15 best French comedies with exquisite humor

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

These kind films really sink into the soul.

1. Via Paris

• France, Italy, 1956.
• Comedy drama.
• Duration: 80 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Paris, 1943. The townspeople are trying to survive under the German occupation. To support himself and his wife, an unemployed chauffeur, Marcel Martin, gets a job as a courier in a store and, under cover of night, delivers illegal goods to various customers. In the course of the next task - to move the suitcases with meat through the center of Paris to Montmartre - the hero takes an unfamiliar Monsieur Grangil as an assistant. Only Marcel will regret this decision more than once.

Director Claude Otan-Lara was one of the brightest stars of French cinema in the 1950s. He has many wonderful comedies, dramas and crime films on his account. Later, Otan-Lara was in the background due to the arrival of the pioneers of the "new wave". But the film "Across Paris" is still considered one of the most outstanding films in the history of the French film industry.

The film stars the greatest actors of their generation: Bourville, Jean Gabin and Louis de Funes. The latter appeared as a minor character - a greedy and cowardly butcher shopkeeper. And this became fateful for the great comedian: the directors noticed his talent, and the central roles followed one after another.

2. My uncle

• France, 1958.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 116 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

The pedantic Arpele family lives in a conceptual modern home, packed full of crazy gadgets. But with the appearance of the absent-minded uncle Hulot, everything begins to fail.

This is the first color picture of the great French comedian, filmmaker and actor Jacques Tati, who played the main role himself. Along with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Man and the Woman and The Italian Marriage, the film echoed in the hearts of both Soviet and American audiences. Moreover, she won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1958.

3. Daddy gangsters

• France, Germany, Italy, 1963.
• Crime comedy.
• Duration: 105 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

The tape tells the incredible story of retired gangster Fernand Nadine. He has to return to the clan at the request of his dying mentor - a mafioso nicknamed the Mexican. The latter announces to his comrades-in-arms that from now on, Fernand will run a troublesome and not entirely legal business, as well as take care of his adult daughter Patricia. The hero will have to deal not only with bandits who themselves are not averse to taking the place of the leader, but also with a girl desperately rebelling against the generation of fathers.

In France, Georges Lautner's comedy is considered a cult one and is dismantled into quotes. This is largely due to the witty dialogues written by Michel Audiar, as well as the brilliant performance of Lino Ventura and Bernard Blier.

4. Gendarme of Saint-Tropez

• France, Italy, 1964.
• An eccentric comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Having received a promotion, the brave gendarme Ludovic Cruchot comes to the cozy resort town of Saint-Tropez with his pretty daughter Nicole. In a new place, the enthusiastic hero fights a nudist colony, searches for a stolen car, but eventually finds something more serious.

It is said that the idea for the film came from Jean Giraud while traveling along the Mediterranean coast of France. In Saint-Tropez, the director stole his favorite portable typewriter (according to another version - a movie camera). Frustrated, Giraud went to the local gendarmerie. There was a loss - the person on duty typed on it. However, he did not accept the statement of theft, setting a lot of unthinkable conditions.

The angry director decided, in revenge, to include the gendarmerie of Saint-Tropez in his new script. This idea later grew into six films about Cruchot and his colleagues, where the leading actor Louis de Funes was filmed for the rest of his life.

5. Razinya

• France, Italy, 1965.
• Crime comedy.
• Duration: 111 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

As compensation for the wrecked car, the traveling salesman Antoine Marechal receives a luxurious Cadillac from the wealthy industrialist Leopold Saroyan. In reality, the donated car is stuffed with gold and drugs, and the businessman himself turns out to be a seasoned smuggler. The hero does not know what passions are boiling around him, he calmly continues his journey to Italy, meets charming girls and enjoys life.

The audience owes Gerard Ury the appearance of one of the best comedy tandems of all time - Bourville and Louis de Funes. In The Big Walk, the director's next work with the same actors, there is a hidden reference to Razin - in one of the scenes the surname Marechal sounds.

6. Long walk

• France, Great Britain, 1966.
• War comedy.
• Duration: 123 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

The action takes place during the Second World War. Narcissistic and grumpy conductor Stanislas Lefort and timid painter Augustin Bouvet must help three British pilots leave occupied France.

The Great Walk has broken every spectator and commercial record imaginable. Initially, the main characters were supposed to be two sisters - a nun and a prostitute, but in the end the story was rewritten under Burville and Louis de Funes, sacrificing a romantic line.

7. Oscar

• France, 1967.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Early in the morning, the large industrialist Bertrand Barnier is woken up by one of the employees of his office - the handsome Christian Martin. The unexpected guest asks for an increase in his salary, declares that he loves the daughter of an entrepreneur, and then admits that he stole a tidy sum from the tycoon.

Many French comedies first appeared on the stage. Among them is the "Oscar" based on the play by the comedian Claude Magnier. From 1959 to 1972, Louis de Funes played in the production of the same name almost 600 times.

Eight years after the premiere, the talented director Edouard Molinaro directed the film adaptation. The role of Bertrand Barnier in the film is also played by Louis de Funes.

8. Tall blonde in a black boot

• France, 1972.
• An eccentric spy comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Deputy Colonel of the French counterintelligence Bernard Milan dreams of taking the place of his boss Louis Toulouse. The hero arranges a provocation with the expectation of tarnishing the patron's reputation. But the colonel instructs his men to choose any person from the crowd and impress Milan as if the stranger is a "super agent" working for Toulouse. Bernard is trying to figure out what is happening, not suspecting that the "super agent" is just the violinist Francois Perrin, unimaginably absent-minded and unlucky.

