Bastille Day
To celebrate Bastille Day, we’ve assembled a group of films based on the lives of key figures who have shaped French history, from King Louis XVI to Coco Chanel as well as members of the Résistance and the activists of May 1968.
Celebration
(Célébration)
The man behind the fashion empire that is Saint Laurent.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2018
- Director Olivier Meyrou
- Cast Yves Saint-Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Laetitia Casta, Loulou de la Falaise, Catherine Deneuve
- Genre Documentary
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Hoopla
Promise at Dawn
(La Promesse de l'aube)
Based on Romain Gary's best-selling autobiographical novel, the famous French writer recounts both his life and the powers that shaped it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2017
- Director Eric Barbier
- Cast Pierre Niney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Didier Bourdon, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Finnegan Oldfield
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Chai Flicks, Fandango At Home, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla
Renoir
The story of a famous painter, his filmmaker son, and the woman who inspired them both.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2012
- Director Gilles Bourdos
- Cast Michel Bouquet, Christa Théret, Vincent Rottiers, Thomas Doret, Romane Bohringer, Carlo Brandt
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Freevee, Cineverse, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Something in the Air
(Après Mai)
In the aftermath of May '68, a group of young Europeans try to continue the revolutions they believe are just beginning.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2012
- Director Olivier Assayas
- Cast Clément Métayer, Lola Créton, Felix Armand, Carole Combes, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Hugo Conzelmann
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Two in the Wave
(Deux de la Vague)
The lives and friendship of French New Wave pioneers François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2010
- Director Emmanuel Laurent
- Cast Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Antoine de Baecque, Isild Le Besco
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, VUDU Free, Kanopy
Coco Before Chanel
(Coco avant Chanel)
Before she was Coco, she was just a young girl in an orphanage, moonlighting as a cabaret singer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2009
- Director Anne Fontaine
- Cast Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos, Régis Royer
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, AMC on Demand
La Vie en Rose
(La Môme)
The extraordinary story of Edith Piaf, a singer and icon
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United Kingdom, Czech Republic • 2007
- Director Olivier Dahan
- Cast Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gérard Depardieu
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Queen Margot
(La Reine Margot)
Margot is an heiress to the throne amidst both a religious war and the late 16th-century reign of the neurotic, hypochondriac King Charles IX.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy, Germany • 1994
- Director Patrice Chéreau
- Cast Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Pérez, Virna Lisi, Dominique Blanc
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Danton
Danton and Robespierre fought together as friends during the Revolution, but become bitter enemies once Robespierre takes control.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Poland • 1983
- Director Andrzej Wajda
- Cast Gérard Depardieu, Wojciech Pszoniak, Patrice Chéreau, Angela Winkler, Roland Blanche, Alain Macé
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel
Army of Shadows
(L'Armée des ombres)
Betrayal. Loyalty. Collaboration. Resistance.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1969
- Director Jean-Pierre Melville
- Cast Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbier
- Genre War, Drama
- Available on Amazon Video
La Marseillaise
The French Revolution as seen through the eyes of King Louis XVI and the commoners who brought him down.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1938
- Director Jean Renoir
- Cast Pierre Renoir, Lise Delamare, Louis Jouvet
- Genre History, Drama
- Available on Kanopy
The Passion of Joan of Arc
(La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc)
The 15th-century teenage warrior Joan of Arc takes on the French church.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1928
- Director Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Cast Maria Falconetti, Eugène Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz, Antonin Artaud, Michel Simon
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel, FlixFling, TCM, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV