Chasing the feel of watching The Spanish Apartment ? Here are the movies we recommend you watch right after.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Adel Bencherif, Antoine Basler, Farid Larbi, Foued Nassah, Frédéric Graziani, Gilles Cohen, Guillaume Verdier, Hichem Yacoubi, Jean-Emmanuel Pagni, Jean-Philippe Ricci, Karim Leklou, Leila Bekhti, Mohamed Makhtoumi, Mourad Frarema, Nathanaël Maïni, Niels Arestrup, Pierre Leccia, Reda Kateb, Serge Onteniente, Slimane Dazi, Tahar Rahim
Director: Jacques Audiard
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Actor: Alexandra Mercouroff, André Dussollier, Anne Marivin, Brigitte Catillon, Christof Veillon, Danièle Ajoret, Dorothée Brière, Éric Naggar, Eric Savin, Florence Thomassin, François Berléand, François Cluzet, Gilles Lellouche, Guillaume Canet, Hugo Sélignac, Jalil Lespert, Jean Rochefort, Jean-Noël Brouté, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Joël Dupuch, Kristin Scott Thomas, Laurent Lafitte, Ludovic Bergery, Marie-Josée Croze, Marina Hands, Martine Chevallier, Mikaela Fisher, Nathalie Baye, Olivier Marchal, Philippe Lefebvre, Samir Guesmi, Sara Martins, Thierry Neuvic
Director: Guillaume Canet
Taking place almost entirely in a single classroom, the two-hour-plus runtime of this French drama breezes past thanks to its sheer unrelenting energy. You’d be forgiven for assuming The Class is a documentary, so fly-on-the-wall is the filming and so naturalistic the dialogue, much of which was improvised from loose guidelines.
Unlike so many cinematic teachers, Monsieur Marin (played by co-screenwriter François Bégaudeau) doesn’t pull off any educational miracles with his class of backchatting 15-year-olds at an inner-city Paris school. Although the French literature teacher does make some inroads with disaffected kids like Souleymane (Franck Keïta), what really boosts The Class’ grade is its refusal to valorize its central figure. There are no rousing Dead Poets Society-style scenes here — in fact, the film builds from free-flowing lively debates to a tense climax that stems directly from a grave faux pas committed by none other than the teacher himself. Crucially, though, The Class is evenhanded in its treatment of its characters, recognizing both how complex each of these kids is underneath the blunt assessments contained on their report cards and how difficult and thankless the role of a teacher is.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Farida Ouchani, François Bégaudeau, Louise Grinberg, Rabah Nait Oufella, Valérie Benguigui
Director: Laurent Cantet
Manon des Sources (Manon of the Springs), directed by Claude Berri, follows a young woman named Manon living reclusively in the rural countryside. This film is the sequel to Jean de Florette, during which a young Manon watched her father fall victim to the greedy manipulation of two men. Now, a decade later, Manon is older and more cunning—and when she sees the opportunity to gently avenger her father, she exacts tragic revenge.
Perhaps the greatest strength of Manon of the Springs lies in its actors. Emmanuelle Béart is captivating as Manon, quiet and observant, while Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil are fittingly terrible as César Soubeyran and Ugolin. Manon and the springs she must protect are worthy heroes of this epic saga.
Genre: Drama
Actor: André Dupon, Armand Meffre, Daniel Auteuil, Didier Pain, Elisabeth Depardieu, Emmanuelle Béart, Fransined, Gabriel Bacquier, Hippolyte Girardot, Jean Bouchaud, Jean Maurel, Marc Betton, Margarita Lozano, Pierre Nougaro, Roger Souza, Ticky Holgado, Yves Montand, Yvonne Gamy
Director: Claude Berri
Mélanie Laurent both directed and wrote this, her fifth movie.
She offers an impressive display of deft film-making and honest, insightful storytelling. Charlie is a teenage high school student, there’s seemingly nothing unusual about her. When Sarah, a Nigerian girl, joins her school, they quickly form a transformative friendship.
Breathe sometimes veers to darkness, which helps to make its portrayal of the bond between two teenagers genuine, and unexpectedly fun.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Alejandro Albarracin, Anne Marivin, Camille Claris, Carole Franck, Claire Keim, Fanny Sidney, Isabelle Carré, Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Louise Grinberg, Louka Meliava, Marie Denarnaud, Morgan Perez, Radivoje Bukvic, Rasha Bukvic, Roxane Duran, Thomas Solivéres, Thomas Solivérès, Victor Assié, Vinciane Millereau
Director: Julien Lambroschini, Mélanie Laurent
I don't want to go too much into detail, but this film is an acting masterpiece. From start to finish it drags you into the characters' life and really makes you feel for the main character. It shows you how hard it really is for the main character to struggle with what she's going through. I hate being left in the dust to wonder like I was left after Tomboy and this film did it and it really gets on my nerves, but it is so good. A true masterpiece.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Cheyenne Laine, Christel Baras, Jeanne Disson, Malonn Lévana, Mathieu Demy, Noah Vero, Rayan Boubekri, Sophie Cattani, Valérie Roucher, Yohan Vero, Zoé Héran
Director: Céline Sciamma
In my own wished-for parallel universe, French actors Vincent Cassell and Emanuelle Devos are voted the sexiest actors alive. I find them both transfixing and appealing in every role they’ve performed, and they are quite the pair here. Devos plays Carla, a put-upon assistant at a property management company. While good at her job, there is little room for her to advance her career, as she is one of the only women at her company and also has a hearing deficiency. Into her humdrum life walks ex-convict Paul (Cassell), who Carla hires as a personal assistant. It turns out that what Paul lacks in secretarial skills he makes up for in other ways. The first half of the film plays almost like a dark workplace comedy, before taking a dangerous turn towards psychological crime thriller. Overall, it’s a dark and sexy character study of two mismatched outsiders who turn out to complement each other perfectly.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Actor: Bernard Alane, Bô Gaultier de Kermoal, Celine Samie, Chloé Mons, Christophe Van de Velde, Christophe Vandevelde, David Saracino, Emmanuelle Devos, Francois Loriquet, Isabelle Caubère, Nathalie Lacroix, Olivia Bonamy, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier, Patrick Steltzer, Pierre Diot, Serge Boutleroff, Serge Onteniente, Vincent Cassel
Director: Jacques Audiard
This easy French rom-com from 2006 is about Jean, a poor barman played Gad Elmaleh, who lies about his profession to date Irène, played by Audrey Tautou.
Irène has the habit of dating wealthy men to fund her lifestyle, she quickly realizes that Jean does not fit that description. Determined to do everything he can to win her over, Jean himself starts dating wealthy women.
Priceless, or Hors de prix, is a fun and light romcom with excellent lead performances.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Annelise Hesme, Audrey Tautou, Blandine Pélissier, Charlotte Vermeil, Claudine Baschet, Didier Brice, Gad Elmaleh, Guillaume Verdier, Jacques Spiesser, Jean de Coninck, Jean-Michel Lahmi, Laurent Claret, Marie-Christine Adam, Vernon Dobtcheff
Director: Pierre Salvadori