The film, based on a script by the renowned playwright Francis Weber, played an exceptional role in the career of Pierre Richard. At that time, the comedian was already 38 years old. But it was in “The Tall Blonde in the Black Boot” that the audience first saw the canonical image of the actor: “the little man”, always getting into trouble, but successfully extricating himself from them.

In a later comedy trilogy ("Unlucky", "Daddies", "Runaways"), staged by Weber himself, Pierre Richard reappears in the role of a sweet dumbass, but already in tandem with the imperturbable and decisive Gerard Depardieu.

The recognizable musical theme of Vladimir Cosma - Sirba (Le Grand Blond avec une Chaussure Noire) was intended to parody James Bond films. But the composer Vladimir Cosma suggested using national Romanian instruments, cymbals and a pan-flute to emphasize the possible Slavic origin of Richard's character.

By the way, the same author wrote the music for most films with the participation of Pierre Richard, Gerard Depardieu, Louis de Funes and other kings of French comedy.

9. Cage for cranks

• France, Italy, 1978.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Two loving and already elderly homosexuals - respectable Renato and feminine Alben - maintain their own drag queen club. Renato's adult son from a previous marriage stuns him with the news that he is going to marry a girl from a very conservative family. Naturally, the bride's parents do not know about the orientation of the groom's father, and if the truth is revealed, then there can be no talk of any wedding. Now the sweet couple will have to pretend to be straight.

Another funny comedy from Edouard Molinaro, the script for which was written by the French genius Francis Weber based on the play by Jean Poiret, and the music by Ennio Morricone himself. The film was nominated for three Oscars and received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.

And in 1996, cult director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) Filmed a version called Bird Cage starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman.

10. Santa Claus is a scumbag

• France, 1982.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 88 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The action takes place on the eve of Christmas in the office of the "Helpline" psychological help service. Here, valiant employees harm the unfortunate callers more than help them. And the closer the holiday, the more the situation threatens to develop into a real disaster.

"Santa Claus is a scumbag" is based on the play of the same name, written by those who played in it, and in the film adaptation by the actors of the theater troupe Le Splendid. This black comedy has become a cult for several generations of French viewers and has become a must-have attribute of the pre-New Year period, akin to our "Irony of Fate".

11. Famous old songs

• France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Italy, 1997.
• Musical comedy melodrama.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Real estate agent Simon likes the withdrawn Camille, who works as a tour guide. But ironically, the girl falls in love with his boss. In parallel, Camille is trying to make her older sister Odile meet with her ex-boyfriend again.

And soon the characters of this whole intricate story find themselves at a party organized by Odile. Moreover, each of the heroes thinks that it is he who is in a desperate situation, and in the most dramatic moments fragments of French hits sound.

12. Dinner with a jerk

• France, 1998.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 80 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

A group of wealthy bourgeois amuse themselves by inviting "idiots" to dinner and secretly making fun of their stupid hobbies. One of the ringleaders, wealthy publisher Pierre Brochamp, manages to find a "world-class idiot." This is the accountant François Pignon, who loves to collect match layouts at his leisure. Broshan invites the eccentric to visit, hoping that he will become the highlight of the program, but everything does not turn out as planned.

The action in "Dinner with an asshole" takes place in the same room. This intimacy is explained by the fact that the film is an adaptation of the play of the same name by Francis Weber, which was shown with great success in Parisian theaters. He said that what was happening was not his invention at all. Such dinners were often hosted by the actor Lou Castel.

13. Beaver to pity

• France, 2008.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Postmaster Philip Abrams dreams of getting an appointment to the Cote d'Azur, but instead the man is transferred to a remote province. Full of prejudices, the hero is sure that the north of France is inhabited by ignorant rude people. However, she gradually notices that this place is not at all what it seems at first glance.

Dani Boone's second directorial job became a national box office record. Humor is built on the comparison of French dialects, so Russian localizers had to try hard, translating numerous linguistic jokes.

14. 1+1

• France, 2011.
• Comedy drama.
• Duration: 112 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

The paralyzed aristocrat Philip is looking for an assistant. Unexpectedly for everyone, a man hires a rude black guy with a criminal past, but in the end, this eccentric step becomes the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Despite the fact that the plot sounds too incredible to be true, the film is based on the real story of the French businessman Filippo Pozzo di Borghi and his assistant Abdel Sellou. The heartfelt soundtrack of Ludovico Einaudi - Una Mattina (Extended Remix) by composer Ludovico Einaudi, the bright play of actors François Cluse and Omar C, excellent script - all this brought the film the love of viewers all over the world.

True, the Russian localization of the title "1 + 1" greatly distorted the director's intention. In the original, the tape is called "The Untouchables" - it is understood that both main characters were in the margins of society. Another interpretation: in a tolerant society, it is not customary to joke about disabled people and dark-skinned people, but on the contrary, they are treated very carefully, afraid of offending. Therefore, they do not want to “touch” them for real.

15. Name

• France, Belgium, 2012.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Successful realtor Vincent and his charming wife Anna are preparing to become parents. On this occasion, the hero's sister Elisabeth and her husband Pierre are having a dinner, where a family friend, Claude, is also invited. Just as soon as the father-to-be blurt out that he is going to name the baby Adolf, a pleasant evening turns into a disaster.

The film will almost certainly appeal to fans of intimate films such as Joe (1970), Left of the Elevator (1988), Dinner with a Dork (1998), Massacre (2011) and Perfect Strangers (2016). The directors Alexander de la Pateliere and Mathieu Delaporte had a difficult task - to keep the audience's attention for almost two hours, despite the fact that there are only five heroes, and the action practically does not go beyond one room. But "Name" is a case where closed screen space is beneficial.