In a Catholic boarding school during the Nazi occupation of France, Julien Quietin, played by Gaspard Manesse as the character based around Malle, is no ordinary student, he is intelligent and different from the others. A new student arrives at the school one day and becomes a sort of intellectual rival to Julien, but, after some early hostilities, the boys begin to connect and eventually become good friends. Malle does not rely on overly dramatic sequences where not necessary as a way to build find out more...

Luis Bunuel's caustic foray into the life and lusts of the French bourgeoisie is an elegant version of Joseph Kessel's novel and an amoral comedy of manners. Deneuve enchants as the bored and hypnotic housewife who turns to courtesanship to fill the void in her life. Complications are rife, with Deneuve's odd mix of customers providing some delicious fun. find out more...

Resnais's controversial attempt at collaboration with avant garde author Alain Robbe-Grillet. The film sets up a puzzle that is never resolved, a man meets a woman in a rambling hotel and believes he may have had an affair with her the previous year at Marienbad - or did he? Or was it somewhere else? Deliberately scrambling chronology to the point where past, present and future become meaningless, Resnais creates a vaguely unsettling mood by means of stylish composition, long, smooth tracking sh find out more...

Set in medieval Kyoto, this is an engrossing tale of rape and murder in which contradictory accounts of events are later related from the perspectives of four of those involved. A film which awakened the West to the richness of Japanese cinema. find out more...

Altman's highly acclaimed and superbly directed mish-mash of Raymond Carver's short stories. We flit between numerous characters and their strange, confusing, moving and emotive daily lives. The range of emotions, and the incredibly cynical humorous touches brilliantly deconstruct American life. find out more...

A highly acclaimed and influential account of Algeria's turbulent past made in psuedo-documentary style. The tense plot surrounds the rise of nationalist organisations in '54 and the French government's attempts to quell them. This film was the prototype for most political thrillers of the 1970s. find out more...

The first part of Kieslowski's acclaimed allegorical delve into the French psyche. Binoche plays a woman with a tortured soul, her husband and daughter having died in a tragic car accident. Beautifully directed, with an incredibly lyrical and melancholy feel, Binoche's performance is outstanding. find out more...