Think of modern French cinema and you may think of groundbreaking directors such as Godard and Truffaut, or international box-office hits like Amelie. Yet the French cinema is one of the liveliest and most varied in the world and, thanks to online DVD rental, it is now possible for movie-lovers everywhere to have access to the same wide range of films that French audiences enjoy. To help you get started, here are five very different films on a French theme: some well known, some less so, each of them perfect to enjoy with a glass of wine!

Cyrano de Bergerac, dir. Jean-Paul Rappeneau (1990)

This film adaptation of Rostand’s classic, so true to the original that it barely departs from the script, was an instant success, winning 30 awards and launching its star Gérard Depardieu to international fame. In this case, the fuss is entirely justified. Depardieu makes the role of Cyrano his own; murmuring rather than declaiming the verse, he transforms the famous balcony scene from a theatrical set-piece into a captivating moment of emotional rawness and vulnerability. For all the lavishness of this film there is nothing extraneous; even the presence of a single child actor, who owes his role in the script to Rappeneau rather than Rostand, contributes to the overall impact in a way that is neither mawkish nor overly contrived. Every member of the ensemble turns in a strong performance, with a particular mention for Jacques Weber’s insiduous but ultimately sympathetic Comte de Guiche. The magic of this Cyrano is in the degree of intimacy and passion that pervades the film as a whole: making it cathartic rather than simply tragic. A bold but respectful interpretation of one of the touchstones of European theatre.

If you like this film, you might enjoy: La Reine Margot (Chereau, 1994) , Jean de Florette (Berri, 1986), Manon des Sources (Berri, 1986), Le Colonel Chabert (Angelo, 1994), Le Comte de Monte Cristo (TV mini-series, 1998)

L'Homme du Train, dir. Patrice Leconte (2002)

The two stars of this touching and finely-observed comedy are as celebrated in France as they deserve to be internationally. The distinguished actor Jean Rochefort (best known outside of France for his roles in the mini-series Le Comte de Monte Cristo and 1996’s Ridicule) is Monsieur Manesquier, a retired teacher who lives in a decaying ancestral house in provincial France, whiling away his time by giving private lessons and occupying himself with jigsaw puzzles, the piano and the gentle courtship of Viviane (Isabelle Petit-Jacques). One day his peaceful existence is interrupted by an unexpected visitor. Milan (played with characteristic bad-guy flair by the rock singer Johnny Hallyday) has come to town to take part in a bank heist and, finding the local hotel closed for the winter, is compelled to ask the kindly Manesquier for a room. These two contradictory souls, thrown together by chance and necessity, begin to build an unlikely and moving friendship. By the time the denouement arrives you too will feel as if you have come to know these oddly charming men as friends; have your handkerchief at the ready!

If you like this film, you might enjoy: Ridicule (Leconte, 1996), La Veuve de Saint-Pierre (2000), La Fille sur la Pont (1999)

Etre et avoir, dir. Nicolas Philibert (2002)

This low-budget independent documentary has been one of the runaway successes of recent French cinema. Given the status of fly on the wall by Philibert’s sensitive camerawork and the absence of commentary, we follow the progress of a group of children at a tiny school in rural Auvergne in the course of half a year. Central to the film is the schoolteacher Georges Lopez, a quiet and intelligent figure who shepherds his charges through the complexities of French grammar and mathematics. The joy of the experience is seeing the children respond to Lopez’ teaching; the heartbreak, in realising that this school, like others of its kind, is already deemed obsolete.

If you like this film, you might enjoy: La Moindre des Choses (Philibert, 1997)

Les Compères, dir. Francis Veber (1983)

Like l’Homme du Train, this film also has an unlikely male friendship at its centre; but here the similarity ends. Veber’s comedy, which pairs Pierre Richard’s melancholic ex-teacher with Gérard Depardieu’s macho journalist in an attempt to find a runaway teen both men believe to be their son, has perhaps less verbal subtlety but is carried joyfully along by its dynamic tempo and the comic charisma of the leads. This is a comedy of action rather than observation, and the beautifully achieved slapstick will have you laughing in spite of yourself. Don’t be misled by the jocular tone, however: this endearing film broaches a number of sensitive themes (particularly those of depression and emotional disturbance) with a light but profound touch.

If you like this film, you might enjoy: La Cage aux Folles (Veber, 1978), La Chevre (1981), Le Diner de Cons (1988), Tais-toi! (2003), Mon Pere, ce Heros (Lauzier, 1991)

Crime Spree, dir. Brad Mirman (2003)

Not a French film in the strictest sense of the term, but a brilliant showcase for some of France's most prominent actors. This Canadian-British produced, mixed-language (French/English) film is an engaging piece of black comedy, full of cultural in-jokes and beautifully sharp references to the crime movie genre. Mirman’s script is centred around a complicated intrigue involving the Chicago Mafia (its chief representative Harvey Keitel’s Frankie Zammeti), the FBI and a gang of semi-competent French criminals led by Daniel Foray (Gérard Depardieu). From the French standpoint the ensemble is stellar, including alongside Depardieu the singers Johnny Hallyday (whose burly hitman Marcel is a bigger, cooler brother to his Milan of the year before) and Renaud as well as the actor, writer, director and former champion boxer Saïd Taghmaoui. Despite the violent episodes scattered throughout the film, Crime Spree has a definite charm of its own, thanks to the strong currents of character humour, wordplay and physical comedy that underpin the script. French popular culture buffs will get the references other viewers might miss.

If you like this film, you might enjoy: Riders (Pires, 2002), Vidocq (Pitof, 2001), Buffet Froid (Blier, 1979)