Classics from Jean Cocteau and Claude Berri, both films in the acclaimed 21st-century biopic of Charles de Gaulle, a Jean Cocteau masterpiece, and a mind-twisting New Wave drama all feature this month.
Lost in Frenchlation is a Paris-based club that runs screenings of French films — both new releases and timeless classics — with English subtitles, in order to allow language learners to appreciate the offerings of French cinema.
Here’s what you can see in November.
Sunday, November 1st
La Belle et la Bête
Where? Studio des Ursulines, 10 Rue des Ursulines, Paris
When? Tea Bar at 7pm in the cinema (bring your own mug) and screening at 7.30pm
Tickets Prices range from €5.40 – €9.40. Order them online here.
Jean Cocteau’s 1946 masterful and magical retelling of the fairy tale, starring Josette Day and Jean Marais.
Tuesday, November 3rd
Notre Salut
Where? Cinéma du Panthéon 13 rue Victor Cousin Paris
When? Drinks at 7pm in the salon of the cinema and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5 – €9.50. Order them online here.
Emmanuel Marre’s award-winning drama, loosely based on the life of his great-grandfather, tells the story of a collaborationist in Vichy France during World War Two.
Delicately balanced to show both the evil of the Vichy regime and the difficult decisions that faced many ordinary people in France during that period, it will make you think about the nature of collaboration and moral choices.
Friday, November 6th
La Bataille de Gaulle 1
Where? Cinéma Balzac, 1 Rue Balzac Paris
When? Drinks at 7pm in the cinema lobby and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5 – €11.50. Order them online here.
A powerful account of Charles de Gaulle’s journey during World War Two, from his rise as a military leader to his emergence in French politics between 1940-1945.
These films are rightly highly acclaimed and have been topping the French box office for weeks - go and see both parts if you are able, you won't regret it.
Sunday, November 8th
La Bataille de Gaulle 2
Where? Club de l’Étoile 14 Rue Troyon Paris
When? Drinks at 6pm inside the cinema and screening at 7pm
Tickets Prices range from €12 – €14. Order them online here.
Second part of the acclaimed biographical diptych following Charles de Gaulle from the collapse of France in 1940 to the Liberation of Paris in 1944.
Tuesday, November 10th
Minotaure
Where? Le Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 22 Rue Guillaume Apollinaire Paris
When? Drinks at 7pm at Le Québec bar, 45 rue Bonaparte, and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5 – €11. Order them online here.
Russian-language political thriller directed and edited by Andrey Zvyagintsev, following a business executive, who is on the verge of laying off his employees when he discovers his wife is having an affair.
The screening will be introduced by Joël Chapron, an expert in Russian and Central and Eastern European cinema.
NB: A catch-up screening takes place at 11am on Saturday, November 14th, at the same venue.
Friday, November 13th
Le Corset
Where? l’Entrepôt, 7 Rue Francais de Pressensé Paris
When? Drinks at 7pm in the cinema bar and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5 – €9.50. Order them online here.
After co-directing Astérix: Le Domaine des Dieux and Astérix: Le Secret de la Potion Magique, Louis Clichy returns with this smaller and more intimate animated film that earned the Special Jury Prize in its section at Cannes.
Sunday, November 15th
Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain
Where? l’Entrepôt, 7 Rue Francais de Pressensé Paris
When? Amelie Montmartre Movie-themed walking tour at 4.30pm, drinks at 7pm at Tournebride Bar, 104 Rue Mouffetard, and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5 – €9.90. Order them online here.
Book your place on the Amelie Montmartre Movie-themed walking tour here.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s modern French classic is just as good now as it was on its release back in 2001. Painfully shy waitress Amélie (a delightful Audrey Tatou) spends her days working at a Parisian cafe, playing matchmaker, guardian angel and doer of good deeds. But the arrival of a handsome stranger thrusts her into a romantic limelight she had previously shunned.
Tuesday, November 17th
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources
Where? l’Épée de Bois, 100 Rue Mouffetard Paris
When? 6pm for Jean de Florette; 8.30pm for Manon des Sources
Tickets Prices range from €5 – €9.90. Order them online here.
Double-bill of Claude Berri’s magnificent and much-loved adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s 1962 two-part novel L’Eau des collines, set in a village in Provence during the inter-war years. You could just catch one, but do try to see them both together. Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Emmanuelle Béart, and Daniel Auteuil star.
Thursday, November 19th
Vingt Dieux
Where? Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 Rue de Temple Paris
When? Comté & wine tasting event at 7pm at the cinema bar, screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5.50 – €12. Order them online here.
Tickets for the cheese and wine-tasting event are available here.
First-time feature director Louise Courvoisier scoured agricultural shows in her native Jura for first-time actors for this drama about wild-at-heart rural teenager (a brilliant Clément Faveau), whose life of drinking and dancing takes a radically different path when he suddenly has to provide for his seven-year-old sister.
Cheese, it turns out, may be the answer to his sudden problems.
Saturday, November 21st
La Bataille de Gaulle 2
Where? Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 Rue de Temple Paris
When? 11am
Tickets Prices range from €5.50 – €12. Order them online here.
Another chance this month to see the second part of the acclaimed biographical diptych following Charles de Gaulle from the collapse of France in 1940 to the Liberation of Paris in 1944.
Sunday, November 22nd
Histoires de la Nuit
Where? Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 Rue de Temple Paris
When? Drinks at 6pm at the cinema bar and screening at 7pm
Tickets Prices range from €5.50 – €12. Order them online here.
A suspenseful French drama following a woman whose quiet night takes a terrifying turn when secrets, danger, and unexpected encounters come out of the shadows.
Sunday, November 22nd
L’Année Dernière à Marienbad
Where? Lucernaire, 53 Rue de Notre-Dame des Champs
When? Drinks at 7pm at the cinema bar and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €6 – €11. Order them online here.
In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a married woman and insists that they had an affair the year previously in this mind-twisting New Wave classic.
Friday, November 27th
Les Misérables (no, not the musical)
Where? Arlequin, 76 Rue de Rennes, Paris
When? Midnight in Paris movie-themed walking tour at 5pm, drinks at 7pm at the cinema bar and screening at 8pm
Tickets Prices range from €5.30 – €12.20. Order them online here.
Book your place on the Midnight in Paris movie-themed walking tour here.
If your only acquaintance with Victor Hugo's classic novel is people warbling I Dreamed A Dream, then why not get acquainted with the source material?
This new French release has some big names for a serious crack at the timeless classic - amid the social unrest shaking France, the fates of four very different people become intertwined in a turbulent Paris.
Saturday, November 28th
Intouchables
Where? Ursulines, 10 Rue des Ursulines, Paris
When? Screening at 7.30pm
Tickets Prices range from €5.40 – €9.40. Order them online here.
Omar Sy’s breakout role – he became the first black recipient of a César for Best Actor for his performance – was this perennially popular feelgood drama about a grumpy tetraplegic aristocrat who rediscovers life when he hires a young black man from the Parisian banlieues to be his carer.