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All works 202

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EpicThe Song of RolandLa Chanson de RolandAnonymous · 1100Betrayed by a vengeful baron, Roland and his men fall into an ambush as they cross the Pyrenees.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryThe Romance of TristanTristan et IseutBéroul · 1170A nephew and his uncle's wife drink a potion by mistake and fall in love without having intended to.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelYvain, the Knight of the LionYvain, le Chevalier au lionChrétien de Troyes · 1177A knight wins a lady by killing the defender of a fountain, then must return to her at the end of a year.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryBallad of the Hanged MenBallade des pendusFrançois Villon · 1463Condemned men still hanging from the gibbet ask passers-by to pray for them rather than laugh.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelPantagruelFrançois Rabelais · 1532A humanist giant learns, travels and wages war, in a language that invents its words as it goes.LiteraturePublic domain
EssayEssaysEssaisMichel de Montaigne · 1580A man takes himself as his subject and, along the way, invents the form that now bears the name of his book.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelAstreaL'AstréeHonoré d'Urfé · 1607A shepherdess drives away the shepherd she loves and believes unfaithful, and a whole country of lovers tells its stories.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Comical History of FrancionHistoire comique de FrancionCharles Sorel · 1623A young man in search of pleasure tells the story of his youth, from school to Paris, between two gallant adventures.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreThe CidLe CidPierre Corneille · 1637A young man must choose between his father's honour and love for the daughter of the man who wronged him.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Comic RomanceLe Roman comiquePaul Scarron · 1651Travelling actors passing through Le Mans, with their quarrels and love affairs, far from the heroes of fashionable novels.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryFablesJean de La Fontaine · 1668Talking animals act out the failings of men, in a few lines each.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreTartuffeLe TartuffeMolière · 1669A false devotee settles in the house of a bourgeois who takes him for a saint, and the family struggles to open his eyes.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreBritannicusJean Racine · 1669A young emperor breaks free from his mother and covets the woman his rival loves.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Princesse de ClèvesLa Princesse de ClèvesMadame de La Fayette · 1678A young woman married without love discovers passion and struggles not to yield to it.LiteraturePublic domain
EssayThe CharactersLes Caractères ou les Mœurs de ce siècleJean de La Bruyère · 1688Remarks and portraits that show a whole society, from the salon to the throne.LiteraturePublic domain
TaleTales of Mother GooseHistoires ou contes du temps passéCharles Perrault · 1697Eight short tales, written for the salons from stories that were already in circulation, and followed by rhymed morals.Literature
NovelThe Adventures of Telemachus, the Son of UlyssesLes Aventures de TélémaqueFénelon · 1699A young prince sets out to find his father and learns, from shore to shore, what it means to rule.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Devil on Two SticksLe Diable boiteuxAlain-René Lesage · 1707A city whose roofs are lifted off, and everything the rooms conceal comes into view.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelPersian LettersLettres persanesMontesquieu · 1721Two travellers from Persia tell of Paris in letters, while the seraglio of one of them writes to him.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreThe Island of SlavesL'Île des esclavesPierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux · 1725On an island whose law reverses social conditions, two masters become the valets of their valets.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelManon LescautAbbé Prévost · 1731A young man from a good family tells a stranger what a young woman has cost him.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelCandideVoltaire · 1759A boy raised in the belief that nothing could be better goes through all the misfortunes of the age.