French films to look out for this summer

Although foreign language films still tend to be shown in art house cinemas, there’s no doubt that there are more of these around than before, and that they attract a wider audience than previously. Most major towns and cities now have an arts cinema, such as the Picture House group, where foreign, independent and films with a ’cult’ following are screened.

This summer there are a range of critically acclaimed French films coming to UK screens, with something guaranteed to suit all tastes. Here’s our pick of what to look out for over the coming months:

White Material (Certificate 15)

Starring one of France’s most acclaimed actresses, Isabelle Huppert, White Material is a hard-hitting drama about civil and racial conflicts in a small African farming community. Huppert is a plantation owner in the former French colony, who is determined to keep her coffee plantation from folding, despite pleas from those closest to her to pack up and leave.

Heartbreaker (Certificate 15)

This romantic comedy starring French favourite Vanessa Paradis and Britain’s very own Andrew Lincoln was a surprise hit at the French box office, taking a massive 10 million Euros in 10 days! Heartbreaker follows the story of brother and sister, Alex and Melanie, who make their living by orchestrating the separation of couples whose relationship has ‘run its course‘. Complications arise for Alex when he ends up falling for Paradis, their latest ‘target’ …

Leaving (Certificate 15)

Leaving is a powerful drama starring British actress Kristin Scott-Thomas, whose flawless French after living in Paris for over 20 years can’t fail to impress. Scott-Thomas plays a bored bourgeois housewife living in the south of France, who decides to go back to work to escape the monotony of her middle-class life. Her husband sets up a physiotherapy studio for her to practice in, but his gesture backfires when the man hired to build it begins a torrid affair with his wife…

Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (Certificate 12)

To mark the 50th Anniversary of Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 masterpiece has been digitally restored and re-released. The film stars French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo as Michel, a petty criminal who models himself on the persona of Humphrey Bogart. After stealing a car in Marseille, he shoots a policeman, and, on the run from the police, turns to his American girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg), a student and aspiring journalist, who sells the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. The story’s engaging, and the black and white backdrop of 60s Paris is fantastic.

The Girl on the Train (La Fille du RER) (Certificate 15)

Starring Catherine Deneuve, The Girl on the Train is a film based on the real story of a young Frenchwoman who became the centre of a media frenzy when she claimed to have been the victim of a hurrendous anti-Semitic assault, only to be exposed as a liar.

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