French Follow-Up: More About the 2012 Edition of the 50 Greatest French Films

Whenever you make a list featuring the 50 greatest of anything, there are bound to be a lot of tough decisions, at least if you take the endeavor seriously. Unless it’s a list of the 50 greatest Journey songs, which would be really easy. But I digress. Along the way, there are sure to be a lot of extra thoughts about the process that lead to the decisions you make. In other words, this article is a DVD bonus feature for The 50 Greatest French Films of All-Time.

A List Par Excellence: The Top 50 French Films of All-Time

EDITOR’S NOTE: I made this list in 2010. I updated the list in 2011. The updated list is more complete and puts far less emphasis on personal preference. The new and improved version can be found here.

On the cusp of Bastille Day, and with such a rich history of French cinema, I felt that it was only fitting to create a list of the 50 best French films. Initially, I’d planned on simply listing them in no particular order. However, mon ami, I eventually determined that it wouldn’t be fair to not put forth the extra effort. They’re now listed at least in order of personal preference, with some weight given to overall quality. In other words, there are likely more influential films or higher quality films further down the list. But their higher quality doesn’t overcome my overall enjoyment of the other films higher up on the list.

Nazis took my country and all I got was this stupid blog entry

I don’t have a ton of time so I thought I’d just toss together a quick little entry today. I’m a junkie for French history. I love it. And I especially love occupation-era movies because it’s kind of a neat little sociology lesson about France- the way they dealt with the Vichy regime, all of the nasty political undercurrents, the resistance, the proverbial “sorrow and the pity” regarding their role in the Holocaust. I find it absolutely fascinating. Here’s a list of ten films about Occupation-era France.