Comedies

Comedies

France’s cinematic humour proves hugely popular at home and has inspired countless remakes in the US. We present a range of French comic twists, from commercial smashes, such as La Grande vadrouille, via farcical spoofs, of La Cité de la peur’s ilk, to witty ensemble pieces, à la Un air de famille.

Let's Talk About the Rain 2010 (95 mins)

Director: Agnès Jaoui

From a rainy Provence comes another witty and endearing comedy from the Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri...

Max Mon Amour 1986 (93 mins)

Director: Nagisa Oshima

Suspecting that his wife is having a secret love affair a British ambassador in Paris engages a...

Les Bronzés font du ski 1979 (88 mins)

Director: Patrice Leconte

A year after their summer beach escapades, the cast of Les Bronzés reunite in the Alps for...

Les Bronzés 1978 (98 mins)

Director: Patrice Leconte

A group of holidaymakers let loose in a resort on the Ivory Coast for a summer they’ll...

Que la fete commence 1974 (115 mins)

Let Joy Reign Supreme
Director: Bertrand Tavernier

Acting legends Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort and Jean-Pie rre Marielle head up Bertrand Tavernier’s...

Ma femme est une actrice 2001 (88 mins)

Director: Yvan Attal

A journalist becomes insanely jealous when his actress wife is cast alongside a dashing co-star (Terence Stamp)....

Ca ira mieux demain 2000 (88 mins)

Director: Jeanne Labrune

Jeanne Labrune’s sharp comedy about a group of neurotic Parisians caught up in the madness of modern...

8 Women 2002 (101 mins)

8 femmes
Director: François Ozon

François Ozon’s comedic murder-mystery musical, pits France’s very best female talent against one another, as they attempt...

La Buche 1999 (103 mins)

Season's Beatings
Director: Daniele Thompson

Daniele Thompson’s touching comedy about a recent widow and her three daughters coming to blows over the...

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972 (100 mins)

Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie
Director: Luis Bunuel

Director Luis Bunuel and writer Jean-Claude Carrière bring together a plethora of French screen giants in the...

Mon père ce héros 1991 (105 mins)

My Father the Hero
Director: Gérard Lauzier

Gérard Lauzier’s hit comedy sees Marie Gillain as a teenager on holiday, who fabricates a web of...

Hypnotized and Hysterical 2002 (95 mins)

Filles perdues, cheveux gras
Director: Claude Duty

Marianne, Natacha and Elodie are three girls on the search for their daughter, soul and cat respectively...

Le Coeur des Hommes 2003 (105 mins)

French Men
Director: Marc Esposito

Marc Esposito’s mature, dramatic comedy unites some of France’s most popular and respected actors (Gérard Damon, Jean-Pierre...

Mademoiselle 2001 (75 mins)

Director: Philippe Lioret

Alice (Sandrine Bonnnaire), a professional who is happily married with children, meets the bohemian improviser Pierre (Jacques...

Je vous trouve très beau 2006 (95 mins)

Director: Isabelle Mergault

A recently widowed farmer travels east in search of a sturdy woman to alleviate the demanding chores...

Russian Dolls 2005 (120 mins)

Les poupées russes
Director: Cédric Klapisch

Cédric Klapisch’s sequel to Pot Luck transports its cast of wayward Euro youth from Barcelona to London...

Pot Luck 2002 (116 mins)

L'Auberge espagnole
Director: Cédric Klapisch

Cédric Klapisch’s hit comedy follows the adventures of a group of European students from all corners of...

Slogan 1969 (90 mins)

Director: Pierre Grimblat

Pierre Grimblat’s romantic drama about a grumpy advert director and a sentimental English girl signals the debut...

An Amazing Couple 2003 (97 mins)

Un couple épatant
Director: Lucas Belvaux

Lucas Belvaux’s genre-hopping trilogy, set in Grenoble, continues with this comic instalment, which follows the love triangle...

I Do 2006 (86 mins)

Prete-Moi Ta Main
Director: Eric Lartigau

Unable to take the pressure from his family any longer, Luis hires an acquaintance to pose as...

Le Parfum de la dame en noir 2005 (115 mins)

Director: Bruno Podalydès

Is the mysterious Larsan really dead? The infamous reporter Rouletabille thinks not. With his trusty photographer Sainclair...

L’Iceberg 2006 (84 mins)

Director:
Fiona Gordon
Dominique Abel
Bruno Romy

Fiona (Fiona Gordon), a reliable mum and owner of a fast-food restaurant, accidentally gets locked in a...

Liberté-Oléron 2001 (109 mins)

Director: Bruno Podalydès

Jacques Monot and his family of six go to their secondary home on the island of Oléron...

Karnaval 1998 (85 mins)

Director: Thomas Vincent

Larbi (Amar Ben Abdallah) is a young mechanic working for the family business in Dunkirk. Following a...

Un Homme, un vrai 2002 (116 mins)

Director: Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu

A lovingly crafted comedy from the Larrieu brothers, strikingly original, funny and romantic, with Mathieu Amalric and...

Une Femme est une femme 1961 (85 mins)

A Woman is a Woman
Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Godard’s fantastical comedy centres around the nightclub stripper Angela (Anna Karina), who one days decides she must...

Pierrot le fou 1965 (112 mins)

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Luc Godard’s unconventional and avant-garde work has deservedly acquired over the last forty years, a reputation as...

Un Air de Famille 1995 (110 mins)

Family Resemblances
Director: Cédric Klapisch
Cédric Klapisch’s award-winning family comedy boasts an air-tight script and a powerhouse comic cast, including Jean-Pierre Bacri,...

La Grande Vadrouille 1966 (120 mins)

Director: Gérard Oury
Gérard Oury's classic set during WWІІ unites two French comic legends, Bourvil and Louis de Funès, for...

La Cité de la peur (une comédie familiale) 1994 (99 mins)

Director: Alain Berbérian
The team behind the hugely successful comic group ‘Les Nuls’ (roughly translated as ‘The Lameos’), who rose...

A Gorgeous Girl Like Me 1972 (98 mins)

Une Belle fille comme moi
Director: François Truffaut
Truffaut shows his flair for comedy in this darkly comic tale of a young sociologist, Stanislas, writing...

Delicatessen 1990 (99 mins)

Director:
Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s (Amélie, A Very Long Engagement) debut feature fully deserves its status as...

Stolen Kisses 1968 (90 mins)

Baisers Volés
Director: François Truffaut

The travails of love, life and work await an inexperienced, young man.

...

99 Francs 2007 (100 mins)

Director: Jan Kounen

A massive dose of pleasingly hallucinatory visuals into this screen adaptation of Frederic Beigbeder's novel.

...

Bed and Board 1971 (100 mins)

Domicile Conjugal
Director: François Truffaut

Ardent, anachronistic Antoine Doinel, Bed and Board plunges his hapless creation once again into crisis.

...

Riens du tout 1992 (95 mins)

Little Nothings
Director: CÈdric Klapisch

An intelligent comedy with the great Fabrice Luchini.

...

Versailles Rive Gauche 1992 (45 mins)

Director: Bruno Polyadès

Great comedy from the two brothers Podalydès.

...

Les Mistons 1958 (17 mins)

The Mischief Makers
Director: François Truffaut

A group of mischievous kids set out to disrupt the lives of a young courting couple.  Themes...

Only God Sees Me 1998 (117 mins)

Dieu seul me voit
Director: Bruno Podalydès

Six years on, Albert, is as awkward and stricken with chronic indecision as ever.  He stumbles through...