Lower on this page, you'll find a growing list of recommendations on books, movies and so on. You might want to have a look at some of our earlier lists with lots of inspiration:
List of tv series in French, both original and those with good quality dubbing
List of French movies and tv series with accurate subtitles
Contemporary Literature
| Cover | Title | Comments | Thumbs Up |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pierre-Alexandre Garneau. Vol, Vapeur, Vengeance | Very approachable steampunk. Uses the passé simple, available on Kindle in the US, too (emk) | emk |
|
Albert Camus. L'étranger | Simple sentences but does contain passé simple. (sprachprofi) | Sprachprofi, kanewai, Levi, seraven, Mork the Fiddle, zhuzilu6wc |
|
Bernard Weber.
Nos amis les humains |
A short SF novella in the present tense, with slightly more modern conversational vocabulary. Available for the Kindle in France, but not the US. (emk) | emk |
|
Boris Vian. L'écume des jours. | Love, jazz, and sadness in post-war Paris. (kanewai) | kanewai, Patriciaa, Marc Frisch, cavesa |
|
Patrick Bauwen.
Monster |
Randomly picked this up in the library because I wanted to read a thriller; I was pretty surprised when I noticed that it's narrated in the present tense and not in passé simple. (bao) | bao |
|
Simenon. Maigret detective stories | Grammar is surprisingly simple (I think it may be wonderful for a low intermediate or even higher beginner) and I enjoy the bits of police slang :-) (cavesa) | cavesa, languagelover, mork the fiddle |
|
Fred Vargas. mysteries | Other author of great, and in my opinion not hard,detective novels (cavesa) | cavesa, emk, kanewai |
|
Michel Tournier. Vendredi ou les limbes du pacifique. | A re-imagining of the Robinson Crusoe story. It's a great mix of adventure and philosophy,and was surprisingly poignant and haunting at the end.The writingisn't complicated, but you should be comfortable with the subjunctive and simple past to enjoy it. Highly recommended. (kanewai) | kanewai |
|
Margeurite Yourcenar, L'oeuvre au noir; Mémoires d'Hadrien |
One of the best authors who wrote in French, but most of hernovels are pretty hard core in terms of vocabulary. You can start with a book of her short stories though called Dernier du rêve. (FX) | FX, languagelover, kanewai, winters, SCTroyenne |
|
René Barjavel. La Nuit des temps | Frozen bodies are discovered in the antarctic but are discovered to be from a 9000 year old civilization more advanced than our own. What happens when they are revived? (Conroy) | Conroy, VivianJ5 |
|
Trilogy by Agota Kristof. Le Grand Cahier; La Preuve; Le Troisème Mensonge, |
It's written in rather simple French, because the author is Hungarian and French is not her mother tongue. This means you can read it quite fast, which is good for your confidence. And it's a great story too if you’re not afraid of unreliable narrators. (meadowmeal) |
Meadowmeal, Languagelover, Mork the Fiddle, Homogenik |
|
Emmanuel Carrère. Un roman russe. |
The story is extremely well written and Carrère's french is simple and pure, so I guess it wouldn't be a problem for foreigners. (wilco) |
Wilco |
|
Andreï Makine. Le testament français. |
A good example of high quality French literature, though his language might be too difficult (wilco) |
Wilco |
|
Françoise Sagan. Bonjour Tristesse | An early review called this novel a "vulgar, sad little book." If your tastes run that way, as mine do, then this is for you. The difficulty of the language is not for beginners, but otherwise you should not have too much trouble. (mork the fiddle) | rggg, michamotor, Mork the Fiddle |
|
Marguerite Duras, L'amant Un barrage contre le Pacifique |
languagelover, Homogenik, SCTroyenne | |
|
Michel Houellebecq, Les particules élementaires | languagelover | |
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Frédéric Beigbeder, Windows on the World 99 Francs |
99 francs may not be for everyone, a lot of sexual and drug references (Marc Frisch) | Patriciaa, Marc Frisch |
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Emmanuel Carrère. La classe de neige. | A dark fairy tale. It's quite short and not too difficult. (automne) | .automne |