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelJulie, or the New HeloiseJulie ou la Nouvelle HéloïseJean-Jacques Rousseau · 1761A commoner tutor loves his pupil, the daughter of a baron who refuses their union.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Devil in LoveLe Diable amoureuxJacques Cazotte · 1772A man summons the devil out of bravado, and the apparition returns in the guise of a woman whom he comes to love.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreThe Barber of SevilleLe Barbier de SévillePierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais · 1775A grand nobleman in disguise tries to approach a young girl whom her guardian keeps locked away and intends to marry.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Perverted PeasantLe Paysan pervertiNicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne · 1776A country boy goes up to the city and tells for himself, letter by letter, how he is ruined there.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelDangerous LiaisonsLes Liaisons dangereusesPierre Choderlos de Laclos · 1782Two libertines divide up by letter the conquests they intend to make, and bet against each other.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelPaul and VirginiaPaul et VirginieJacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre · 1788Two children grow up together on an island in the Indian Ocean, far from the world.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelJustine, or the Misfortunes of VirtueJustine ou les Malheurs de la VertuMarquis de Sade · 1791A young girl determined to remain virtuous reaps nothing but fresh misfortunes from each good deed.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelJacques the Fatalist and His MasterJacques le Fataliste et son MaîtreDenis Diderot · 1796A valet wants to tell his master how he fell in love, and everything prevents him.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryPoetical MeditationsMéditations poétiquesAlphonse de Lamartine · 1820Twenty-four poems born of a bereavement in love, in which the poet speaks in his own name of what he feels.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Red and the BlackLe Rouge et le NoirStendhal · 1830An ambitious carpenter's son seeks to rise in the society of the Restoration.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Crumb FairyLa Fée aux miettesCharles Nodier · 1832A carpenter shut up among the insane tells of his betrothal to an old beggar woman.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryRhapsodies 1831RhapsodiesPétrus Borel · 1832A verse collection of revolt and misery, opened by a preface in which the poet calls himself a wolf-man.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelObermannÉtienne Pivert de Senancour · 1833A young man withdrawn into the Swiss mountains writes down his melancholy and his boredom.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelOld Man GoriotLe Père GoriotHonoré de Balzac · 1835In a Parisian boarding house, an ambitious student discovers what an old man has sacrificed for his daughters.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreChattertonAlfred de Vigny · 1835A penniless young poet, lodged at the house of a wealthy industrialist, waits for a reply to his job application.LiteraturePublic domain
Short storiesClarimondeLa Morte amoureuseThéophile Gautier · 1836A young priest meets a woman's gaze on the day of his vows, and his life splits in two.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Confession of a Child of the CenturyLa Confession d'un enfant du siècleAlfred de Musset · 1836A betrayed young man loses himself in debauchery, then meets in the countryside a woman worth loving.LiteraturePublic domain
Short storiesThe Venus of IlleLa Vénus d'IlleProsper Mérimée · 1837In a town in Roussillon, an ancient statue dug out of the ground and a ring slipped onto its finger.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Mysteries of ParisLes Mystères de ParisEugène Sue · 1843A prince disguised as a workman descends into the Parisian underworld and becomes a righter of wrongs there.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Three MusketeersLes Trois MousquetairesAlexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet · 1844A young Gascon befriends three musketeers and sets off for London to save the queen's honour.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Devil's PoolLa Mare au diableGeorge Sand · 1846A widowed ploughman sets out to ask for a woman's hand in marriage, with his son and a young shepherdess.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Lady of the CamelliasLa Dame aux caméliasAlexandre Dumas fils · 1848A courtesan gives up everything for a young man, then leaves him in turn without explanation.LiteraturePublic domain
