French Cinema

Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin’s forgotten cine revolution

By Little White Lies

Read an exclusive extract of a long-lost conversation between these innovative French filmmakers.

In praise of Holy Motors

By Ben Nicholson

One of the great screen visions of modern Paris come to the ICA on 35mm in association with MUBI

In praise of Jacques Tati’s Playtime

By David Jenkins

We have teamed with MUBI and the ICA to host a 35mm screening of this true original.

Is this the greatest teen movie ever made?

By David Jenkins

Maurice Pialat’s A Nos Amours is a movie masterpiece about the violence that comes from being a teenager.

Back to Burgundy

By Claire Langlais

A prodigal son relinquishes the jet set to run his ailing father’s vineyard in this lacklustre comedy-drama.

review

Why Jacques Tourneur is a filmmaker for our troubled modern times

By Justine Smith

The French master’s work mirrors today’s climate of social anxiety, as revealed in a recent retrospective.

The Odyssey

By David Jenkins

French undersea explorer and educator Jacques Cousteau is the subject of the middling, unofficial biopic.

review

Scribe

By Josh Howey

François Cluzet enters the shady world of phone tapping in this old school French thriller.

review

The Death of Louis XIV

By David Jenkins

The great Jean-Pierre Leaud is at his comi-tragic best in this humanist portrait of a dying monarch.

review LWLies Recommends

My Life as a Courgette

By David Jenkins

There’s magic in every stop-motion frame of this miniature gem from Claude Barras and Céline Sciamma.

review LWLies Recommends

Jeune Femme – first look review

By David Jenkins

This delectable French coming-of-age farce is powered by a stunning central performance from actor Laetitia Dosch.

Le Redoutable – first look review

By David Jenkins

A light but ultimately unnecessary recreation of Jean-Luc Godard’s late ’60s from director Michel Hazanavicius.

120 Beats Per Minute – first look review

By Sophie Monks Kaufman

Robin Campillo’s rousing dramatisation of ’90s AIDS activism in France is a sure-fire Palme d’Or contender.

Lover For a Day – first look review

By David Jenkins

Another quietly astounding monochrome miniature on love and other demons from the great French director Philippe Garrel.

Let the Sunshine In – first look review

By Sophie Monks Kaufman

The art of flirting and flirting as art are the subjects of this extraordinary romcom from Claire Denis.

Barbara – first look review

By David Jenkins

A sultry and sensational performance from Jeanne Balibar fuels Mathieu Amalric’s experimental music biopic.

How to film a heart transplant

By David Jenkins

Katell Quillévere, director of the wonderful Heal the Living, reveals her tactics.

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About Little White Lies

Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.

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