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Amélie Nothomb. Stupeurs et tremblements | A Belgian author who writes strange novels. (Patriciaa) | Patriciaa, anya, meadowmeal, nadia, tarvos, unzum, Conroy |
|
Éric Emmanuel Schmitt. Oscar et la dame rose; L'Evangile selon Pilate |
Oscar: A touching book about a child with cancer and his relationship with god. This may sound cheesy but it's not. There's a lot of style in the writing, very enjoyable. (Patriciaa) | Patriciaa, bajacero, anya, meadowmeal |
|
Florian Zeller. Julien Parme. | An excellent source of common expressions in spoken French. It's kind of a french version of The Catcher in the Rye, both in content and in tone. (blauw) | blauw |
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Anna Gavalda. Ensemble, c'est tout; Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part; 35 kilos d'espoir |
Her language is modern, easy, and it's all about dialogues not pages of description.(nadia). | blauw, nadia, dolly, bajacero; Mork the Fiddle |
|
Robert Merle. La mort est mon métier | A fictionalized biography of Rudolf Hoess, commandant of the concentration camp Auschwitz. (nadia). | nadia |
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Hervé Bazin. Vipère au poing. | This book is set in the middle of the 20th century, if I'm not mistaken. In a very ironic key, it portrays the life of an aristocratic but impoverished family. (nadia). | nadia |
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Guillaume Musso. Seras-tu là? | It was a very gripping read, a page-turner with a fantastic twist in its plot, just all right for my level of French. (nadia). | nadia |
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Marc Lévy. Et si c'était vrai |
I love Marc Lévy and have listened to the audiobook over and over. (dolly) | dolly, Patricia |
|
Patric Senécal. Les sept jours du Talion |
If you're looking for some horror stories try this. (Patricia). | Patricia |
|
Maurice Druon. Les Rois Maudits |
A series of 7 historical novels about the intrigues of the Capetien kings in the early 1300s. Very well written and extremely gripping but occasionally challenging French so not for the beginner. (LLF) And let's add, now most famous for being the inspiration of Game of Thrones. (mork the fiddle) | LLF, Mork the Fiddle |
|
Jean Teulé. Le Magasin des Suicides | It's all about a family who runs a shop where you can buy whatever you need to kill yourself; but, unfortunately, the youngest child of the family is not depressed enough and he annoys everyone because he is always so positive and so happy. I found it brilliant, funny and very ironic, you have to like "l'humour noir" but if you do, then you're gonna have a nice moment reading this. (violane) | violane |
|
Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Voyage au bout de la nuit. | Actually, this is a perfectly horrible book written by a perfectly horrible man. From the trenches of WWI to Africa to Detroit to Paris, he hates everything. But his writing is amazing. He hates with style. (kanewai) | kanewai, Mork the Fiddle, Marc Frisch |
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Geroges Pérec. La vie, mode d'emploi | One of my favorites (Marc) | Marc Frisch |
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Réjean Ducharme. L'avalée des avalés | Homogenik | |
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Romain Gary. La promesse de l'aube La vie devant soi |
Homogenik | |
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Yasmina Khadra. L'attentat. | It's about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a doctor who discovers a huge secret his wife has been hiding from him. A powerful book. (Emily95) | Emily96 |
| 'Il fait beau' and related titles | For beginning french learners I definitely recommend, available on the kindle stores. They are very basic and gradually build on what you know. Even better is that they are aimed at adults so it isn't too frustrating to read as an adult. The other basic french readers I have seen have been written for children, so this is a great change. (dandt) | dandt | |
