Best French Biography Movies
This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best French Biography Movies" contains films with the following parameters. Style: realistic, talky, serious, dramatic, thought provoking and sad. Plot: biopic, husband wife relationship, death, mentor, storytelling, life & death, loneliness, dialogue, telephone call and runaway. Genre: Drama, Biography and History. Country: France, USA and UK.
Best French Biography Movies
TOP Movies: The Intouchables (2011), Amadeus (1984), The Iron Lady (2011), Colette (2018), 127 Hours (2010), I'm Still Here (2024), The Pianist (2002), The Mercy (2018), The Queen (2006), Selma (2014), The Straight Story (1999), The Last Emperor (1987), The Lost King (2022), Kandahar (2001), The Wind Rises (2013), Chocolat (2016), Philomena (2013), Jackie (2016), Judy (2019), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016).
List of Best Movies
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
A true story of two men who should never have met – a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.
Style:
feel good, inspirational, touching, uplifting, sincere ...
Audience:
date night, teens, family friendly, adult
Plot:
friendship, disability, unlikely friendships, life philosophy, friendship between men, disabled person, human relationship, handicapped, interracial friendship, culture clash, caregiver, friends ...
Time:
2010s, year 2011, 21st century
Place:
france, paris france
Is relevant?
464K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA, France
Duration: 160 min.
Story:
The incredible story of genius musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told in flashback by his peer and secret rival Antonio Salieri – now confined to an insane asylum.
Style:
clever, costume drama, period piece, atmospheric, historical drama ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
classical music, music, composer, genius, mozart, musician, envy, opera, character study, musician's life, mentor, prodigy ...
Time:
18th century, 1790s, 1820s, 1800s, 1780s ...
Place:
vienna, austria, eastern europe, italy, europe ...
Is relevant?
117K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.
Style:
thought provoking, political, touching, inspirational, period piece ...
Plot:
politics, prime minister, british prime minister, british history, female protagonist, female politician, monarchy, british politics, women, biopic, alzheimer's disease, political leader ...
Time:
20th century, year 2011, 2010s, 90s, 70s ...
Place:
london, england, britain, europe, united kingdom ...
Is relevant?
28K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK, USA, Hungary, Belgium
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
French novelist, Colette, overcomes an abusive marriage to emerge as a leading writer in her country and a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Style:
captivating, costume drama, historical drama, period piece, intellectual ...
Audience:
family friendly, chick flick
Plot:
lgbt, lgbtq, sex scene, lesbian relationship, female protagonist, novelist, lesbian attraction, writers, lesbian, open marriage, woman, female writer ...
Time:
19th century, 1900s, 1890s, year 1900, victorian era ...
Place:
paris france, france, algeria, louisiana, marseille
Is relevant?
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422K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA, France
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.
Style:
suspense, unusual plot structure, inspirational, intense, breathtaking ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
survival, isolation, trapped, mountain, wilderness, canyon, courage, alone, desert, trap, loneliness, life & death ...
Time:
year 2010, 2010s, 20th century, 2000s, year 2003 ...
Place:
utah, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
The true story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his ...
Style:
inspirational, psychological, breathtaking, sincere, depressing ...
Plot:
disability, hospital, paralysis, death, coma, stroke, memory, writers, courage, patient, mute or deaf, communication problem ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 2000s, year 2007, y2k
Place:
france, paris france, europe, hong kong, nepal ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Brazil, France
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
In Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, during the dictatorship, former deputy Rubens Paiva was taken from his home by soldiers to be interrogated. He was never found again. The search for truth lasts 30 long years. And when the answers begin to appear, ...
Style:
historical drama, realistic, independent film, hood, factual ...
Plot:
brazilian military dictatorship, dictatorship, military dictatorship, based on real people, loss, missing father, female nudity, loss of husband, widow, husband, wrongful arrest, female protagonist ...
Time:
year 1971, 20th century, year 2014, year 1996, 70s ...
Place:
brazil, rio de janeiro, sao paulo, brazil, sao paulo brazil
Is relevant?
1.0M
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France, Poland, Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
The true story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he ...
Style:
emotional, sad, harsh, reflective, bleak ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, survival, genocide, nazi, classical music, wartime, war, nazism, anti semitism, hunger, nazi occupation ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1939, 1930s, year 2002 ...
Place:
poland, germany, europe, eastern europe, central europe ...
