Today, July 14th, marks the most important day in the French national calendar.
On this day every year, the French mark the storming of the Bastille, the culmination of the French Revolution which had begun two days earlier.
We thought, what better way to celebrate the day than with this nod to French culture and film.
Here are seven French gems you need to check out:
1. Hidden
An absolute masterpiece of French Cinema, this Michael Haneke classic tells the story of a married couple who are terrorized by somebody filming and sending them videotapes. But who is sending the tapes and why?
You'll probably never get over the reason, to be honest.
2. La Haine
Raw, dark and incredibly bleak, La Haine held a mirror up to the depressing reality of French social issues in the 90s.
Abdel is beaten up by the police and during a riot, Vinz comes into the possession of one of the guns belong to the police. He promises that if anything happens to Abdel, he will take the life of a cop.
You need to watch this for the Vincent Cassel performance alone.
3. Playtime
When it comes to cinematic comedy there's Playtime, and then there's everything else. After three increasingly ambitious and increasingly brilliant films, Jacques Tati made his magnum opus in 1967. Famously, Tati built his own massive set dubbed 'Tativille', and the sheer scale of the project comes across on screen. One viewing is not enough to take in the wealth of sight gags, and few if any films have ever made such brilliant use out of the clarity and depth of high-quality 70mm film. As well as being riotously funny, Playtime also serves as an incredibly sharp satire of 1960s French society and modernisation, pointedly critiquing technology and social norms.
After an opening hour of relative calmness, Playtime builds to a jaw-dropping comedy sequence in a restaurant that dominates pretty much the entire latter half of the film. As the chaos escalates, and the running gags multiply and complicate, it's pretty much impossible to look away - although it's even harder to stop smiling and laughing.
4. Irréversible
Arguably one of the most controversial films ever, Irréversible displays the impact of a shocking rape on a couple but all of the scenes appear in reverse. The rape scene itself was shown in its entirety and came under severe criticism and has often been listed in the hardest to watch scenes on film and one of the most walked-out on ever in the history of cinema.
The courage it must have taken Monica Bellucci to film that scene in particular but what a moving performance. You will only watch this film once, but once is all you need.
5. Beau Travail
Often listed as one of the greatest films from France, director Claire Denis' masterful film takes a look at the life of a former Foreign Legion Officer through flashbacks of his past. The film is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella, Billy Budd.
It's dramatic, it's tense and it's beautiful.
6. Three Colours Trilogy
With the first film released in 1993, the trilogy revolves around the main political ideals of the French Republic, liberty, equality and fraternity with each film taking its title from a colour on the French flag.
Blue is often considered one of the best with an amazing lead performance from Juliette Binoche whose character's husband and child are killed in a car accident. She slowly begins to cut herself off from everyone and everything around her.
7. La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc
We all know that the Joan of Arc story is arguably one of the most interesting tales from history but this particular depiction of that story really did it proper justice. The film depicts the time of Joan's trial and execution.
Filmed in 1928, this beautiful silent film is one of the great gems of cinema, not just in France and was worshipped as a landmark of modern cinema.