NarrativeMemoirs from Beyond the GraveMémoires d'Outre-TombeFrançois-René de Chateaubriand · 1850A man recounts his life and his century, addressing those who will read him when he is no more.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreAn Italian Straw HatUn chapeau de paille d'ItalieEugène Labiche and Marc-Michel · 1851A man searches Paris for an elusive hat, followed by his entire wedding party.LiteraturePublic domain
Short storiesDaughters of FireLes Filles du feuGérard de Nerval · 1854Stories and sonnets in which three beloved women end up becoming one.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelMadame BovaryGustave Flaubert · 1857A provincial woman demands from life what her reading had promised her.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryThe Flowers of EvilLes Fleurs du malCharles Baudelaire · 1857One hundred poems in which the poet moves from the ideal to spleen, from wine to revolt and to death.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelLes MisérablesVictor Hugo · 1862A former convict builds a new life under another name, and a policeman suspects him.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelDominiqueEugène Fromentin · 1863A man tells a hunting companion about the love he never confessed.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelGerminie LacerteuxEdmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt · 1865A maidservant whom her mistress believes to be respectable leads another life unbeknown to her.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryPoems Under SaturnPoëmes saturniensPaul Verlaine · 1866The first collection of a twenty-two-year-old poet, doomed to melancholy by a dark planet.LiteraturePublic domain
Short storiesLetters from My WindmillLettres de mon moulinAlphonse Daudet · 1869Letters written from a Provençal windmill that no longer turns.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelAround the World in Eighty DaysLe Tour du monde en quatre-vingts joursJules Verne · 1873A London gentleman bets that he will go round the globe within a set time, accompanied by his servant.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryA Season in HellUne saison en enferArthur Rimbaud · 1873A prose interspersed with verse in which a young poet puts his own poetry on trial.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryWry-Blue LovesLes Amours jaunesTristan Corbière · 1873A Breton poet, ironic and mocking, who writes against well-made verse.LiteraturePublic domain
Short storiesDiaboliquesLes DiaboliquesJules Barbey d'Aurevilly · 1874Six stories of secret passions, reported by witnesses who never tell all of it.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryThe Songs of MaldororLes Chants de MaldororComte de Lautréamont · 1874A voice at war with the Creator recounts its misdeeds and addresses its reader.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe ChildL'EnfantJules Vallès · 1879A childhood of blows and bullying, told by the one who receives them and who laughs at them.LiteraturePublic domain
TaleCruel TalesContes cruelsAuguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam · 1883Stories in which satire of the industrial age and the fantastic tale answer one another.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelAgainst NatureÀ reboursJoris-Karl Huysmans · 1884A lone man replaces the world with a setting of his own invention.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelGerminalÉmile Zola · 1885An unemployed worker goes down the mine and urges the starving miners to strike.Literature
NovelAn Iceland FishermanPêcheur d'IslandePierre Loti · 1886A Breton port whose men leave each season for Iceland, and the women who wait for them.LiteraturePublic domain
Short storiesThe HorlaLe HorlaGuy de Maupassant · 1887A solitary man records, day after day, the signs of a presence he cannot see.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelCarrot TopPoil de carotteJules Renard · 1894The youngest child of a family, a redhead, who is refused everything and learns to make do.LiteraturePublic domain
