Watch your way to French Movies

Watching movies is one of the simplest ways of entertainment. If you want to go out with your friends and have fun, you can always go to the cinema and watch the movie on the big screen with all the effects, especially now with the technology in the movies industry and 3D, you can almost feel yourself in the middle of the movie with the characters, feeling all the excitement and different emotions throughout the movie.

If you’re not in the mood to go out and want to spend a quiet evening at home, watching a movie is a good option to spend some quality time by yourself or with your loved ones.

Watching movies isn’t just for entertainment; it’s also a good way to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation when you are learning a new language and a great way to discover the culture of different countries.

In this article, we’ll present a collection of movies that you can watch to help you learn French.

First of all, let’s learn a couple of words that you need to know when you’re talking about movies:

French	English
Producteur	producer
réalisateur	Filmmaker (movie maker)
scénariste	Scriptwriter
Scénario	script
Acteur/ actrice	Actor / actress
Tournage	Filming
Maquilleuse	Makeup artist
Figurant	Extra

Depending and your mood and your preference, you can choose from different genres of movies: 

1) Le Film Comédie : Comedy

By definition, comedy is a literary, theatrical, cinematographic genre, whose purpose is to amuse.

« Comédie : Genre littéraire, théâtral, cinématographique, etc., dont le propos est d’amuser »

One of the first French movies I’ve watched is called: “Le dîner de cons” (The dinner of idiots). Every Wednesday, a group of friends meets for dinner, and each one of them brings with him the dumbest person he could find. However, during this movie, one of the people in this group, a rich publisher, finds himself stuck with his “dumb” guest, as his life falls apart. 

Note: a publisher is called “un éditeur” in French. 

One of the famous quotes from this movie: 

“ – C’est cruellement fatiguant d’être intelligent.

– Je ne sais pas, faudra que j’essaie. » 

(It’s cruelly tiring to be smart. – I don’t know, I’ll have to try.)

2) Le Cinéma Dramatique: Drama

À cœur ouvert (with Open Heart)

This movie tells the story of Mila and Javier who are both heart surgeons.
Married for ten years, they have two passions: their love and their profession.
But Mila gets pregnant, against all expectations, and the prospect of a child challenges the balance of their relationship. Javier’s penchant for alcohol then becomes a real threat…

3) Film D’horreur: Horror

A horror movie is a film in which very frightening or unnatural things happen, for example dead people coming to life and people being murdered

“Baby Blood” (1990)

Yanka, 23, is the young mistress of the director of a traveling circus, an angry and brutal man. One day, a leopard from Africa is welcomed as a new boarder in the menagerie. That very night, the animal is found in its cage in a formless pile of bloody flesh. While a batter is organizing to find the person responsible for the crime, a mysterious form of life that inhabited the entrails of the fauwn enters Yanka’s body during the night. The next day, the young woman finds herself pregnant with a bloodthirsty being that pushes her to murder to satisfy her insatiable thirst for human blood…

4) Film De Science-Fiction: Science Fiction 

Films or cartoons about an imagined future, especially about space travel or other planets.

5) Le Cinéma Romantique : Romantic

« Un Bonheur n’arrive jamais seul » (Happiness never happens alone)

Sacha loves his friends, his piano, parties.

At night, he plays in a jazz club and seduces pretty girls.

He lives in the moment, for pleasure. No alarm clock, no alliance, no tax.

Charlotte has three children, two ex-husbands and a professional career to manage.

She has no place for a love story.

They’re pitted against each other. They don’t belong together—

They’re made for each other.

6) Le Documentaire : Documentary 

It’s a film, of a didactic or cultural character, aimed at making known a country, a people, an artist, a technique, etc.

« Film, à caractère didactique ou culturel, visant à faire connaître un pays, un peuple, un artiste, une technique, etc. »

7) Le film policier: crime film

Crime film is a genre that revolves around the action of a criminal mastermind. A Crime film will often revolve around the criminal himself, chronicling his rise and fall. Some Crime films will have a storyline that follows the criminal’s victim, yet others follow the person in pursuit of the criminal. This genre tends to be fast paced with an air of mystery – this mystery can come from the plot or from the characters themselves.

8) Le Film D’animation :

A cartoon is a TV program or short film, usually a funny one, made using characters and images that are drawn rather than real

The most famous French animated movie, which was origianally a comic book, is actually a sequel of a film that was eventually made into an action movie.

It’s the story of “Astérix et Obélix”, written by René Goscinny.

9) Le Film D’action: Action movie

It’ a type of film in which a lot of exciting things happen.

10) Aventure : Adventure

It’s a movie about an unusual, exciting, and possibly dangerous activity, such as a trip or experience, or the excitement produced by such an activity.

11) Fantasy: Fantastique 

a story or type of literature that describes situations that are very different from real life, usually involving magic

12) Film Historique: Historical/ Period Drama

A historical film is a fiction film showing past events or set within a historical period.

English	Français
events	Evénements
past	passé
trip	voyage
unusual	A normal
real	Réel
life	vie
program	programme

So next time you want to watch a movie, you can choose one of these films to improve your French while enjoying a good movie.

What is your favorite genre? Tell us in the comments.