together they run a gauntlet of fantastical dangers as they join hearts and hands to save a small boy's dreams from the madman's master plan.
La vie en rose | 791.43 VIE A dramatic retelling of the life of Edith Piaf, considered one of the great performers of France. Raised in a brothel, taken to work in a circus by her father, and eventually abandoned by her parents, she spent her teen years on the streets. Eventually "rescued" by a crime figure who gives her career a start, she makes her way to international success, despite recurring frailty, illness, wild moods, drug and alcohol problems.

Films available in the databases

These films are available through our databases. If you wish to search on your own, please search "Films on Demand" or "Alexander Street Online Video (AVON)" from the library A-Z list of databases

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Monsieur Lazhar Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lazhar tells the poignant story of a Montreal middle school class shaken by the death of their well-liked teacher. Bachir Lazhar (Fellag), a 55-year-old Algerian immigrant, offers the school his services as a substitute teacher and is quickly hired. As he helps the children heal, he also learns to accept his own painful past. This moving film features exquisite performances by Fellag and a stunning ensemble of child actors.
La doublure When billionaire Pierre Levasseur is snapped by a papparazzo with Elena, his dazzling, supermodel mistress, he tries to avoid a catastrophic divorce by coming up with an outragreous lie. He asserts to his wife that a third person, a passerby, Francois Pignon, who is also on the photograph, was in fact with Elena. She's Pignon's girlfriend not his. Pignon is a parking valet. He's a very ordinary fellow. Levasseur, to back up his lie, has to convince the overly beautiful Elena to go live with Pignon. Elena, shacked up with Pignon, is a bird of paradise in an apartment in the sticks. It's also a load of comic situations for The Valet.
French Experience The first 20 episodes are part of the BBC Worldwide online French Course
France: Grammar and Vocabulary This video, produced by Greg Shepherd, is about the French language.
The Surprising French Language! -- in French This engaging five-part series studies a language often called the most cultured and colorful in the world. Topics include reading and writing, speaking and spelling, a bit of French history, and a journey around the globe to see and appreciate the universality and vitality of the language. French, 5-part series, 26-28 minutes each.
Enjoying the Weekend, French-style This program spotlights the language of leisure. Topics of discussion include favorite athletic activities, such as hiking and the immensely popular pétanque; landscape painting around Mount St. Victoire, immortalized by Cézanne; recreational shopping; and nightlife in Marseille, where outdoor restaurants and discotheques are always in vogue. Original BBC broadcast title: Talk French, Program 6. (French and English, 16 minutes)

French: Films in the Library

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FIlms on Reserve

Films on our Media Shelf

Films available in the databases