CinemaWorkers Leaving the Lumière FactoryLa Sortie de l'usine LumièreLouis Lumière · 1895The staff of the Lumière family factory, filmed as they leave work by the inventor of the cinematograph.Cinema
TheatreUbu RoiUbu roiAlfred Jarry · 1896A captain kills his king at his wife's urging, then rules through massacre and taxation.LiteraturePublic domain
EssayDivagationsStéphane Mallarmé · 1897Short prose pieces, criticism and theory, gathered in a single volume that the author said had no architecture.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelLes DéracinésMaurice Barrès · 1897not translated into EnglishSeven schoolboys from Lorraine follow to Paris the teacher who trained them, and scatter there.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreCyrano de BergeracEdmond Rostand · 1897A swordsman who writes verse hides what he feels for his cousin, and lends his voice to another man to win her.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Diary of a ChambermaidLe Journal d'une femme de chambreOctave Mirbeau · 1900A servant keeps count of what her employers hide, and of what she herself becomes.LiteraturePublic domain
CinemaThe Cabbage Patch FairyLa Fée aux chouxAlice Guy · 1900A fairy picks newborns from a vegetable patch, in a minute of early cinema.Cinema
NarrativeCrainquebilleL'affaire CrainquebilleAnatole France · 1901An old vegetable seller convicted for a word he did not say.LiteraturePublic domain
CinemaA Trip to the MoonLe Voyage dans la LuneGeorges Méliès · 1902Scientists set off for the Moon in a shell fired from a cannon and meet its strange inhabitants there.Cinema
NovelFermina MarquezFermina MárquezValery Larbaud · 1911A boys' boarding school thrown into turmoil by the presence of an adolescent girl.Literature
NovelThe War of the ButtonsLa Guerre des boutonsLouis Pergaud · 1912Two villages of children at war, whose spoils are counted in buttons.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelThe Lost EstateLe Grand MeaulnesAlain-Fournier · 1913A school novel that tips into the marvellous when an older pupil discovers a party in a lost estate.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryAlcoolsGuillaume Apollinaire · 1913Fifteen years of poems gathered without a single comma, from the modern city to dead loves.Literature
NovelIn Search of Lost TimeÀ la recherche du temps perduMarcel Proust · 1913Seven volumes that follow a narrator from childhood to the age of writing, in which memory, jealousy and society life are examined under the same magnifying glass.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelLocus SolusLocus solusRaymond Roussel · 1914A scholar shows his park and his machines, each explained by a story.LiteraturePublic domain
CinemaLes VampiresLouis Feuillade · 1915Over ten episodes, a reporter tracks a Parisian gang in which an elusive woman operates.Cinema
NovelUnder FireLe FeuHenri Barbusse · 1916The war seen from below and without anything heroic: the mud, the waiting, the hunger and the assault, from the side of those who endure them.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelWooden CrossesLes Croix de boisRoland Dorgelès · 1919A squad of infantrymen, the waiting, the mud, and the graves that line the road.Literature
NovelThe Queen of AtlantisL'AtlantidePierre Benoit · 1919Two officers lost in the desert are taken to a queen who collects her lovers.Literature
PoetryThe Graveyard by the SeaLe Cimetière marinPaul Valéry · 1920A man standing still before the sea at noon, among the tombs, wondering what endures.LiteraturePublic domain
NarrativePierre and LucePierre et LuceRomain Rolland · 1920Two teenagers love each other for a few weeks in a city under bombardment.Literature
NovelThe ThibaultsLes ThibaultRoger Martin du Gard · 1922Two brothers who have nothing in common, in a family where the father decides everything.Literature
NovelThe Devil in the FleshLe Diable au corpsRaymond Radiguet · 1923A schoolboy too young for the war and the wife of a conscripted man, while the husband is fighting.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelGreen WheatLe Blé en herbeColette · 1923Two children who grow up together discover, one summer, that they are children no longer.LiteraturePublic domain
TheatreDoctor KnockKnock ou le Triomphe de la médecineJules Romains · 1923A practitioner settles in a place where no one is ill, and sets about remedying this.Literature
CinemaThe Smiling Madame BeudetLa Souriante Madame BeudetGermaine Dulac · 1923A wife stifled by a narrow-minded husband dreams of another life, to the point of loading a revolver.Cinema