|
Christian Jacq. Ramsès - le temple des millions d'années |
This is the second book in a series set at the time of Pharaoh Ramses. The author is an egyptologist, which means his descriptions are very colourful and contain accurate information on Ancient Egypt. (sprachprofi) | Sprachprofi |
|
Lectures CLE en français facile | A great series. There are four levels and wide variety of topics. Some come with CDs (tamise) | tamise |
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Henri Troyat. Les samailles et les moissons. Tant que la terre durea |
Really anything by Henri Troyat - I read many of his novels when I was at A2 (VivianJ5) | VivianJ5 |
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René Barjavel. Le grand secret. | VivianJ5 | |
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Françoise Chandernagor. L'Allée du roi. | VivianJ5 | |
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Michel Déon. Un souvenir. | Beautiful story of a man reminiscing about a long ago love. (VivianJ5) | VivianJ5 |
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Irène Némirovsky. Suite Française. | Just seeing the novel here in this list raises the hair on the back of my neck and brings a tear to my eye. Powerful. (mork the fiddle) | VivianJ5, SCTroyenne, Mork the Fiddle |
Classical Literature
| Cover | Title | Comments | Thumbs Up |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Molière | Mostly present tense | Sprachprofi |
|
Jules Verne. Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours | A great classic, despite some occasionally challenging vocabulary. Uses the passé simple. Available for free on the Kindle. (emk) | emk, nadia, Patricia, cavesa, renaissancemedi , zhuzilu6wc |
|
Alain-Fournier. Le Grand Meaulnes | A romantic, somewhat mysterious, coming of age story in a rural village. (kanewai) | kanewai, Mork the Fiddle |
|
Pierre Chodelos de Laclos.
Les liasons dangereuses |
C'est quelque chose d'interessant et j'ai vraiment aimé ce livre. (cavesa) | cavesa |
|
André Gide. L'immoraliste La symphonie pastorale |
Gide wrote short novellas that explore freedom, sensuality, and morality. Easy accessible for a beginning student. (kanewai) | kanewai |
|
Guy de Maupassant. Short Stories; Bel Ami |
Short stories set in High Society. (kanewai) | kanewai, nadia, cavesa |
|
Marcel Pagnol. La Gloire de mon père L'eau des collines (Jean de Florrete and Manon des sources) |
La gloire: The first part of the author's memories of growing up in Provence. Really charming and not too hard for a first adult level book. (conroy) Jean: Not too hard and very French (languagelover) |
Conroy, languagelover, VivianJ5 |
|
Marcel Proust. À la recherche du temps perdu | A massive epic that contains some ecstacally beautiful writing, and some that takes tedious navel gazing to unheard of levels. Everyone should try Proust at some point in the challenge, but not at the beginning,and be warned: He is a challenge, and possibly a bit insane. I think he spent five pages once describing a ride in an elevator. (kanewai) | kanewai, mork the fiddle (though there should be an asterisk for me on this) |
|
Émile Zola. Les Rougon-Macquart series. Germinal; L'Œuvre; Au Bonheur des Dames |
Classic series dealing with the history of one family during the Second Empire. Best known work is Germinal, about anarchists, communists, and a wildcat miners strike (which is far more exciting than it sounds). Zola is a master at creating unique characters and at describing cultures, but the plots can move slowly. (kanewai) |
kanewai, cavesa, Conroy |
|
Jean Giono. Colline. | A wonderful short novel about the inhabitants of an isolated Provence village of four houses. The eldest resident lays dying, and the others start noticing strange and disturbing omens in the land. Highly recommended, with simple and beautiful writing. Would be great for a beginner. (kanewai) | kanewai |
|
Alexandre Dumas. Le Comte de Monte-Cristo | C'est un de mes livres les plus aimés (cavesa) | Patriciaa, languagelover, nadia, cavesa, renaissancemedi |
|
Jean Cocteau.
