French movies about Japan

List of the best French movies about Japan, selected by visitors to our site: Leonie, Tokyo Fiancée, Memoirs of a Geisha, Rodin, Zatoichi: The Last, Radiance, Cut, MFKZ, The Nun, Love and Bruises.

In the top there are new films of 2023, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Country
Markimdb: 6
Genredrama, biography
CountryFrance, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Belgium, USA, Japan, Netherlands

In the lush tradition of the glorious films of Merchant and Ivory, comes the true life story of Leonie Gilmour (Emily Mortimer), whose life crossed continents, wars and cultures, embodied with courage and passion in search of art and freedom. A tender and inspiring story of a remarkable woman who nurtures the amazing artistic talent of her son who has only one way to succeed and one person to guide him, as he grows into the world renown artist, Isamu Noguchi.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance, Japan, Belgium, Canada
Duration01:41

A Japanophile young Belgian woman in Tokyo falls into a whirlwind romance with a Francophile Japanese student, in this charming and tender tale of young love and cultural discovery.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUSA, Japan, France
Duration02:25

A sweeping romantic epic set in Japan in the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Markimdb: 5
Genremelodrama, drama, biography
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration02:26

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), man of the people, autodidact and revolutionary sculptor - the most brilliant of his era. At 42, Rodin meets Camille Claudel, a young woman desperate to become his assistant. He quickly acknowledges her as his most able pupil, and treats her as an equal in matters of creation.

Markimdb: 5.1
Genreaction, drama
CountryJapan, France

A blind master swordsman attempts to lead a quiet life with his wife but he is provoked back into battle.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan, France

The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrethriller, drama
CountryJapan, France, USA, South Korea, Turkey
Duration02:13

Shuji is an uncompromising young filmmaker at odds with Japanese society. One day he learns that his loan shark brother, who had helped to finance his films, has been executed by his own yakuza gang for failing to repay his debts. Described as a love poem to Japanese films of the past, as well as a protest at the present, CUT is an exploration of one man’s obsessive relationship with cinema.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrefantastic, action, cartoon
CountryFrance, Japan, USA
Duration01:37

Angelino is just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. But an otherwise unremarkable scooter accident caused by a beautiful, mysterious stranger is about to transform his life... into a waking nightmare! He starts seeing monstrous forms prowling around all over the city... Is Angelino losing his mind, or could an alien invasion really be happening this quietly...?

Markimdb: 6.4
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Germany, Belgium

Suzanne Simonin describes her life of suffering in letters. As a young woman she is sent to a convent against her will. Since her parents cannot afford the dowry required for a marriage befitting her rank they decide she must instead become a nun. Although a kind and understanding Mother Superior helps her to learn the convent’s daily routine, Suzanne’s desire for freedom remains unabated. When the Mother Superior dies, Suzanne finds herself faced with reprisals, humiliation and harassment at the hands of the new Abbess and the other Sisters. For many years, Suzanne is subjected to bigotry and religious fanaticism. (Berlinale.de)

Markimdb: 5.6
Genredrama
CountryChina, France
Duration01:45

Hua, a young woman from Beijing, is a recent arrival in Paris. Exiled in an unknown city, she wanders between her tiny apartment and the university, drifting between former lovers and recent French acquaintances. She meets Matthieu, a young worker who falls madly in love with her. Possessed by an insatiable desire for her body, he treats Hua like a dog. An intense affair begins, marked by Matthieu’s passionate embraces and harsh verbal abuse. When Hua determines to leave her lover, she discovers the strength of her addiction, and the vital role he has come to play in her life as a woman.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:58

Tony is admitted to a rehabilitation center after a serious ski accident. Dependent on the medical staff and pain relievers, she takes time to look back on a turbulent relationship that she experienced with Georgio.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, musical
CountryFrance, United Kingdom, Czech Republic
Duration02:25

From Paris in the 1960s to London in the first decade of the third millennium, Madeleine and her daughter Véra flit from one amorous adventure to the next, living for the moment and taking all the opportunities that life offers. But not every love affair is without its consequences, its upsets and its disappointments. As time goes by and gnaws away at one’s deepest feelings, love becomes a harder game to play.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genremelodrama, drama, biography, history
CountryFrance
Duration01:33

