Musicals are one of the most fun types of movies. The songs are often very catchy and stay in your head for hours after the film is over. There are some great American musicals like Singing in the Rain, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, etc. but there are also some great French musicals. From the 1930s to the 2000s, we’ve made a list of 10 of the must-see French musicals you must watch if you’re a fan of this genre.
We are certain you’ll be humming some of the songs from these movies for the rest of the week! And it’s a good thing, since singing French lyrics can help you better learn French! Indeed, we published some articles about French music hits you can dance and sing along.
1À nous la liberté (1931)
If you’re into vintage French musicals, this one is for you. À nous la liberté is considered to be René Clair’s best work. It was very well-received but there was some controversy when Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times came out in 1936 since there were some similarities in some of the scenes. This comedic film tells the story of an escaped convict, Louis, who makes a life for himself and becomes a wealthy businessman who owns a factory. His old jail friend Émile reunites with Louis which doesn’t make Louis too happy. This feel-good movie will make you laugh and is a great depiction of the modern industrial society of the 1930s.
2Lola (1961)
This drama-romance film was part of the French New Wave cinema. This was the first film Jacques Demy directed. The film is set in Nantes, France, after WWII where the protagonist, a young man named Roland Cassard, accidentally meets a woman named Lola he used to know before the war. She is now a cabaret dancer with a seven-year-old son and no husband since he abandoned her. Roland falls for her but he’s not the only one looking to capture her heart. An American sailor named Frankie also falls for her but she doesn’t give him any attention.
3Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964)
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg is not like a typical musical where there are some dialogue and some musical numbers: the whole movie is sung! It was critically acclaimed and received many awards include a Palme d’Or at Cannes and a Globe de Cristal. It’s one of the most famous French musicals.
This was Catherine Deneuve’s first big role that propelled her to stardom, and Jacques Demy (the director) saw Deneuve as his muse. The story chronicles the romance between a shopgirl and a mechanic. The movie is set during the Algerian war so the mechanic is enlisted in the war and must leave. She gets pregnant with him and marries an older man and tries to move on from her first real love.
