The 50 Greatest French Films of All-Time

It’s time yet again for my favorite feature at TDYLF- my annual list of the 50 greatest French films of all-time. One aspect I’m starting to really enjoy about this list is how organic it is. Each year, movies rise and fall thanks to re-watches, exposure to new films, and new insights. Keeping and maintaining this list throughout the year also serves an important function for me. It motivates me to continue learning, and grow as a French film enthusiast. A few notes before we get started:

• I am not an authority on this. I’m just a Francophile with a Blu-ray player, Netflix and Facets subscriptions, and a love of movies.
• As much as I try, I am not a completist. There are a lot of films I simply haven’t seen. I’ve done my best to make it as comprehensive as I could but there’s always room to see more. There are still some relatively glaring omissions. Please feel free to recommend others, as I am always on the lookout to improve this list. It’s a labor of love for me.
• There is obviously a lot of personal preference involved. However, I’ve given a lot of weight to objective aspects like a film’s influence, importance, creativity, and how much they embody the spirit of French cinema and history.
• To qualify, the film has to be a French language film. There are non-French directors on this list but every movie is a French language film.

With that out of the way, I present to you  the 50 greatest French films of all-time:

The New Year’s Resolutions: Update #7

 

It’s that time again- time to keep myself honest with the various movie-related resolutions I set for myself back in January. One resolution has been completed, and another should be all finished in a matter of weeks. But there are many other resolutions that could use some work.

Meet the Droids

Forgive me for going meta for a quick article, but I wanted to take a minute to introduce the (slightly) new droid banners. Think of this article as an Easter egg of sorts for the site. As many of you have probably noticed, I swapped out the regular TDYLF masthead for a French-themed masthead for a few weeks following Bastille Day. What you may not have noticed is that I’ve placed several mastheads in rotation over the last few months. Half the time, you’ll see the original- the Andalusian Droid, which is my favorite because it conveys everything I want in the TDYLF “brand”, so to speak. The other half of the time, there’s a rotation of other banners. For instance…

A Trip to the Moon, Far Away from Aurora

There is nothing I can offer but mostly empty platitudes about the horrible events in Aurora, Colorado just after midnight on Friday. All I can say is that the victims, and families and friends of the victims, are all in my thoughts. With that in mind, after a full day of hearing news updates about the tragedy, I wanted something that could take me as far away as possible. The moon, circa 1902, turned out to be the perfect place.