Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Bastille Day is here again! Do you even care? Well, even if you don’t care about the tumultuous struggle between France’s three estates, you should care about these Parisian titles on streaming.
Amélie
Sure, Amélie feels like the cliché of what a French film should be now, but the reason it captured our collective imaginations was because it perfectly encapsulates the allure of Paris. When we say we love the City of Lights, we’re also saying that we love great art, bohemian style, whimsical romance and quirky coquettes. Amélie delivers all of this and more.
Amélie is currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon.
Blue Is The Warmest Color
If Amélie was the chic French import of the early ’00s, then Blue is the Warmest Color is the film du jour of our present day. The three hour long film tells the brutal love story of a sensitive teen named Adèle and a seductive art student Emma. The film has been the recipient of many accolades and it’s been the focus of scandal. Lead actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux have alleged that they were coerced into their graphic lesbian sex scenes.
Blue Is the Warmest Color is streaming on Netflix.
Marie Antoinette
Thanks to Sofia Coppola, it’s hard now to think of the decadence of Versailles and not picture Kirsten Dunst feasting on cakes while moody indie rock plays. Marie Antoinette is a moody and magnificent ode to one of the most misunderstood women in all of history.
Marie Antoinette is available for purchase on Amazon, Google Play and iTunes.
Funny Face
Paris is widely considered to be the most chic city on Earth. While Coco Chanel certainly paved the way for women’s fashion in the 20th century, Givenchy’s designs for Audrey Hepburn inFunny Face have come to define many of our modern preconceptions of what French fashion is: dreamy, chic and gorgeous.
Funny Face is streaming on Netflix and Amazon.
An American in Paris
American artists have long been drawn in by Paris’s numerous charms, but America as a whole fell in love with the City of Lights when they saw Gene Kelly dance his way into Leslie Caron’s heart in An American In Paris. The classic musical is a must see for any Francophile and an even bigger must see for anyone who has hitherto resisted the Gallic nation’s allure.
An American in Paris is available to rent on Amazon and Google Play.
Midnight In Paris
Woody Allen’s crowd-pleasing Midnight in Paris might draw you in with the promise of a timeless romance between Owen Wilson’s modern day writer and a 1920s coquette played by Marion Cotillard, but the real love story is between the audience and Paris. While the contemporary storyline might lack a bit of magic, the flashback scenes set in 1920s Paris are humming with wit, romance and a certain je ne sais quoi.
Midnight In Paris is available for purchase on Amazon and Google Play.
Doctor Who, Season Two, Episode Four: “The Girl In The Fireplace”
Speaking of time travel, France and romance… Even the most stalwart science fiction fan will fall in love with French culture when they watch one of the most beloved episodes of Doctor Who: “The Girl In The Fireplace.” In it, the eponymous and enigmatic Time Lord (David Tennant) meets his match in the form of the beautiful and brilliant Madame du Pompadour (Sophia Myles).
Doctor Who, “The Girl In The Fireplace,” is streaming on Netflix.
Les Miserables: the 25th Anniversary Concert Special
At this point, it’s almost impossible to separate our mental image of French culture with the bombastic Broadway musical, Les Miserables. If you’re going to indulge in the musical, why not shy away from watching Anne Hathaway cry-sing into a camera and check out the most recent concert special? Sure, Nick Jonas weakly warbles his way through Marius’s duets, but you get to see Ramin Kaminloo strut his stuff as Enjorlas.
Les Miserables: the 25th Anniversary Concert Special is available to rent on Amazon andGoogle Play.
The 400 Blows
You can’t celebrate France on film without paying homage to one of the many great auteurs that nation has given us. François Truffaut’s debut film, The 400 Blows, is currently streaming and should be watched by every film nerd.
The 400 Blows is streaming on Hulu Plus.
Paris Je T’aime
What is it about Paris that inspires so much love and passion? Numerous filmmakers tried to tackle this question in the recent anthology film, Paris Je T’aime, to wildly different results. The film is worth watching as a whole, but if you’ve got 6 minutes to spare and want to feel the breadth of what Paris can do for the human spirit, you can watch the Alexander Payne segment, titled “14e Arrondissement” on YouTube.