CinemaThe Inhuman WomanL'InhumaineMarcel L'Herbier · 1924A cold-hearted singer is accused of the death of a suitor she had turned away.Cinema
CinemaThe Crazy RayParis qui dortRené Clair · 1924Paris comes to a sudden halt, and a handful of people who have been spared find themselves the sole masters of the city.Cinema
NovelRaboliotMaurice Genevoix · 1925not translated into EnglishA poacher of the Sologne and the officer of the law who has sworn to catch him.Literature
NovelThe CounterfeitersLes Faux-MonnayeursAndré Gide · 1925A teenager learns that he is a bastard and leaves home; a writer watches him and takes notes.LiteraturePublic domain
PoetryCapital of PainCapitale de la douleurPaul Eluard · 1926Poems drawn from early plaquettes and unpublished pieces, in which the freest imagery serves a love lyricism that has remained readable.Literature
NovelThérèse DesqueyrouxFrançois Mauriac · 1927A woman of the landowning bourgeoisie of the Landes, married to unite two pine properties, tries to understand how she could have wanted her husband's death.Literature
CinemaNapoleon by Abel GanceNapoléonAbel Gance · 1927The youth of Bonaparte, from the school at Brienne to the gates of Italy.Cinema
NarrativeNadjaAndré Breton · 1928A narrative without a plot, interspersed with images that take the place of descriptions, in which one notes in a city the signs that chance sends.Literature
CinemaThe Fall of the House of UsherLa Chute de la maison UsherJean Epstein · 1928A man paints his wife's portrait, and the canvas seems to take her life from him.Cinema
CinemaThe Passion of Joan of ArcLa Passion de Jeanne d'ArcCarl Th. Dreyer · 1928An accused woman faces her judges in 1431, filmed almost entirely in close-ups of faces.Cinema
TheatreThe Satin SlipperLe Soulier de satinPaul Claudel · 1929Two people who love each other and consider that love too great to be lived.Literature
CinemaAn Andalusian DogUn chien andalouLuis Buñuel · 1929A sequence of dream images with no logical connection, punctuated by misleading time markers.Cinema
NovelLe BalIrène Némirovsky · 1930Social climbers give their first reception, and their daughter is not invited.Literature
NovelGhost LightLe Feu folletPierre Drieu La Rochelle · 1931A man just out of treatment goes from one friend to the next without managing to reconnect with any of them.Literature
EssayAden, ArabieAden ArabiePaul Nizan · 1931A young man leaves for the ends of the earth and discovers that he has not fled anything at all.Literature
NovelJourney to the End of the NightVoyage au bout de la nuitLouis-Ferdinand Céline · 1932A crossing of an era, from the war to Africa and from Detroit to the suburbs, by a man who believes in nothing, in a spoken language.Literature
NovelMan's FateLa Condition humaineAndré Malraux · 1933A workers' insurrection takes a Chinese city, then receives from its own allies the order to lay down its arms.Literature
CinemaL'AtalanteJean Vigo · 1934A young bride discovers the cramped life of a barge, and slips away one evening to see Paris.Cinema
TheatreThe Trojan War Will Not Take PlaceLa guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieuJean Giraudoux · 1935A leader returning from war tries to prevent the next one, facing a city made warlike by the beauty of Helen.Literature
NovelThe Diary of a Country PriestJournal d'un curé de campagneGeorges Bernanos · 1936A priest with no strength left keeps a notebook of his days in a village that does not want him.Literature
CinemaThe Story of a CheatLe Roman d'un tricheurSacha Guitry · 1936A child punished for a theft survives his poisoned family and concludes that dishonesty saves.Cinema
CinemaPépé le MokoJulien Duvivier · 1937A wanted thief is safe only as long as he does not leave the old quarter of Algiers.Cinema
CinemaLady KillerGueule d'amourJean Grémillon · 1937A spahi whom all women look at ruins himself for the only one who does not love him.Cinema
NovelNauseaLa NauséeJean-Paul Sartre · 1938The diary of a man for whom the most ordinary objects suddenly become unbearable, without his being able to say why.Literature
EssayThe Theatre and Its DoubleLe Théâtre et son doubleAntonin Artaud · 1938A series of essays calling for a theatre freed from written words.LiteraturePublic domain
CinemaThe Baker's WifeLa Femme du boulangerMarcel Pagnol · 1938A Provençal village is left without bread because the baker's wife has run off with a shepherd.Cinema
