Go to the home page Go to the master list sorted by rank Go to the master list sorted alphabetically Go to the top films as determined by each taste Go to the master list sorted by director Go to the master list sorted by actor Go to the master list sorted by year of release Go to the master list sorted by genre Go to the master list sorted by nation of origin Go to more lists of films Find alternate titles of master list films Go to lists of top films as determined by normal film fans Go to the FAQ and other essays Go to the links page Go to the site map

Top Films from Medium Sized French Studios

Argos Films

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Wings of Desire 1987 Wim Wenders 195
2 Hiroshima mon amour 1959 Alain Resnais 281
3 Last Year at Marienbad 1961 Alain Resnais 382
4 Paris, Texas 1984 Wim Wenders 431
5 The Tin Drum 1979 Volker Schlöndorff 561
6 Au hasard Balthazar 1966 Robert Bresson 562
7 In the Realm of the Senses 1976 Nagisa Oshima 660
8 La Jetée 1962 Chris Marker 687
9 The Vanishing 1988 George Sluizer 1001
10 Night and Fog 1955 Alain Resnais 1066
11 Sans soleil 1983 Chris Marker 1097
12 Two or Three Things I Know about Her 1967 Jean-Luc Godard 1243
13 Mouchette 1967 Robert Bresson 1293
14 Masculine Feminine 1966 Jean-Luc Godard 1312
15 Chronicle of a Summer 1961 Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch 1769
16 The Sacrifice 1986 Andrei Tarkovsky 1872

Canal+

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 James Cameron 126
2 Amélie 2001 Jean-Pierre Jeunet 230
3 Three Colors: Red 1994 Krzysztof Kieslowski 231
4 City of God1 2002 Fernando Meirelles 331
5 Mulholland Dr. 2001 David Lynch 422
6 JFK 1991 Oliver Stone 424
7 Breaking the Waves 1996 Lars von Trier 472
8 Three Colors: White 1994 Krzysztof Kieslowski 542
9 The Pianist1 2002 Roman Polanski 586
10 Bridget Jones's Diary1 2001 Sharon Maguire 626
11 Shaun of the Dead1 2004 Edgar Wright 643
12 The Straight Story 1999 David Lynch 740
13 Central Station 1998 Walter Salles 745
14 Basic Instinct 1992 Paul Verhoeven 762
15 Billy Elliot1 2000 Stephen Daldry 826
16 O Brother, Where Art Thou?1 2000 Joel Coen 867
17 The Others 2001 Alejandro Amenábar 915
18 The Double Life of Veronique 1991 Krzysztof Kieslowski 952
19 La Belle noiseuse 1991 Jacques Rivette 956
20 Dancer in the Dark 2000 Lars von Trier 1021
21 The Barbarian Invasions 2003 Denys Arcand 1045
22 Burnt by the Sun 1994 Nikita Mikhalkov 1063
23 Hate 1995 Mathieu Kassovitz 1064
24 The Ice Storm 1997 Ang Lee 1083
25 The Triplets of Belleville 2003 Sylvain Chomet 1138
26 Love Actually1 2003 Richard Curtis 1147
27 The City of Lost Children 1995 Marc Caro and Jean-Marie Jeunet 1270
28 Manhunter1 1986 Michael Mann 1288
29 Dogville 2003 Lars von Trier 1378
30 Lamerica 1994 Gianni Amelio 1389
31 The Devil's Backbone 2001 Guillermo del Toro 1443
32 Irma Vep 1996 Olivier Assayas 1515
33 Time Out 2001 Laurent Cantet 1560
34 Un coeur en hiver 1992 Claude Sautet 1577
35 The Wild Reeds 1994 André Téchiné 1578
36 Rosetta 1999 Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 1592
37 The Sea Inside 2004 Alejandro Amenábar 1681
38 Land and Freedom 1995 Ken Loach 1695
39 Indochine 1992 Régis Wargnier 1709
40 The Dreamlife of Angels 1998 Erick Zonca 1712
41 Caro Diario 1993 Nanni Moretti 1713
42 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai 1999 Jim Jarmusch 1782
43 Léolo 1992 Jean-Claude Lauzon 1855
44 The Piano Teacher 2001 Michael Haneke 1892
45 Hidden1 2005 Michael Haneke 1906
46 About a Boy1 2002 Chris and Paul Weitz 1922
47 Queen Margot 1994 Patrice Chéreau 1954
48 Mississippi Masala1 1991 Mira Nair 2001
49 Ma Vie en Rose 1997 Alain Berliner 2043
50 Night on Earth 1991 Jim Jarmusch 2084
51 Les Misérables 1995 Claude Lelouch 2086
52 The Idiots 1998 Lars von Trier 2101
53 Irréversible1 2002 Gaspar Noé 2111
54 Pride & Prejudice1 2005 Joe Wright 2125
55 To Be and to Have 2002 Nicolas Philibert 2154
56 Ratcatcher 1999 Lynne Ramsay 2212
57 Ponette 1996 Jacques Doillon 2222
58 Open Your Eyes 1997 Alejandro Amenábar 2228
59 Histoire(s) du cinéma Jean-Luc Godard 2229
60 Winged Migration 2001 Jacques Perrin 2254
61 The Pillow Book1 1996 Peter Greenaway 2285
62 Cyclo 1995 Anh Hung Tran 2297
63 Kandahar1 2001 Mohsen Makhmalbaf 2301
64 The Son's Room 2001 Nanni Moretti 2310
65 Lessons of Darkness 1992 Werner Herzog 2311
66 Brotherhood of the Wolf 2001 Christophe Gans 2328
67 The Queen 2006 Stephen Frears 2369
68 Volver 2006 Pedro Almodóvar 2414
69 Read My Lips 2001 Jacques Audiard 2432
70 Hot Fuzz1 2007 Edgar Wright 2462
71 Bad Education 2004 Pedro Almodóvar 2488
72 Van Gogh 1991 Maurice Pialat 2492
73 Eternity and a Day 1998 Theodoros Angelopoulos 2501