Is relevant?
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10K
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Yachtsman Donald Crowhurst's disastrous attempt to win the 1968 Golden Globe Race ends up with him creating an outrageous account of traveling the world alone by sea.
Style:
scenic, captivating, realistic, exciting, tense ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
sea voyage, yacht, inventor, sailing, lost at sea, survival, wilderness, wilderness survival, against the odds, escapades, ambition, boat ...
Time:
year 1968, 60s
Place:
england, argentina
Is relevant?
119K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA, France, Italy
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal ...
Style:
factual, political, emotional, period piece, compassionate ...
Plot:
british royal family, royal family, queen, queen of england, historical character, head of state, monarchy, politics, queen elizabeth ii, british, biopic, monarch ...
Time:
90s, year 2006, 20th century, year 1997
Place:
england, buckingham palace, london, britain, scotland ...
Is relevant?
99K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Civil Rights ...
Style:
thought provoking, sincere, political, period piece, factual ...
Plot:
racism, civil rights, justice, politics, racial discrimination, civil rights movement, african american, biopic, discrimination, idealism, injustice, righting the wronged ...
Time:
year 2014, 20th century, 2010s, 60s, year 1964 ...
Place:
alabama, birmingham alabama, indiana, usa, southern usa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in ...
Style:
road movie, feel good, touching, cult classic, visual ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, teens
Plot:
road trip, old age, brother brother relationship, elderly man, on the road, small town, senior citizen, determination, aging, family feud, illness, highway ...
Time:
year 1999, 90s, 20th century
Place:
iowa, mississippi, nebraska, usa, wisconsin
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: China, Italy, UK, France
Duration: 163 min.
Story:
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation ...
Style:
epic, breathtaking, political, visually appealing, visually stunning ...
Plot:
childhood, chinese history, world war two, biopic, revolution, emperor, politics, prison, eunuch, drug addiction, communism, symbolism ...
Time:
1950s, 1930s, 1920s, 1940s, 1900s ...
Place:
china, beijing china, asia, japan, east asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
An amateur historian defies the academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.
Style:
captivating, thought provoking, f word
Plot:
archaeologist, king of england, archeological dig, female protagonist, historical figure, direction and purpose, hidden treasure, ambitious woman, treasure hunter, coping, lost treasure, apparition ...
Time:
2010s, year 2012
Place:
britain, edinburgh scotland, united kingdom, scotland, england
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
Style:
atmospheric, tense, sincere, disturbing, surreal ...
Plot:
islam, desert, politics, on the road, brutality, survival, culture clash, suicide, women, rescue, self discovery, danger ...
Time:
year 2001, 2000s
Place:
middle east, afghanistan, iran, canada, iraq ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.
Style:
anime, touching, sentimental, emotional, adult animation ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, teens
Plot:
tuberculosis, world war two, dream, earthquake, inventions and discoveries, flying, hopes, aviation, biopic, love and romance, engineer, wartime ...
Time:
1930s, 2010s, year 2013, 1920s, 1940s ...
Place:
japan, germany, asia, tokyo
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
The history of the clown Chocolate, the first black circus artist in France, which has a great success in the late 19th century.
Style:
humorous, feel good, sentimental, factual, touching ...
Plot:
circus, racism, gambling, clown, black man, illegal immigrant, coworker relationship, rise to the top, fame, comedy duo, racial discrimination, black ...
Time:
1910s, 1890s, year 2016, year 2015, 19th century ...
Place:
paris france, france, caribbean, cuba
Is relevant?
107K
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
Style:
touching, sentimental, sad, realistic, cerebral ...
Plot:
convent, catholic church, adoption, lgbtq, journalist, catholic, religious intolerance, journalism, self discovery, faith, nun, writers ...
Time:
year 2013, 1950s, 2010s, 20th century, 50s ...
Place:
ireland, washington d.c., england, britain, usa ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
87K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, France, Chile, China
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
An account of the days of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, in the immediate aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
Style:
period piece, emotional, cerebral, sad, heartbreaking ...
Plot:
president, first lady, american history, kennedy assassination, assassination, u.s. president, loss of husband, biopic, widow, funeral, strong female character, depression ...
Time:
60s, year 2016, 90s, 2010s, year 1963
Place:
usa, washington d.c., austin texas, america, texas ...
Is relevant?