NarrativeManhoodL'Âge d'hommeMichel Leiris · 1939A man describes himself sparing himself nothing, from the nape of his neck to his acts of cowardice.Literature
CinemaThe Rules of the GameLa Règle du jeuJean Renoir · 1939A weekend in a château, where masters and servants each play out their own game of love.Cinema
CinemaThe Last TurningLe Dernier TournantPierre Chenal · 1939A vagrant and a garage owner's young wife plan together to kill the husband.Cinema
NovelThe Man in a HurryL'Homme presséPaul Morand · 1941A man for whom any waiting is torture marries a woman who takes her time.Literature
CinemaWho Killed Santa Claus?L'Assassinat du père NoëlChristian-Jaque · 1941In a snow-covered village in Savoy, the Christmas Eve celebration ends in a theft and a corpse in a red costume.Cinema
NarrativeThe Silence of the SeaLe Silence de la merVercors · 1942A courteous occupier speaks alone each evening before two hosts who have resolved never to answer him.Literature
TheatreQueen After DeathLa Reine morteHenry de Montherlant · 1942An ageing king must choose between reason of state and a woman he has come to love.Literature
TaleThe Little PrinceLe Petit PrinceAntoine de Saint-Exupéry · 1943A pilot stranded in the middle of the sands listens to a child from elsewhere.Literature
NovelAshes, AshesRavageRené Barjavel · 1943A civilization entirely dependent on electricity loses it in a single night, and what remains of it must leave the cities.Literature
Short storiesThe Man Who Walked Through WallsLe Passe-murailleMarcel Aymé · 1943An office clerk discovers that he can pass through walls, and tries to find out what it is for.Literature
CinemaThe RavenLe CorbeauHenri-Georges Clouzot · 1943Anonymous letters rain down on a small town, and everyone begins to suspect their neighbour.Cinema
NovelAurelienAurélienLouis Aragon · 1944A man whom the war has left without a job and a woman who wants nothing by halves look for each other in the aftermath of the First World War.Literature
CinemaChildren of ParadiseLes Enfants du paradisMarcel Carné · 1945In the Paris of the popular theatres, four men love the same woman, and the mime cannot say so.Cinema
CinemaBeauty and the BeastLa Belle et la BêteJean Cocteau · 1946A young girl gives herself up to a monster to save her father, and the monster treats her like a queen.Cinema
CinemaThe Battle of the RailsLa Bataille du railRené Clément · 1946Railwaymen in the Resistance slow down the occupier's convoys, from go-slows to sabotage.Cinema
DocumentaryFarrebique, or the Four SeasonsFarrebique ou Les Quatre SaisonsGeorges Rouquier · 1946A year on a farm in the Aveyron, filmed season by season on the eve of electrification.Cinema
NovelThe PlagueLa PesteAlbert Camus · 1947A North African city is closed off because of an epidemic, and those shut inside must decide what to do with the months ahead.Literature
NovelA King AloneUn roi sans divertissementJean Giono · 1947An investigator settles in a high-altitude hamlet where people disappear under the snow.Literature
NovelMood IndigoL'Écume des joursBoris Vian · 1947An idle young man marries a young woman in whom a flower is growing.Literature
NarrativeExercises in StyleExercices de styleRaymond Queneau · 1947Three minutes in the life of a stranger, written in every possible way.Literature
TheatreThe MaidsLes BonnesJean Genet · 1947Two maids replay every evening, in the home of the woman who employs them, a ritual of service and humiliation whose outcome escapes them.Literature
NovelViper in the FistVipère au poingHervé Bazin · 1948Three boys at open war with their mother, in a château in the West of France.Literature
NovelThe Blue HussarLe Hussard bleuRoger Nimier · 1950Idle young cavalrymen in the Germany of victory.Literature
NovelThe Sea WallUn barrage contre le PacifiqueMarguerite Duras · 1950A family of poor settlers exhausts itself defending against the sea a piece of land that was sold to them although it was known to be uncultivable.Literature
NovelMoiraMoïraJulien Green · 1950A student who hates desire learns about the people with whom he lodges, and the name of an absent woman haunts him.Literature
NovelThe Opposing ShoreLe Rivage des SyrtesJulien Gracq · 1951A state that has not fought for generations, and a young man who is bored there.Literature
NovelThe MountainLa Neige en deuilHenri Troyat · 1952Two brothers climb towards a plane crashed on the glacier, for opposite reasons.Literature
TheatreThe LarkL'AlouetteJean Anouilh · 1953A play in which Joan re-enacts her trial before her judges, pausing to tell the story of her life.Literature
