Les Choristes is an immensely popular film, on the very familiar theme of the boarding school. English boarding schools were for the sons of the rich, the French version was for 'difficult' children. In both cases they made generations of young people miserable, while, allegedly 'forming character'.  Linguistically, the film can be followed without too much difficulty, and if you like it, buy it ! Here's the Amazon link.

Dialogue avec mon jardinier, a film with Daniel Auteuil and Jean-Pierre Darrousin, is a very good example of why we need to start with Anglopamerican films. Two men who were friends at school, meet, one a painter from the city, the other ex-railwayman, now gardener. Their speech is difficult for us to follow, not so much because it is heavily accented or very fast, but because it is intimate using all the short cuts of familiar language. Excellent listening practice at this level, though

Just occasionally it's good to struggle with a film which is way too hard for us. Les visiteurs was the most popular French comic film of all time - until Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis came along. The dialogue is fast-paced, combining  modern vulgar register and Middle Ages parody. (You have to know that Madame Poufiasse is not a term of 11th century courtesy). I include it because we can pick up enough to follow it. And also because it shows what a long, long road lies ahead ....

Here's another film which is not only extremely difficult to follow, but whose subject is incomprehensible to Anglosaxons. Violence des échanges en milieu tempéré is about a young consultant whose business audit of a factory leads to staff being laid off. No really. It was broadcast recently on French telly in the context of the problems at France Télécom which is suffering a spate of employee suicides due to stress at work. At which point I refrain from comment, other than to say that happily, many French flm makers - Dany Boon, Jean Dujardin - are making films now that make people smile.

Having been critical of the film above, let me make amends with Le boucher, the splendid film of Claude Chabrol, about a nice pretty school teacher who takes up with a man who is not as nice as he seems. On the linguistic level it is relatively easy to follow (say, level 8, where the typical dubbed American film would be 3). Intimate, fast-paced dialogue of this sort tests the ear, but the context is always clear

A short made-for-television film by Claude Chabrol in the series Le siècle de Maupassant, France 2 gave us a very liberal adaptation of Gaston Leroux's Le fauteuil hanté. The diction is clear, although we have to accustom the ear to the speed of delivery. The parody of the pompous speeches of Acadamy members is very funny

Un gentilhomme, from the story by Mirbeau, was in the series of Le siècle de Maupassant. If there is a reason for wanting to learn to listen and understand, this is it - it is a beautifully crafted piece. Unfortunately it is also the perfect demonstration of the mountain we have to climb. Why is this so difficult to follow ? Partly it is the sound engineering. The voices of the actors are muffled, there is music behind. And then, of course, the deivery is rapid and intimate. This is very hard. But what can I say ? It's a great exercise, stick with it.

Now here is a real stunner of a comedy film Fanfan la Tulipe. Its's the sort of clip I would like to post every day on this site. Why ? Simply because the dialogue is funny, and hard, and one so wants to pick up all the nuances. Normally if I don't understand something, I have one more go, then I leave brackets and move on. This time I slogged at it - but still a lot of holes, I'm afraid. But what a good exercise....

Something I never understand is why some extracts are difficult and others less so. Here is a great Coluche film Les Vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur, an elaborate parody of the police investigation genre. Coluche films are automatically as difficult as it gets. But not this one. There are moments, oif course, where everything disappears, but I think the recording quality here, although scratchy, is clear. This is a 'mailbox item'. My thanks to the provider.

Camping is an immensely popular film which gently mocks the French love of doing the same things year after year, at the same time, with the same friends. It's also a film which demonstrates how difficult for us is the register of everyday speech.  As an exercise it couldn't be better, but you have to be a bit of a masochist to try to make a transcription of stuff like this. Go on - it hurts, but it's good for you !

Nothing could be more different from the last extract than Les cinq dernières minutes, the first police series on French television in 1958. The kind person who sent me the clip says that this episode was Quand le vin est tiré. Apparently the idea was that at a certain point the action stopped and experts in the studio had to elucidate the mystery. It's a fascinating example of the wooden style of acting which we saw in all countries at the beginning of television drama. But there's a brave attempt at realistic dialogue, and it's not as easy as all that to follow

When I saw Mais où est donc passée la septième compagnie, screened by France 2, I knew we had to have a go at it as a listening exercise. Plenty of background noise, and some ribald accents. Terribly difficult. The film itself is a light nonsense of the sort the French liked just after the war. I am sure that like me you will feel a strong desire to stop and give up during this extract. Persist, though. It's a good exercise.

In the series Contes et nouvelles du XIXe, France 2 gace us Le bonheur est dans le crime, a splendid story where a beautiful and evil young woman seduces a young Count, kills his wife - and gets away with it ! (While the Countess accepts death so as not to bring dishonour on her husband). Ah, the French !  And a difficult but rewarding listening exercise. The dialogue murmured rather than spoken - not easy

San-Antonio was the pen name of Frédéric Dard, who wrote police thrillers full of humour and gritty realism. He has the same love of language as Céline, although in a much lighter vein This is an extract from the film version of Y a-t-il un Français dans la salle ?