Ten Most Loved French Art Films
French art films were once the hottest thing in American cinema, getting select screenings at the poshest theaters and arousing the interests of critics and mainstream audiences like. Naturally, some of these films made into the global film canon and have become the world’s most loved French art films.
The French New Wave, a movement that began with a group of directors in the 1950s and 1960s, produced a lot of the films we revere as the classic French art films.
Last Tango in Paris, starring Marlon Brando, is one of the most memorable to American audiences. There is overt sexual activity in this film, and it resonated with American audiences. People were ready to start letting go of their sexual inhibitions.
Belle du Jour was a surrealist film with many vivid sexual fantasies.
Going Places, another film from the 1970s, is about two friends that go on a wild romp through the French countryside and have many engrossing sexual experiences.
Lily Says, a more contemporary art film, has some acts of sexual activity in public, but it is all under the clothes.
Exterminating Angels is another film from France about exhibitionism.
8 1/2, Age Tendre et Sexes Droits, Anges et Demons, C’es la Vie!, and Crash Toujours are five others that top the list.