#1. Army of Shadows (1969)

Storyline: France, 1942, under German occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is a French Resistance commandant. Denounced by a French collaborator, he is interned in a concentration camp. He manages to escape, and rejoins his network in Marseille, where he has the traitor executed. This movie reveals rigorously and austerely what life was like in the French Resistance: the solitude and fear of its members; their relationships with one another; the constant threat of arrest by the Gestapo; the Resistance command structure and the way its orders were carried out. Head writer Joseph Kessel and co-writer/director Jean-Pierre Melville were both veterans of the "Shadow Army".

Plot Keywords: engineer, rebel, traitor, nazi, intense, gritty, passionate ...

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#2. Taxi (1998)

Storyline: In Marseilles (France), skilled pizza delivery boy Daniel who drives a scooter finally has his dreams come true. He gets a taxi license. Caught by the police for a huge speed infraction, he will help Emilien, a loser inspector who can't drive, on the track of German bank robbers, so he doesn't lose his license and his dream job.

Plot Keywords: taxi driver, police captain, frenchman, airy, amusing, hilarious, creative ...

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#3. Borsalino (1970)

Storyline: In 1930 Marseilles two small-time crooks join forces when they meet brawling over a woman. Starting with fixed horse races and fights, they start to find themselves doing jobs for the local gangster bosses. When they decide to go into the business for themselves, their easy-going approach to crime starts to change.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Plot Keywords: gangster, lawyer, old flame, henchman, ex-convict, criminal, dark ...

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#4. Marius and Jeannette (1997)

Storyline: Marius is the keeper of an abandoned cement works staying high above the quarter of l'Estaque in Marseilles. Jeannette is bringing up her two children alone with her poor checkout operator salary. Their meeting won't be without trouble, since besides material difficulties, both of them are wounded by life. They have to learn how to be happy again.—Gregoire Dubost <Gregoire.Dubost@polytechnique.fr>

Plot Keywords: cashier, single mother, security guard, neighbor, boss, amusing, gritty ...

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#5. Nenette and Boni (1996)

Storyline: Teenage siblings Nenette and Boni were raised apart as a result of their parents' divorce. Their mother, who doted on her son Boni, has died. He works for an interesting couple as a pizza baker, and is surprised and enraged when his younger sister, having run away from boarding school, suddenly turns up. There's a problem that they must confront.—Eileen Berdon <eberdon@aol.com>

Plot Keywords: younger sister, older brother, love interest, teen girl, wife, father, calm ...

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#6. Lila Says (2004)

Storyline: In a poor Arab neighborhood, the nineteen years old Chimo lives alone with his mother and is a talented natural writer. His school teacher offers him the chance to study in Paris, inclusive with a letter of recommendation, but his mother can not afford and Chimo stays. His three best friends are completely losers and scoundrels. When the shy Chimo meets the gorgeous and sexy new-arrival in the ghetto Lila, who lives with a deranged aunt, his gross friend Mouloud falls for her. However, Chimo becomes close to Lila, who seduces him with her sexual games, telling him about her perverted sexual experience. The inexperienced Chimo falls in love for her, but he does not know how to declare his love for the girl. When Mouloud sneaks and listens to a private conversation between Lila and Chimo, he concludes that the girl is a whore, with tragic consequences.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords: teen girl, young man, best friend, aunt, mother, moving, raw ...

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#8. Passage to Marseille (1944)

Storyline: As French bomber crews prepare an air raid from a base in England, we learn the story of Matrac, a French journalist who opposed the Munich Pact. Framed for murder and sent to Devil's Island, he and four others escape. They are on a ship bound for Marseilles when France surrenders and fascist sympathizer Major Duval tries to seize the ship for Vichy.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Plot Keywords: captain, prisoner, leader, major, convict, gripping, spirited ...

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#9. The Hunting of the President (2004)

Storyline: Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry's incendiary documentary, based on the best-selling book by Gene Lyons and Joe Conason, offers a glimpse at the genesis of these partisan vendettas and explores the myths and truths behind the nearly ten year campaign to systematically destroy the political legacy of the Clintons.

Plot Keywords: old friend, wife, novelist, police officer, murderer, tense, dark ...

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#10. Le Pull-Over Rouge (1979)

Storyline: A film version of author Gilles Perrault's best-selling book about the 1976 trial and execution of Christian Ranucci, the youth who was convicted with extremely inconclusive evidence of murdering an eight-year-old girl in Southern France. The publicity the book and film helped abolish capital punishment in France in 1981.—T P Uschanov <tuschano@cc.helsinki.fi>

Plot Keywords: young man, mother, judge, police detective, lawyer, dark, disheartening ...

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#11. A Scandal in Paris (1946)

Storyline: The autobiography of elegant criminal, François Eugène Vidocq, from his birth in a French jail in 1775 to his appointment as chief of police of Paris where he intends to rob the city bank. Along the way, he escapes from jail with Emile, who becomes his partner in crime, poses as a lieutenant to rob a showgirl of her ruby garter, and steals the jewels of a marquise in whose home he's a guest. He's also posed as an artist's model for a portrait of St. George (Emile's face is the dragon's), and the marquise's granddaughter falls in love first with his visage and then him. Can she help him slay his own dragons, especially when the showgirl reappears and the bank vault beckons?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: petty criminal, friend, marquis, police officer, sweetheart, cheeky, gripping ...

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#12. The Last Deadly Mission (2008)

Storyline: In Marseilles, the discredited and alcoholic Detective Schneider hijacks a bus and forces the bus driver with a gun to drive him home. He is arrested by the swat force and his washed up career in the police department practically ends. Schneider is removed from the investigation of a serial-killer that is committing hideous crimes against women and assigned to a bureaucratic work in the night-shift in the precinct. Through glimpses from his recollections, Schneider recalls the tragic accident that killed his daughter and left his wife attached to a life support system. Meanwhile, the sick criminal Charles Subra, who killed the parents of two girls many years ago, convinces the probation committee in the prison that he has found God and is regenerated and may be released. Justine, one of the daughters that survived, has never overcome the trauma of her loss and is worried with the possibility of the freedom of the criminal. When Schneider discovers the identity of the serial-killer, he finds also the corruption in the high command of the police, and he decides to go to his last mission on Earth in his descent to Hell.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords: cop, murderer, ex-convict, madman, victim, daughter, brash ...

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#13. Marie-Jo and Her 2 Lovers (2002)

Storyline: Marie-Jo is a middleaged woman living an ordinary life in Marseilles with her husband, Daniel and her daughter, Julie. Daniel runs a small construction business in which Marie-Jo helps. She also works at the local hospital. Outwardly their marriage is loving. But Marie-Jo has been in love with another man for more than twelve months.Marco works as a harbour pilot and is deeply in love with Marie-Jo. Learning that loving two men is impossible, Marie-Jo is forced to make a choice.—johnno.r@xtra.co.nz

Plot Keywords: wife, mother, husband, lover, pilot, daughter, emotional ...

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#14. Our Man Flint (1966)

Storyline: The world's weather seems to have changed dramatically with violent storms everywhere and long dormant volcanoes suddenly erupting. No one is sure what is happening or why but when American intelligence chief Cramden loses yet another team of agents, there appears to be only one man who can do the job: Derek Flint, former super spy, incredibly rich and the ultimate ladies man. Despite Cramden's concerns, Flint is on the job and soon discovers that the Earth's weather is under the control of a secret organization known as GALAXY whose scientists are looking to pacify the world and devote humankind to scientific pursuits.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: secret agent, spy, assassin, mad scientist, love interest, cool, outlandish ...

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