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Films with theme "French war films", sorted by rating
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The Pianist (2002)
, 2h24Directed by Roman Polanski
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical, Musical
Themes French war films, Films about music and musicians, Politique, Films about religion, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films, Piano, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Michał Żebrowski
In September 1939, Władysław Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Polish-Jewish pianist, is playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the station is bombed during Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland which caused the outbreak of World War II. Hoping for a quick victory, Szpilman celebrates with his posh family at home when learning that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. German troops soon enter Warsaw and the Nazi authorities implement measures to identify, isolate, financially ruin and reduce the Jewish population in Warsaw. Jews are ordered to provide their own identifying armbands with the Star of David.
Paths of Glory (1957)
, 1h28Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes French war films, Politique, Prison films, Political films, Films about capital punishment
Actors Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson
The film begins with a voiceover describing the trench warfare situation of World War I up to 1916. In a château, General Georges Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), a member of the French General Staff, asks his subordinate, the ambitious General Mireau (George Macready), to send his division on a suicide mission to take a well-defended German position called the "Anthill." Mireau initially refuses, citing the impossibility of success and the danger to his beloved soldiers, but when Broulard mentions a potential promotion, Mireau quickly convinces himself the attack will succeed.
A Man Escaped (1956)
, 1h35Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Documentary, Historical
Themes French war films, Prison films, Political films, Évasion, Films about capital punishment, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France
Actors François Leterrier, Roland Monod, Maurice Beerblock, Jacques Ertaud, Roger Planchon
After the establishing shot of Montluc prison, but before the opening credits, the camera rests on a plaque commemorating the 7,000 prisoners who died at the hands of the Nazis.
Napoleon (1927)
, 5h30Directed by Abel Gance
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical
Themes French war films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Histoire de France, Napoleonic Wars films, French Revolution films
Actors Albert Dieudonné, Gina Manès, Antonin Artaud, Edmond van Daële, Abel Gance, Suzanne Bianchetti
The scenario of the film as originally written by Gance was published in 1927 by Librairie Plon. Much of the scenario describes scenes that were rejected during initial editing, and do not appear in any known version of the film. The following plot includes only those scenes that are known to have been included in some version of the film. Not every scene described below can be viewed today.
The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)
, 4h11Directed by Marcel Ophuls
Origin France
Genres War, Documentary, Historical
Themes French war films, Films about racism, Films about religion, Documentary films about racism, Documentary films about law, Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about religion, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism, Documentary films about World War II, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France
Actors Christian de La Mazière, Maurice Chevalier, Marcel Ophuls
Part One of the film, The Collapse, has an extended interview with Pierre Mendès France. He was jailed by the Vichy government on charges of desertion, but escaped from jail to join Charles de Gaulle's forces operating out of England, and later served as Prime Minister of liberated France.
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
, 2h1Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
Origin Algerie
Genres Drama, War, Documentary, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, French war films, La colonisation française, Films about religion, Films about terrorism, Algerian War films, Political films, Films about Islam, Histoire de France
Actors Jean Martin, Brahim Haggiag, Rouiched, Larbi Zekkal
En 1954 à Alger, le Front de libération nationale (FLN) diffuse son premier communiqué : son but est l'indépendance nationale vis-à-vis de la France, et la restauration de l'État algérien. Ali la Pointe propose des parties de bonneteau. Repéré par la police, il s'enfuit mais se fait agresser par un passant, il réplique et se fait tabasser par le reste du groupe. Rattrapé par la police, il se fait arrêter. Emprisonné, il assiste par la fenêtre de sa cellule à l'exécution d'une peine de mort par guillotine sur un nationaliste. Le FLN le contacte.
Army of Shadows (1969)
, 2h19Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-François Adam
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Historical
Themes French war films, La provence, Films about religion, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France
Actors Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Serge Reggiani, Christian Barbier
Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), the head of a Resistance network, is arrested by Vichy French police, imprisoned in a camp, and transported to Paris for questioning. He makes a daring escape.
Grand Illusion (1937)
, 1h54Directed by Jean Renoir
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes French war films, Prison films, Transport films, Aviation films, Political films, Évasion, Disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents
Actors Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette
During the First World War, two French aviators, aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), embark on a flight to examine the site of a blurred spot on photos from an earlier air reconnaissance mission. They are shot down by a German aviator and aristocrat, Rittmeister von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim). Von Rauffenstein, upon returning to base, sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances—a depiction of the familiarity, if not solidarity, within the upper classes that crosses national boundaries.
Turtles Can Fly (2005)
, 1h35Directed by Bahman Ghobadi
Origin Iran
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes French war films, Films about children, Films about suicide, Political films
The film is set in the Kurdish refugee camp on the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. Thirteen-year-old Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) is known for his installation of dishes and antennae (for local villages who are looking for news of Saddam Hussein) and for his limited knowledge of English. He is the dynamic, but manipulative leader of the children, organizing the dangerous but necessary sweeping and clearing of the minefields. Many of these children are injured one way or the other, yet still maintain a boisterous prattle whenever possible, devoted to their work in spite of the vagaries of their life.
