BestFrenchCrimeMovies
by valko | created - 16 Jun 2012 | updated - 16 Jun 2012 | PublicFrench make the best crime movies, here are my favorites :-))
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1. Breathless (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Van Doude, Jean-Luc Godard
Votes: 87,900 | Gross: $0.34M
2. La Femme Nikita (1990)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Convicted felon Nikita isn't going to jail; she's given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Anne Parillaud, Marc Duret, Patrick Fontana, Alain Lathière
Votes: 76,411 | Gross: $5.02M
3. Dobermann (1997)
R | 103 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dobermann is the world's most ruthless bank robber and with his gang rob bank after bank, now in Paris. What can the police do but to let the mad, morally bankrupt police commissioner loose on him?
Director: Jan Kounen | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Tchéky Karyo, Monica Bellucci, Antoine Basler
Votes: 18,753
4. The Professional (1981)
Not Rated | 108 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Victim of a plot which has resulted in his imprisonment in a Central African jail for two years, a French secret agent arrives in Paris to settle accounts.
Director: Georges Lautner | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Desailly, Cyrielle Clair, Marie-Christine Descouard
Votes: 17,263
5. The Samurai (1967)
GP | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier
Votes: 57,108 | Gross: $0.04M
6. Borsalino (1970)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama
During the 1930s, in Marseilles, France, two small time crooks work for local crime bosses until they decide to go into business for themselves.
Director: Jacques Deray | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Catherine Rouvel, Françoise Christophe
Votes: 4,785 | Gross: $1.09M
7. The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Mystery
A hapless orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after he is chosen as a decoy by being identified as a super secret agent.
Director: Yves Robert | Stars: Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, Jean Rochefort, Mireille Darc
Votes: 9,245 | Gross: $0.40M
8. Police Python 357 (1976)
Not Rated | 126 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An inspector is having a secret relationship with a woman. When she is murdered by his boss, all proof is against him.
Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Yves Montand, François Périer, Simone Signoret, Stefania Sandrelli
Votes: 2,076
9. La Menace (1977)
117 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The main character is unhappily married and has an affair. When his wife finds out, she lures his girlfriend to a cliff and throws herself of it, making the girlfriend look as her killer. ... See full summary »
Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Yves Montand, Carole Laure, Marie Dubois, Jean-François Balmer
Votes: 895
10. Choice of Arms (1981)
Not Rated | 114 min | Crime, Drama
The powerful story of a reformed underworld kingpin whose stable lifestyle is turned upside-down when a desperate, escaped killer hides out at his rural estate.
Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Galabru
Votes: 2,029
11. Jean de Florette (1986)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Votes: 27,540 | Gross: $4.94M
12. Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama
An aging, world-weary gangster is double-crossed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and their stash of eight stolen gold bars demanded as ransom.
Director: Jacques Becker | Stars: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Dora Doll, Vittorio Sanipoli
Votes: 8,540 | Gross: $0.13M
13. Pickpocket (1959)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama
Michel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Dolly Scal
Votes: 25,337
14. Classe Tous Risques (1960)
Not Rated | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A ruthless criminal flees from the pursuit, involving more and more casualties.
Director: Claude Sautet | Stars: Lino Ventura, Sandra Milo, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcel Dalio
Votes: 4,275 | Gross: $0.09M
15. The Grilling (1981)
87 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A police inspector, suspecting an attorney of two child sex murders, has him held for a questioning session that goes on for hours.
Director: Claude Miller | Stars: Lino Ventura, Michel Serrault, Romy Schneider, Guy Marchand
Votes: 5,338
16. The French Detective (1975)
91 min | Crime, Drama
Two policemen risk of interfering with a corrupt politician.
Director: Pierre Granier-Deferre | Stars: Lino Ventura, Patrick Dewaere, Victor Lanoux, Julien Guiomar
Votes: 1,858
17. Illustrious Corpses (1976)
PG | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An investigation of the judges' assassinations reveals a political background.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Lino Ventura, Tino Carraro, Marcel Bozzuffi, Paolo Bonacelli
Votes: 2,797
18. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A pianist helps his brother escape from two gangsters, who retaliate by abducting their kid brother.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, Michèle Mercier
Votes: 20,625
19. Read My Lips (2001)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
She is almost deaf and he lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier
Votes: 16,463 | Gross: $1.36M
20. La haine (1995)
Not Rated | 98 min | Crime, Drama
24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui, Abdel Ahmed Ghili
Votes: 196,327 | Gross: $0.31M
21. Taxi (I) (1998)
Not Rated | 89 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
To work off his tarnished driving record, a hip taxi driver must chauffeur a loser police inspector on the trail of German bank robbers.
Director: Gérard Pirès | Stars: Samy Naceri, Frédéric Diefenthal, Marion Cotillard, Manuela Gourary
Votes: 89,354 | Gross: $0.27M
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