Covers the love affair between French actress Arletty and a high-ranking German officer during WWII in occupied France.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama
CountryGermany, Belgium, USA, France
Duration01:56

The film centres on a retired, widowed professor living in Paris who develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:32

There is something strange - some would even say abnormal - about the Malaussène family. But if you take a closer look, no one could be happier than this cheerfully chaotic family, even though their mother is usually off on one romantic adventure or another. Life is never a bore for Benjamin Malaussène, professional scapegoat and the older brother responsible for this horde of kids. But when incidents happen wherever he goes, police and colleagues begin to eye him suspiciously. It soon becomes a matter of life and death to find out what is going on and who is so interested in ruining his life. Written by Pathe International

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrefantasy, drama, biography
CountryChile, France

In the nineteenth century, a French adventurer sets off to establish a kingdom in the inhospitable South of Chile, uniting the feared Mapuche under him. The response of the Chilean army is devastating.

Markimdb: 6
Genrecomedy, music
CountryFrance
Duration01:34

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Markimdb: 5.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance

Thirty-year-old Ben is about to marry Juliette. His quiet, ordered life will fall to pieces when he meets up again with the person he secretly wants to see the most: Vanessa, the high school bombshell who never so much as looked in his direction. She's back in Paris, and the only person she now knows is him…

Markimdb: 7
Genredrama, military
CountryFrance, Germany

The night of August 24, 1944. The fate of Paris is in the hands of General von Choltitz, governor of Grand Paris, who is preparing, on Hitler’s orders, to blow up the French capital. The descendent of a long line of Prussian military men, the general has never had any hesitation when it came to obeying orders. This is what’s on Swedish consul Raoul Nordling’s mind as he takes the secret staircase that leads to General von Choltitz’s suite at the Hôtel Meurice. The bridges on the Seine and the major monuments of Paris (including the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower) are mined with explosives, ready to be detonated. Armed with all the weapons of diplomacy, the consul will try to convince the general not to follow Hitler’s order of destruction.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, family
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration02:34

Despite a traumatic event, a group of friends decide to go ahead with their annual beach vacation. Their relationships, convictions, sense of guilt and friendship are sorely tested. They are finally forced to own up to the little white lies they've been telling each other.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:55

Camille was only sixteen and still in high school when she fell in love with Eric, another student. They later married and a child and were happy for a while. But now twenty-five years have passed and Eric leaves her for a younger woman. Bitter and desperate Camille drinks so much liquor at a New Year Eve's party that she falls into an ethylic coma and she finds herself... propelled into her own past! Camille is sixteen again when she wakes up this morning, her parents are not dead anymore and she must go to school, where she will meet her schoolmates and, of course, Eric. Is she going to fall for him again and... be miserable twenty-five years later? Or will she avoid him with the result never having her beloved daughter? Who ever said that time traveling was fun?

Markimdb: 8.4
Genredocumentary, biography, history
CountryFrance, Brazil, Italy
Duration01:50

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history ; international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes : a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Sebastião's Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genrethriller, drama, family, short
CountryFrance
Duration01:35

In the midst of a divorce, Miriam Besson decides to ask for exclusive custody of her son, in order to protect him from a father that she is accusing of violence. The judge-in-charge of the file grants a shared custody to the father whom it considers abused. Taken as a hostage between his parents, Julien Besson will do everything to prevent the worst from happening.

Markimdb: 5.5
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:30

When Nénette (Josiane Balasko) discovers the identity of her father in a letter, she quickly goes off in search of him. But instead of finding her father, she is met by her half-brother, Paul (Michel Blanc). Paul, a bitter man who gave up his dream to take over his father’s pharmacy business, is less than thrilled at the arrival of his ‘embarrassing’ half-sister. After refusing to take her in, he soon gets a taste of his own medicine. Under the influence of a potent drug, for one day Paul is generous, happy and sensitive. The next morning, however, once the drug has worn off, his nasty side comes back...