Les enfants terribles. |
A fascinating and mysterious story about two children who live without parents. (michamotor) | michamotor |
|
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Vol de nuit |
About flying, but not only about flying. (michamotor) | michamotor, Mork the Fiddle |
|
Gustave Flaubert. Madame Bovary. | Nicely written and tightly plotted. Be warned though that Madame Bovary is not a hero! Flaubert watches the damage unfold without commenting or judging, which adds to the novels power. (kanewai) | kanewai, Conroy |
|
Voltaire. Candide, ou l'optimisme | kanewai | |
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Victor Hugo. Les misérables. | The good news that Les Mis is more accessable than you would think. It's actually five books, so you can space them out. The story goes far deeper than the movie or musical does, and the action scenes are riveting. There's more crime, more pain, more drama, more hope, more of everything. The downside: Hugo goes off on a lot of long-winded tangents that drag on ... and on ... and on ... (kanewai) | kanewai, renaissancemedi |
|
Stendhal | renaissancemedi |
Non Fiction
Books for Kids and Tweens
| Cover | Title | Comments | Thumbs Up |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Erik l'Homme. Le livre des étoiles |
I enjoyed it and it's not too difficult (cavesa) | cavesa |
|
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Le Petit Prince | More advanced, with extensive use of the passé simple (in the first person, too!) and occasionally the imparfait du subjonctif. (emk). It's an amazing book ... a very deep book which tells about love and death in an allegorical form. (nadia) | emk, kanewai, nadia, stelle, nadia , zhuzilu6wc |
|
Ingrid Thobois. Nassim et Nassima | A short childrens' book about two friends growing up in Afghanistan. I think it sticks to simpler verb tenses. (emk) | emk |
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Sylvain Donnio. Je mangerais bien un enfant: | My favorite very short childrens' book, about a baby crocodile who wants to grow big enough to eat a kid. Suitable for pre-schoolers with a warped sense of humor, and short enough for bed-time. (emk) | emk |
|
Anthony Buckeridge. Bennett au collège |
The Jennings childrens books by Anthony Buckeridge have been translated ito French, except "Jennings" is now "Bennett." Classic stories of an English schoolboy at a boarding school and all the scrapes and escapades he gets into. Still very funny to read as an adult. (conroy) | Conroy |
|
Goscinny & Sempé. Le Petit Nicolas |
We read/studied it in class and had lots of fun doing it. It's a good read if you're looking for something easy. Our teacher told us that the reason she had chosen it was that it would encourage us by making us realise that we can read in French and that books in French don't necessarily have to be difficult. (gebaundemuishond) |
gebaundemuishond, Elwing, Stelle, songlines, michamotor , zhuzilu6wc |
|
Joseph Kessel.
Le lion |
rggg | |
|
Comtesse de Ségour Les malheurs de Sophie (Trilogie de Fleruville) |
Her books are really easy and entertaining, if you love a certain old-fashioned flavour. The language is not noticebly old-fashioned. (cabaire) | Cabaire |
|
Mélanie Watt | Kids love them - but there's a lot there for adults too. I actually use them in my adult French courses. (stelle) | Stelle |
|
Danielle Simard. Le champion du lundi. | My fourth- and fifth-graders (immersion students, so reading at a slightly lower level than they would be in English) really loved her series that follows the days of the week, about a little boy named Julien. (stelle) | Stelle |
|
Alain Bergeron. Zzzut! |
About a little boy who can't do an oral presentation in class because his zipper gets stuck in the bathroom. Ridiculous, right? Well, this book made the rounds of my all-male adult French class. Everyone wanted to read it - and everyone loved it, even the self-professed non-reader who hadn't read a book in any language since high school 25 years earlier. (stelle) |
Stelle |
|
Dominique Demers. La nouvelle maîtresse. |
About a very unorthodox substitute teacher who takes over a class. It's aimed at a slightly higher age group than the books I mentioned by Bergeron and Simard. This series is very popular with the 'tween crowd in French Canada. They made a movie out of the first book a few years ago. (stelle) |
Stelle |
|