Forbidden Games (1952)
, 1h26Directed by René Clément
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes French war films, Films about children, L'enfance marginalisée, Political films, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France
Actors Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Laurence Badie, Jacques Marin, Madeleine Barbulée, Suzanne Courtal
It is June 1940, during the Battle of France. After five-year-old Paulette's parents and pet dog die in a German air attack on a column of refugees fleeing Paris, the traumatized child meets 10-year-old Michel Dollé whose peasant family takes her in. She quickly becomes attached to Michel. The two attempt to cope with the death and destruction that surrounds them by secretly building a small cemetery among the ruins of an abandoned watermill, where they bury her dog and start to bury other animals, marking their graves with crosses stolen from a local graveyard, including one belonging to Michel's brother. Michel's father first suspects that Michel's brother's cross was stolen from the graveyard by his neighbour. Eventually, the father finds out that Michel has stolen the cross.
Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)
, 1h43Directed by Louis Malle
Origin France
Genres Drama, War
Themes French war films, Films about children, Films about religion, Scoutisme, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France, La condition juive en France sous l'Occupation allemande
Actors Raphaël Fejtö, Gaspard Manesse, Philippe Morier-Genoud, François Berléand, Francine Racette, Stanislas Carré de Malberg
During the winter of 1943-44, Julien Quentin, a student at a Carmelite boarding school in occupied France, is returning to school from vacation. He acts tough to the students at the school, but he is actually a pampered mother's boy who still wets his bed. Saddened to be returning to the tedium of boarding school, Julien's classes seem uneventful until Père Jean, the headmaster, introduces three new pupils. One of them, Jean Bonnet, is the same age as Julien. Like the other students, Julien at first despises Bonnet, a socially awkward boy with a talent for arithmetic and playing the piano.
, 2h4Directed by Gérard Oury
Origin France
Genres War, Comedy, Adventure, Historical
Themes French war films, Military humor in film, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Aviation films, Motocyclette, Political films, Road movies, Buddy films, Disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France
Actors Terry-Thomas, André Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Mike Marshall, Helmuth Schneider, Claudio Brook
Summer 1941. Over Nazi-occupied France, a Royal Air Force B17 Flying Fortress becomes lost after a mission and is shot down over Paris by German flak. The crew, Sir Reginald, Peter Cunningham and Alan MacIntosh, parachute out over the city, where they run into and are hidden by a house painter, Augustin Bouvet, and the grumbling conductor of the Opéra National de Paris, Stanislas Lefort. Involuntarily, Lefort and Bouvet get themselves tangled up in the manhunt against the aviators led by Wehrmacht Major Achbach as they help the airmen to escape to the free zone with the help of Resistance fighters and sympathisers.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
, 1h31Directed by Jacques Demy
Origin France
Genres Drama, Musical theatre, Musical, Romance
Themes French war films, La colonisation française, Pregnancy films, Films about music and musicians, Algerian War films, Musical films, Histoire de France
Actors Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel, Mireille Perrey, Ellen Farner
Madame Emery and her beautiful 17-year-old daughter Geneviève (Deneuve) sell umbrellas at their tiny (and financially struggling) boutique in the coastal town of Cherbourg in Normandy, France, in the late 1950s. Guy (Castelnuovo), is a handsome young auto mechanic who lives with, and cares for, his sickly aunt, godmother Elise. Guy and Geneviève are deeply in love; they want to get married, and they want to name their first child "Francoise". Madeleine (Ellen Farner) is the quiet, shy, dedicated young caregiver who looks after Guy's aunt; Madeleine also has feelings for Guy, but has not expressed this. Suddenly Guy is drafted and must leave to become a soldier in the Algerian War. The night before Guy leaves, he and Geneviève pledge their undying love. Then they make love (apparently for the first time) and the very next day, Guy leaves.
What the Day Owes the Night (2012)
, 2h39Directed by Alexandre Arcady
Origin France
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes French war films, La colonisation française, Algerian War films, Histoire de France
Actors Fu'ad Aït Aattou, Nora Arnezeder, Anne Parillaud, Vincent Pérez, Mohamed Fellag, Anne Consigny
Inspiré de faits réels. L'histoire parcourt l'Algérie des années 1930 aux années 1960, racontant le destin de Younes, jeune Algérien élevé comme un pied-noir par son oncle. Il traverse les tragédies vécues par son pays, dont l'attaque de Mers el-Kébir et la guerre d'Algérie, sur un fond d'histoire d'amour impossible.
The Gate of the Sun (2004)
, 4h38Genres Drama, War, Historical, Romance
Themes French war films
Actors Hiam Abbass, Darina Al Joundi, Béatrice Dalle, Orwa Nyrabia
La puissante adaptation de Yousry Nasrallah du roman de l'écrivain libanais Elias Khoury, relatant cinquante années de dépossession, d'exil et de résistance du peuple palestinien. Le film montre la fuite de Younes, de sa femme Nahila et de leur entourage, depuis leur village du nord de la Palestine jusqu'à un camp de réfugiés au Liban. Certains s'engagent à continuer la lutte, alors que la plupart tente simplement de survivre. En y détaillant l'impact de la nakba (désastre) sur la société palestinienne et les relations souvent conflictuelles des réfugiés avec des hôtes libanais réticents, La porte du soleil s'étend sur plusieurs générations, mêlant des histoires personnelles à des événements historiques.