58K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
Style:
sad, period piece, tragic ending, emotional, stylized ...
Plot:
concert, hollywood, musician, biopic, female singer, actress, drug addict, life is a bitch, life & death, women, female musician, singer ...
Time:
60s, 1930s, year 1968, year 1969, year 2019
Place:
london
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: UK, France
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress, who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.
Style:
emotional, witty, stylized, touching, melancholic ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
bad singing, opera singer, concert, heiress, biopic, music, musician, recording studio, transformation, singing, passion, bald woman ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944, year 2016, 1930s, 1920s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, usa, new jersey
Is relevant?
116K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate ...
Style:
clever, tense, political, period piece, tricky ...
Plot:
journalism, politics, president, reporter, journalist, biopic, american politics, nixon, corruption, conspiracy, power struggle, scandal ...
Time:
70s, year 2008, 90s, 2000s, year 1977 ...
Place:
california, new york, washington d.c., north america, usa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Italy
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
The Sea Inside is about Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. It is the story of Ramón’s relationships with two women: Julia a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman ...
Style:
sad, thought provoking, philosophical, emotional, breathtaking ...
Plot:
disability, euthanasia, biopic, death, human spirit, dying, handicapped, existentialism, suicide, depression, lawyer, dignity ...
Time:
year 2004, y2k, 90s, 60s, 20th century
Place:
spain, barcelona, south america, europe, galicia ...
Is relevant?
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145K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 151 min.
Story:
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Style:
inspirational, psychological, visually stunning, grim, mind twisting ...
Plot:
prison escape, prison, life philosophy, escape, prison break, runaway, prison life, jail, protector, human spirit, escape attempt, escape plan ...
Time:
year 1973, 1940s, 20th century, 1930s, 70s
Place:
south america, persia, guyana, latin america, atlantic ocean
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Marie Heurtin is born both blind and deaf. Sister Marguerette wins her trust and teaches her how to express herself.
Style:
serious, touching, realistic, emotional, sad ...
Plot:
nun, dedicated educator, mute or deaf, hopes, deaf mute, deaf child, mute, blind character, female protagonist, deaf, family relations, youth ...
Time:
20th century, 19th century, ancient times, 1900s
Place:
europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
"Loro", in two parts, is a period movie that chronicles, as a fiction story, events likely happened in Italy (or even made up) between 2006 and 2010. "Loro" wants to suggest in portraits and glimps, through a composite ...
Style:
captivating, period piece, intense, black comedy, cult classic ...
Plot:
italian politics, scandal, politician, extramarital affair, corruption, politics, political unrest, family life, historical figure, political scandal, historical character, moral ambiguity ...
Place:
sardinia, rome italy
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.
Style:
touching, ironic, compassionate, retro, serious ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
disability, drawing, cartoonist, alcoholism, therapy, rehabilitation, alcoholic, alcoholics anonymous, paralysis, car accident, biopic, sex scene ...
Time:
70s, year 1972
Place:
oregon, long beach california, portland oregon
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Comedy
Country: France
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Molière, a down-and-out actor-cum-playwright up to his ears in debt. When the wealthy Jourdain offers to cover that debt (so that Molière's theatrical talents might help Jourdain win the heart of a certain widowed marquise), hilarity ensues.
Style:
sexy, witty, period piece, semi serious, humorous ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
love and romance, couples, lifestyle, secret identity, love triangle, biopic, dishonesty, fall in love, actor's life, farce, mistaken identity, infidelity ...
Time:
17th century, ancient times, year 2007, victorian era
Place:
paris france, france, europe
Is relevant?
222K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running ...
Style:
realistic, brutal, period piece, intense, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gang, mafia, gangster, violent, psychopath, gay interest, organized crime, abusive husband, rise and fall, brother brother relationship, homosexual, relationships ...
Time:
60s, year 2015, year 1957, 90s, 2010s ...
Place:
england, london, east end london, europe, west end london ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: France
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
From his poor childhood to his rise to fame, from his triumphs to his failures, from Paris to New York, discover the exceptional journey of an artist. Intimate, intense, fragile and indestructible, devoted to his art until the very end, here is one ...
Plot:
songwriter, singer, biopic, marriage, concert tour, wealth, pop music, drag queen, suicide, rags to riches, depression, death ...
Time:
1940s, 60s, 20th century
Place:
paris france, montreal, french riviera, new york
Is relevant?
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