Gudule. On a un monstre dans la classe | Really neat humour, especially if you are 10 years old (sennin) | sennin |
|
Erik Orsenna. La grammaire est une chanson douce The Chevaliers du Subjonctif |
Good reads, and don't worry, they're stories not textbooks! (sennin) | sennin |
|
Story books with audio from Hachette for young readers. Rémi et le mystère de Saint-Péray; Enquête capitale | It is clearly aimed at native speakers, because there are footnotes for what they consider some of the harder words. Have CDs and exercises (jeffers) | jeffers |
Bandes Dessinées
| Cover | Title | Comments | Thumbs Up |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Joann Sfarr. Le chat du rabbin | Series about a somewhat blasphemous cat in 1930's Algeria who learns to speak after eating the rabbi's canary. (kanewai) | kanewai |
|
Hergé. Les aventures de Tintin |
Tintin is great! 200 million copies have sold world wide, so a lot of people agree. These are Indian Jones style adventures that span the globe. Lots of clever wordplay and iconic characters. Le lotus bleu (1936) is a good place to start. (kanewai) | kanewai, emk , zhuzilu6wc |
|
René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Astérix le Gaulois | Comic series about a group of Gauls using every trick in the book to resist the Romans. A fun read, with a lot of sly jokes and cultural allusions that are easy to miss, and that make re-reading the books as fun as reading them for the first time. (kanewai) | kanewai, emk, renaissancemedi , zhuzilu6wc |
|
Marjane Satrapi. Persèpolis: The Story of an Iranian Childhood .. |
The memoirs of a young girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. This is one not to be missed. (kanewai) | kanewai, emk, vermillion, cavesa , zhuzilu6wc |
|
Alex Alice. Siegfried. | Beautiful work centering on characters from the Ring of the Nibelung cycle. (kanewai) | kanewai, emk |
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Jean Díaz Canales and Junajo Guanido. Blacksad | Like a film noir, but with a tough cat detective at it's center. (kanewai) | kanewai, songlines, emk |
|
Guy Delisle. Shenzen; Pyongyang; Chroniques de Jérusalem. | vermillion, fezmond, songlines , zhuzilu6wc | |
|
Anything by Didier Comès. First and foremost Silence and Eva | vermillion | |
|
Didier Convard and Luc Révillon. Le triangle secret | Fun and not hard (a Dan Brown genre story) (vermillion) | vermillion |
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Leo. Aldéberan | emk, Jeffers | |
|
Moi René Tardi. Prisonnier de guerre au Stalag IIB | A true story set in a WWII prison camp. (emk) | emk |
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Thierry Labrosse. Ab Irato | This was written by an artist who lives in Montreal, and it's a sci-fi dystopia with life-extension for the rich, a corrupt government, and a popular rebellion that's about to go very sour. (emk) | emk |
|
William Nealy. Kayak: Manuel illustré de naviagation en eau vive | emk | |
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collectif. Immigrants | emk | |
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Dominque Roques et Alexis Dormal. Pico Bogue | About a little boy, similar to Calvin and Hobbes in that he is remarkably philosphical at times. (kanewai) | Emily96 |
|
Michel Rabaglati. Paul. | A well known Québéçois series. They are fairly easy to understand. (Emily96) | Emily96 |
Films and Television
| Title | Year | Comments | Thumbs Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| À bout de souffle (Breathless) Directed by Jean-Luc Goddard | 1960 | Considered one of the greatest French films for its style and editing. One of the "radical" changes it brought about was "jump cuts", but rather than improving the pace, it just looked sloppy. And I read that he never really intended the jump cuts, he just realized the film was too long and began to cut loads and loads. Possibly a bit over rated, but it is watchable and the dialogue is fairly clear. (jeffers) | jeffers |
| Bob le flambeur | 1965 | Another classic film, which is quite enjoyable. The character Bob gets a mention during the dialogue of Breathless. (jeffers) | jeffers |
| Rien à déclarer (Nothing to Declare) | 2010 | Recommended somewhere on these forums because it has good French subtitles. I really enjoyed this film and I have watched it several times. (jeffers) | jeffers |