1 Produced or co-produced by Studio Canal.

Les Films du Carrosse

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The 400 Blows 1959 François Truffaut 78
2 Jules and Jim 1962 François Truffaut 154
3 Day for Night 1973 François Truffaut 322
4 Stolen Kisses 1968 François Truffaut 964
5 My Night at Maud's 1969 Eric Rohmer 1023
6 Two or Three Things I Know about Her 1967 Jean-Luc Godard 1243
7 Yeelen 1987 Souleymane Cissé 1246
8 The Wild Child 1970 François Truffaut 1426
9 Two English Girls 1971 François Truffaut 1438
10 The Story of Adele H. 1975 François Truffaut 1756
11 The Last Metro 1980 François Truffaut 1814
12 Small Change 1976 François Truffaut 1852
13 Love on the Run 1979 François Truffaut 1909
14 Bed and Board 1970 François Truffaut 2130

Gaumont

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 L'Atalante 1934 Jean Vigo 193
2 The 39 Steps 1935 Alfred Hitchcock 223
3 Fanny and Alexander 1982 Ingmar Bergman 247
4 The Professional 1994 Luc Besson 312
5 A Man Escaped 1956 Robert Bresson 565
6 The Fifth Element 1997 Luc Besson 579
7 Les Vampires 1915 Louis Feuillade 697
8 The Tree of Wooden Clogs 1978 Ermanno Olmi 770
9 La Femme Nikita 1990 Luc Besson 1174
10 Nosferatu the Vampyre 1979 Werner Herzog 1222
11 Oh, Mr. Porter! 1937 Marcel Varnel 1446
12 The Dinner Game 1998 Francis Veber 1492
13 À nos amours 1983 Maurice Pialat 1932
14 The Lovers on the Bridge 1991 Leos Carax 1964
15 Fantomas 1913 Louis Feuillade 1971
16 Histoire(s) du cinéma Jean-Luc Godard 2229
17 Sabotage 1936 Alfred Hitchcock 2235
18 My Mother's Castle 1990 Yves Robert 2375
19 My Father's Glory 1990 Yves Robert 2435
20 Danton 1983 Andrzej Wajda 2493

Pathé

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Children of Paradise 1945 Marcel Carné 108
2 La Dolce Vita 1960 Federico Fellini 134
3 Thelma & Louise 1991 Ridley Scott 188
4 Hiroshima mon amour 1959 Alain Resnais 281
5 Nanook of the North 1922 Robert J. Flaherty 339
6 The Leopard 1963 Luchino Visconti 420
7 Rififi 1955 Jules Dassin 623
8 Chicken Run 2000 Peter Lord and Nick Park 707
9 My Life to Live 1962 Jean-Luc Godard 966
10 Touching the Void 2003 Kevin Macdonald 1400
11 The Descent 2005 Neil Marshall 2054
12 Ratcatcher 1999 Lynne Ramsay 2212
13 The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz 1974 Ted Kotcheff 2317
14 The Queen 2006 Stephen Frears 2369
15 Quatermass and the Pit 1967 Roy Ward Baker 2424
16 The Man in the Moon 1991 Robert Mulligan 2430
17 Read My Lips 2001 Jacques Audiard 2432
This page was last modified on March 25, 2008