CinemaThe Earrings of Madame de...Madame de…Max Ophüls · 1953A pair of earrings passes from hand to hand, and each detour binds three destinies a little more tightly together.Cinema
NovelBonjour TristesseBonjour tristesseFrançoise Sagan · 1954A teenage girl on holiday sees the woman arrive who is going to put her father's life in order.Literature
NovelThe MandarinsLes MandarinsSimone de Beauvoir · 1954A group of left-wing intellectuals discovers, in the aftermath of the Liberation, that they will have to choose between what they believe and what they know.Literature
CinemaAnd God Created WomanEt Dieu… créa la femmeRoger Vadim · 1956A young orphan marries one brother to stay in the village, and loves another.Cinema
NovelJealousyLa JalousieAlain Robbe-Grillet · 1957A description that returns again and again to the same objects and the same gestures, without any narrator declaring himself or any feeling being named.Literature
NovelChanging TrackLa ModificationMichel Butor · 1957Over the course of a train journey between two cities, a man goes back over a plan he thought he had given up.Literature
NovelThe LionLe LionJoseph Kessel · 1958A child raised in freedom in an African reserve has a full-grown lion for a friend, and the adults around her no longer know what to do with her.Literature
CinemaMon oncleJacques Tati · 1958A dreamy uncle and a nephew who is bored in his parents' ultramodern villa.Cinema
CinemaThe 400 BlowsLes Quatre Cents CoupsFrançois Truffaut · 1959A boy from Paris, unloved at home and punished at school, gradually sinks into lying.Cinema
NovelPromise at DawnLa Promesse de l'aubeRomain Gary · 1960A son tells of the mother who had decided what he would become.Literature
CinemaEyes Without a FaceLes Yeux sans visageGeorges Franju · 1960A surgeon hides his disfigured daughter and seeks a face for her on others.Cinema
CinemaLe TrouJacques Becker · 1960Five prisoners of the Santé dig beneath their cell to escape.Cinema
CinemaBreathlessÀ bout de souffleJean-Luc Godard · 1960A small-time crook on the run and an American student, a few days in Paris.Cinema
NovelThe Flanders RoadLa Route des FlandresClaude Simon · 1960A cavalryman who survived the rout of 1940 tries to understand the death of his captain.Literature
CinemaLast Year at MarienbadL'Année dernière à MarienbadAlain Resnais · 1961A man tells a woman of a shared past of which she keeps no memory.Cinema
CinemaLa JetéeChris Marker · 1962A prisoner is sent into the past because a childhood image binds him to it.Cinema
CinemaCléo from 5 to 7Cléo de 5 à 7Agnès Varda · 1962A singer wanders through Paris while waiting for the result of a medical examination.Cinema
NarrativeUn petit bourgeoisFrançois Nourissier · 1963not translated into EnglishA young man draws up for his sons an inventory of what he is.Literature
CinemaLes Tontons flingueursGeorges Lautner · 1963A retired former gangster reluctantly takes over the empire of a dying friend, against the advice of the associates.Cinema
CinemaThe Umbrellas of CherbourgLes Parapluies de CherbourgJacques Demy · 1964An umbrella saleswoman and a young mechanic are in love, until the day the army calls him up.Cinema
CinemaA Man and a WomanUn homme et une femmeClaude Lelouch · 1966A widow and a widower meet at their children's boarding school, in Deauville, and see each other again.Cinema
CinemaMouchetteRobert Bresson · 1967A poor teenage girl, mistreated by everyone, meets a drunk poacher one stormy night.Cinema
CinemaYou Must Not Take Children of the Good Lord for Wild DucksFaut pas prendre les enfants du bon Dieu pour des canards sauvagesMichel Audiard · 1968A young woman cheated by a gangster calls her aunt, a former member of the underworld, to the rescue.Cinema
NovelCreezyFélicien Marceau · 1969A married deputy and a model live a passion that fits into neither of their two lives.Literature
NovelThe Safety MatchesLes Allumettes suédoisesRobert Sabatier · 1969A ten-year-old boy who has just lost his mother finds refuge in the Montmartre street where he grew up.Literature
CinemaLa PiscineJacques Deray · 1969A couple on holiday welcome the woman's former lover and his daughter, and the summer turns troubled.Cinema
CinemaArmy of ShadowsL'Armée des ombresJean-Pierre Melville · 1969A Resistance leader, having escaped, rejoins his comrades and must punish the man who betrayed them.Cinema
CinemaMy Night at Maud'sMa nuit chez MaudÉric Rohmer · 1969A night of conversation, under the snow, between a Catholic engineer and a divorced woman.Cinema