| Panique au village | 2009 | I saw a bit of this on TV5, and had to buy the DVD. Crappy animated toys in a mad melange of comedy genius. Absolutely weird, and totally hilarious. (jeffers) | jeffers |
| Le dîner de cons | 1998 | Probably my favourite French film I have seen so far. I have watched it several times, and still laugh out loud at many of the scenes. The dialogue is rather fast, so I'm missing a lot of it, but I still highly recommend it.I have also seen the Hindi remake, Bheja Fry, which is pretty good. Apparently the English remake is awful. (jeffers) | jeffers, kanewai |
| Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) | 1959 | Another one of the greats of French cinema. This one deserves every bit of the acclaim it has received. You are drawn immediately into the life of a young delinquent in Paris. The acting is brilliant and the story keeps you watching. Unfortunately, it is one of those old films which sort of fades away rather than coming to a conclusion. I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't seen it; it is a metaphor of sorts, but I ended up thinking, that's all? Anyway, highly recommended. (jeffers) | jeffers |
| Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amelie) | 2001 | Thoroughly enjoyable. Need I say more? (jeffers) |
jeffers |
|
Et soudain tout le monde me manque |
2011 | On US netflix. Dramatic comedy about the relationship between a 20-something girl and her father. (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
|
Les femmes du 6ème étage |
2010 | Also on US netflix. A decent comedy about Spanish maids who live above their employers. (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
|
Les Émotifs Anonymes |
2010 | Also on US netflix! Very cute romantic comedy involving a chocolate factory owner and a chocolatier prodigy (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
|
Le Premier Jour du Reste de Ta Vie |
2008 | A moving drama about five pivotal days in a family's life. (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
|
Potiche |
2010 | Catherine Deneuve plays a housewife who discovers that she is capable of more than being a trophy wife. Entertaining comedy. (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
|
La Môme |
2007 | Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in this biopic. A quality film. (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
|
Populaire |
2010 | Another netflix find. Fun romantic comedy about a haphazard secretary with a talent for speed typing. (Iolanthe) |
Iolanthe |
| Germinal | 1993 | Based on Zola's novel. Set in a French mining village in the 19th century this is a gritty tale of the grinding poverty and appaling conditions leading to a strike. (conroy) | Conroy |
| Les Diaboliques | 1955 | Stunning murder thriller. Apparently Hitchcock wanted to make this film but Cluzot beat him to it. (conroy) | Conroy |
| Ascenceur pour l'échafaud | 1958 | Tense drama - protagonist commits a murder, but will he get away with it? Cool jazz score by Miles Davis and great shots of Paris at night. (conroy) | Conroy |
| La Gloire de mon père | 1990 | Part 1 of Marcel Pagnol's reminicences of growing up in the hills of Provence. Very charming with beautiful scenery. Based on the book. (conroy) | Conroy |
| Le Château de ma mère | 1990 | Part 2 of Pagnol's childhood in Provence. Based on the book. | Conroy |
| La Belle et la Bête | 1943 | Beautiful fantasy. The beast's dialogue is all quite slowly spoken so it's easy to follow. (conroy) | Conroy, kanewai |
| L'assassin habite au 21 | 1942 | Serial killer on the loose, is tracked down to 21 Ave Junot, but which of the residents in the boarding house is the murderer? Mix of light comedy and drama. (conroy) | Conroy |
| Amour | 2012 | Concerns an old couple where the woman gets dementia. Hard to watch but utterly compelling and true to life. Emmanuelle Riva should've won an Oscar. | Conroy |
| Le retour de Martin Guerre | 1982 | Set in a village in 16th century France. Based on a true story involving identity theft. Great performances, and a fascinating story. (conroy) | Conroy, Mork the Fiddle |
| Intouchables | 2011 | An amazing movie about an aristocrat quadriplegic who hires a young man from the slums to be his caretaker. (emily96) | Emily96 |
| Valérian et Laureline | 2007 | My favorite French cartoon. It's also a comic book (rdearman) | rdearman |
Podcasts and Audio
| Title | Year | Comments | Thumbs Up |
|---|---|---|---|