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, detective
CountryFrance
Duration01:35

Happily married with a daughter, Marc is a successful real estate agent in Aix-en-Provence. One day, he has an appointment with a woman to view a traditional country house. A few hours later, Marc finally puts a name to her face. It's Cathy, the girl he was in love with growing up in Oran, Algeria, in the last days of the French colonial regime. Marc hurries to her hotel. They spend the night together. Then she's gone again. And Marc's mother tells him Cathy never left Algeria. She was killed with her father in a bombing just before independence...

Markimdb: 4.4
Genreaction, comedy, adventure, crime
CountryFrance, Netherlands, Belgium
Duration02:07

Ruben, Durex and Nora are three students in their last year of college. Ruben has already failed his exams once due to his lack of self-confidence. He's been as useless with Nora, to whom he dares not confess his feelings. And his childhood friend Durex, the most embarrassing guy in the world, is no help at all. When Ruben discovers that Nora is a dealer and that she's going to Amsterdam to bring back a new kind of drug, Ruben bucks up the courage to accompany her. This trip to Amsterdam is an ideal situation in which to at last seduce Nora. But his bad luck: Durex comes along for the ride. While the trio discover Europe's craziest capital, their lives really get complicated when they realize that the drug they've just picked up belongs to one of Amsterdam's most dangerous gangsters. Very quickly, Ruben, Durex and Nora will understand that to get their old lives back, they must stop being nerds in order to become true heroes.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genrecomedy, drama, biography
CountryFrance
Duration01:52

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.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrethriller, drama
CountryFrance
Duration02:18

A struggling writer finds a shortcut to fame, but a blackmailer threatens to ruin his perfect life.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryFrance

The life of Jeanne B?cu who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryGermany, France
Duration01:41

Paolo, an Italian tour bus driver living in Paris, has just summoned up the courage to propose marriage to his German girlfriend Greta. However, a chance encounter with a French woman on a bicycle the very next day turns Paolo's life upside down.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance
Duration01:35

Newly engaged, Thomas meets his future father-in-law Gilbert, who has been married for 30 years to Suzanne. Disillusioned Gilbert is convinced that his marriage has meant he's missed out on life. He persuades Thomas not to marry his daughter Lola and encourages him to drop everything else in his life as well. The two men then throw themselves into a new brats' life full of adventure, convinced that freedom is elsewhere. But at what cost do we rediscover our adolescent dreams?

Markimdb: 7.4
Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
CountrySweden, France
Duration04:41

Kahina Zadi, 32, a French police officer travels to Kiruna in Sweden to investigate the bestial murder of a French citizen. Together with Anders, a Swedish prosecutor of Sami origin, she begins an investigation. Soon new killings start to happen and the first victim turns out to be the tip of a very dark iceberg. The victims seemingly have nothing in common more than that they are all being killed in a well-planned and vicious manner. In their hunt for the truth, both Kahina and Anders are forced to deal with their own past that they have repressed. A personal journey through a painful past becomes the key to succeed in preventing the violent killings that affects the small mining community of Kiruna.

Markimdb: 5.2
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance
Duration01:25

With only 12 percent of its pupils obtaining their baccalaureate, Jules Ferry High School is the worst school in France. The Inspector of Schools has already exhausted all the conventional means to raise standards at the school and he has no choice but to take the advice of his deputy. It is a case of having to fight fire with fire: the worst pupils must be taught by the worst teachers...

Markimdb: 5.6
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance
Duration01:28

A romantic comedy about Jean-Marc who is a convinced bachelor and also very busy. So busy that he almost missed his own daughters wedding ceremony...

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Belgium

Ever since she served on the jury during his trial, Nora has been convinced that Jacques Viguier is innocent, despite him being accused of murdering his wife. Following an appeal by the public prosecutor’s office, and fearing a miscarriage of justice, she convinces a leading lawyer to defend him during his second trial, on appeal. Together, they will put up a tenacious fight against injustice.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Belgium

Drama about a father and son who set out to find their missing daughter/sister with the help of an American headhunter.