NovelLe Rossignol se tait à l'aubeElsa Triolet · 1970not translated into EnglishAgeing artists spend a night together, between memories and dreams.Literature
CinemaLe BoucherClaude Chabrol · 1970A school headmistress and a butcher become friends while a killer strikes in the area.Cinema
CinemaMurmur of the HeartLe Souffle au cœurLouis Malle · 1971A teenager from Dijon, with a heart condition, goes to a sanatorium with his young Italian mother.Cinema
CinemaNear OrouëtDu côté d'OrouëtJacques Rozier · 1971Three friends on holiday in the Vendée see the superior of one of them arrive.Cinema
CinemaThe Mother and the WhoreLa Maman et la PutainJean Eustache · 1973A young idler, the woman who houses him and the nurse he meets spend their nights talking.Cinema
CinemaCéline and Julie Go BoatingCéline et Julie vont en bateauJacques Rivette · 1974A librarian and a magician enter a house where the same drama is replayed every day.Cinema
CinemaVincent, François, Paul and the OthersVincent, François, Paul... et les autresClaude Sautet · 1974Three fifty-year-old friends, gathering on Sundays, confront their failures and doubts.Cinema
NovelW, or the Memory of ChildhoodW ou le souvenir d'enfanceGeorges Perec · 1975A fiction about an island devoted to sport alternates with the reconstruction of a childhood whose memory is missing.Literature
NovelThe Foundling BoyLe Jeune Homme vertMichel Déon · 1975A foundling found in 1919 grows up between the gardeners' house and the château, then leaves to discover the world.Literature
CinemaMr. KleinMonsieur KleinJoseph Losey · 1976An art dealer discovers that he shares the name of a hunted man, and sets out to find him.Cinema
CinemaFill 'er Up with SuperLe Plein de superAlain Cavalier · 1976Two young men drive a car south and find themselves four on the way.Cinema
CinemaBuffet froidBertrand Blier · 1979An unemployed man, a policeman and a self-confessed murderer form strange bonds around La Défense.Cinema
NovelDesertDésertJ. M. G. Le Clézio · 1980A people of the Sahara flees colonial conquest, and one of its descendants leaves her shantytown for Marseille.Literature
CinemaThe King and the MockingbirdLe Roi et l'OiseauPaul Grimault · 1980Two lovers who have escaped from their paintings flee a tyrannical king, with the help of a bird.Cinema
CinemaCoup de torchonBertrand Tavernier · 1981A colonial policeman whom everyone mocks goes to seek advice from his superior.Cinema
CinemaDivaJean-Jacques Beineix · 1981A postman holds two coveted recordings, one made out of love, the other arrived without his knowledge.Cinema
NarrativeA Man's PlaceLa PlaceAnnie Ernaux · 1983A daughter whom her studies have taken away from her background writes the life of her father, a worker turned small shopkeeper, in the barest language possible.Literature
NarrativeChildhoodEnfanceNathalie Sarraute · 1983An old woman rediscovers her childhood in dialogue with an inner voice that casts doubt on every memory.Literature
NovelWomenFemmesPhilippe Sollers · 1983An American journalist in Paris writes a novel about women that a French writer will sign in his place.Literature
CinemaÀ nos amoursMaurice Pialat · 1983A fifteen-year-old girl has one affair after another while her family falls apart.Cinema
CinemaBoy Meets GirlLeos Carax · 1984Two young people wounded by love cross paths in the Parisian night.Cinema
NovelPlan of OccupancyL'Occupation des solsJean Echenoz · 1988A widower and his son go to see the only image of the woman they have lost, an advertisement painted on the gable of a Paris building.Literature
TheatreRoberto ZuccoBernard-Marie Koltès · 1990A young escapee crosses the city and kills for no reason, from one encounter to the next.Literature
CinemaDelicatessenJean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro · 1991A starving city, a butcher who rents out rooms and a new tenant living on borrowed time.Cinema
CinemaLa HaineMathieu Kassovitz · 1995Three friends get through the day after a riot, and one of them has picked up a weapon.Cinema
CinemaA Self-Made HeroUn héros très discretJacques Audiard · 1996A young man with no past fabricates a glorious Resistance record for himself in the aftermath of the Liberation.Cinema
NarrativeThe Search WarrantDora BruderPatrick Modiano · 1997A writer sets out on the trail of a Jewish adolescent girl whose disappearance a newspaper of 1941 had reported.Literature
CinemaCuba FelizCuba felizKarim Dridi · 2000An old travelling singer crosses the island, playing wherever he is wanted.Cinema