We French pride ourselves at being great at many things: Cooking elaborate meals, cultivating ridiculously expensive wine, making love while speaking with a thick accent English-speakers find inexplicably sexy, for example. But if there's one aspect of French culture that's particularly brag-worthy, it's our films. From the invention of the cinematograph by the Lumière Brothers to the New Wave, French cinema has established itself as one of the most revered in the world, perhaps second only to Hollywood in its influence over the rest of the world. Most filmgoers have seen or at least heard of such landmark works as Breathless, The 400 Blows, Grand Illusion or La Femme Nikita. As such, this list will focus on French films that, due to lack of media coverage, poor international distribution or their own unconventional nature, are not as well-known as the aforementioned ones but are just as worthy if not moreso of your attention.
10. The Grilling (1981) - Claude Miller
Probably the most accessible film on the list, Claude Miller's The Grilling is a gripping claustrophobic thriller powered by a duel of titans of French cinema. Michel Serrault is Jérôme Martinaud, a wealthy notary who is being interrogated on New Year's Eve as the suspect of the rape and murder of two little girls. Lino Ventura plays interrogating inspector Antoine Gallien, in one of his many roles as a grimly tenacious cop. The atmosphere's tension is rendered almost unbearable by the way Miller makes the audience feel every minute pass like the blade of a moving guillotine closing in on its its victim. As Martinaud, Michel Serrault allows you to feel comforted in your first impressions of him as an arrogant, bigoted snob. Then, just as you think you've got him figured out, he sneaks up on you with unexpected layers that he is, quite paradoxically, forced to strip bare to further protect himself. This is a duel of classes as much as it is one of officer and suspect. French cinema has always had a tradition of portraying class conflicts on screen with great attention to personal psychology, and it is one of this masterful thriller's many driving forces.
I have been a film student for over 4 years, and an insatiable cinephile for even longer. I try to keep my mind as open as possible, so my tastes can range from mainstream masters such as Alfred Hitchcock or Steven Spielberg to independent artists such as Abbas Kiarostami and John Cassavetes. I am also a big fan of video games with customizable characters and/or dialogue choices and the ability to influence the plot by the character's decisions. As such, my favourite video games are "Saints Row 2", "Dragon Age: Origins", "Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic", "Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" and the "Mass Effect" trilogy. Aside from that, I also enjoy "Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne" and have fond memories of "Rayman 2: The Great Escape" and the original "Tomb Raider" games.