Markimdb: 5.3
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance
Duration01:47

Eight short films explore the subject of male infidelity. Serial cheaters, Fred and Greg, spend a night on the town doing what they do best, and with absolutely no regrets. The duo play various characters in assorted extracurricular situations, ranging from sexist to the darker sides of carnal desires.

Markimdb: 5.8
Genrecomedy, music
CountryFrance
Duration01:58

Under the pressure of his boss, a music producer decides to set up a group consisting of a rabbi, a priest and an imam to make them sing the living together. But the religious he recruits are far from being saints ...

Markimdb: 6.1
Genreaction, thriller, crime
CountryFrance, Belgium, USA
Duration01:30

Franck and Simon are both good cops. They work as partners. But their lives take a tailspin when Simon, driving drunk, causes a tragic car wreck. A few years later, out of the police, he is forced to take matters into his own hands when his family is in danger.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrecomedy, drama, crime
CountryFrance

A young man paying the rent for himself and his lifelong friends at an apartment, ends up flat-broke and resorts to selling marijuana to pay the bills - only to get caught up in the dangerous world of drugs.

Markimdb: 5.8
Genredrama, history
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration02:01

„Un peuple et son roi" crosses the destinies of the men and women of the population, and those of historical figures. Their meeting place is the newly founded National Assembly. At the heart of the story lie the fate of the king and the birth of the French Republic.

Markimdb: 5.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration01:28

A romantic comedy about two Parisian therapists who are so obsessed about getting into the sack with anyone they meet, they can’t ever get it on with each other.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredrama
CountryFrance

Pierre, in his thirties, is a breeder of dairy cattle. His life revolves around his farm, his veterinarian sister and his parents whose livestock he took over. As the first cases of a zoonotic outbreak are reported in France, Pierre discovers that one of his animals is infected. He cannot cope with the perspective of losing the whole herd. They are everything he has and he will do whatever it takes to save them.

Markimdb: 6.5
Genrecomedy, melodrama, history
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration01:59

1809, France. Captain Neuville is called to the front, leaving his future bride heartbroken. Her sister decides to write letters on his behalf to cheer her up.

Markimdb: 4.7
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance

Three brothers are reunited on the occasion of the death of his mother. The three are in a difficult stage of their lives due to economic difficulties: Bernard is a failed actor, Didier pretends to be a professor of philosophy when, in fact, is selling sex toys and Pascal lives off a rich sexagenarian. Accompanied by Sara, the teenage daughter of Bernard, they live surprising encounters while new problems appear.

Markimdb: 6.5
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryUSA, France
Duration01:38

Set in the 1920s French Riviera, a master magician is commissioned to try and expose a psychic as a fraud.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration02:15

Newly transferred to the bustling port city of Marseille to assist with a crackdown on organized crime, energetic young magistrate Pierre Michel is given a rapid-fire tutorial on the ins and outs of an out-of-control drug trade. Pierre's wildly ambitious mission is to take on the French Connection, a highly organized operation that controls the city's underground heroin economy and is overseen by the notorious —and reputedly untouchable— Gaetan Zampa. Fearless, determined and willing to go the distance, Pierre plunges into an underworld world of insane danger and ruthless criminals.

Markimdb: 5.5
Genredrama
CountryFrance

Depardieu plays an unnamed hunter and we join him and his dog as they depart for a nearby forest to snare some rabbits - or perhaps he's hunting for something far more elusive? His excursion soon progresses from carefree meandering to a palpable sense of placelessness and it doesn't take long before the hunter's dog disappears and he finds himself lost.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance, Austria
Duration01:34

A young unemployed man finds work at a nuclear power plant and begins an illicit affair with the fiancée of one of his senior workmates.

Markimdb: 6
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance

Ely and Lila are like sisters. They know each other since childhood,they share everything and dream of a better life.they live in the same suburb, 10mn from Paris. Today,Ely and Lila dont want to be 10mn away from their life anymore.from small troubles to big lies, they will do everything to penetrate a world which is not theirs, a world where everything is possible or so they think.....




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