French for culture: film, books and music

Talking about films, novels, concerts and exhibitions: opinions, recommendations and the words you need.

31 sentences · 3 dialogues · 18 words

Why this field

French-speaking countries have a long tradition of film, literature, song and comics, and much of it can be seen in the original with subtitles. If you can talk about it, you will never run out of things to say — culture is one of the most common topics when you meet people.

This page is about talking about culture: saying what you have seen, what you liked and why. There are no quotations or titles here; the sentences fit any film and any book.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

A2I can say which films, books and music I like.
A2I can arrange to go to the cinema or a concert and ask about tickets.
B1I can briefly say what a film or book is about without giving too much away.
B1I can say what I liked and what I didn’t, and give reasons.
B2I can compare the original and the dubbed version and discuss the characters and the ending.

Core vocabulary

18 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

le filmthe filmA2
le cinémathe cinemaA2
le concertthe concertA2
le théâtrethe theatreA2
la musiquethe musicA2
l’expositionthe exhibitionB1
l’œuvrethe work of artB1
le romanthe novelB1
l’intriguethe plotB1
la scènethe stageB1
le spectaclethe performanceB1
la mise en scènethe stagingB1
le publicthe audienceB1
le personnagethe characterB1
le personnage principalthe main characterB2
doublédubbedB2
la fin ouvertethe open endingB2
le sous-titrethe subtitleB2

Practise as flashcards Card box Mixed round

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

Arranging a film night

You suggest an evening at the cinema to a friend.

Marie
Tu fais quelque chose samedi soir ?Are you doing anything on Saturday evening?
Jonas
Non, rien de spécial. Pourquoi ?No, nothing special. Why?
Marie
Il y a un film policier au cinéma du quartier. Ça te dit ?There’s a crime film on at the local cinema. Do you fancy it?
Jonas
Oui, avec plaisir ! C’est en version originale ?Yes, I’d love to! Is it in the original language?
Marie
Oui, avec des sous-titres. La séance est à vingt heures trente.Yes, with subtitles. The screening is at half past eight.
Jonas
Parfait, on se retrouve devant l’entrée.Perfect, let’s meet outside the entrance.

After the film

You are coming out of the cinema and talking about the film.

Jonas
Alors, tu l’as trouvé comment ?So, what did you think of it?
Marie
J’ai bien aimé l’histoire, mais la fin m’a un peu déçue.I liked the story, but the ending was a bit disappointing.
Jonas
Ah bon ? Moi, je l’ai trouvée logique.Really? I thought it made sense.
Marie
Peut-être. Les acteurs jouaient très bien, en tout cas.Maybe. The actors were very good, anyway.
Jonas
Oui, surtout la mère. On sentait tout ce qu’elle ne disait pas.Yes, especially the mother. You could feel everything she didn’t say.
Marie
C’est vrai. On va boire un verre pour en parler ?True. Shall we go for a drink and talk about it?

A book recommendation

A colleague is looking for something to read on holiday.

Colleague 1
Tu peux me conseiller un livre pour les vacances ?Can you recommend a book for the holidays?
Colleague 2
J’ai lu un roman génial le mois dernier.I read a brilliant novel last month.
Colleague 1
Ça parle de quoi ?What’s it about?
Colleague 2
D’une famille qui ouvre un hôtel au bord de la mer. Je ne t’en dis pas plus.A family who open a hotel by the sea. I won’t tell you any more.
Colleague 1
C’est facile à lire en français ?Is it easy to read in French?
Colleague 2
Oui, les phrases sont courtes, et il y a beaucoup de dialogues.Yes, the sentences are short and there’s lots of dialogue.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

J’aime beaucoup lire.I love reading.
A1neutral
C’est très beau !It’s really beautiful!
A1neutral
Tu lis quoi en ce moment ?What are you reading at the moment?
A1casual
Tu aimes quel genre de musique ?What kind of music do you like?
A2casual
On va au cinéma ce soir ?Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
A2casual
J’ai vu un film très drôle hier.I saw a really funny film yesterday.
A2neutral
Le concert commence à vingt heures.The concert starts at eight.
A2neutral
Je préfère les films en version originale.I prefer films in the original language.
A2neutral
C’était bien, mais un peu long.It was good, but a bit long.
A2neutral
Tu es déjà allé au théâtre en France ?Have you ever been to the theatre in France?
A2casual
Il reste des places pour samedi ?Are there any seats left for Saturday?
A2neutral
Le musée est gratuit pour les étudiants ?Is the museum free for students?
A2neutral
L’exposition est ouverte jusqu’à la fin du mois.The exhibition is on until the end of the month.
B1neutral
Le roman se passe dans un petit village de Bretagne.The novel is set in a small village in Brittany.
B1neutral
J’ai trouvé les personnages très crédibles.I found the characters very convincing.
B1neutral
Qu’est-ce que tu en as pensé ?What did you think of it?
B1casual en stands for the thing you are talking about: the film, the book.
J’ai bien aimé la mise en scène, mais pas la fin.I liked the staging, but not the ending.
B1neutral
La salle était pleine, et le public a applaudi pendant cinq minutes.The house was full, and the audience applauded for five minutes.
B1neutral
Les critiques sont plutôt bonnes.The reviews are fairly good.
B1neutral
Je te le conseille, surtout si tu aimes les histoires vraies.I’d recommend it, especially if you like true stories.
B1casual
Ce spectacle est pour toute la famille.This show is for the whole family.
B1neutral
C’est une œuvre qui demande un peu de patience.It’s a work that takes a bit of patience.
B1neutral
Dans la dernière scène, tout s’explique.In the last scene, everything becomes clear.
B1neutral
Quand j’étais petite, je lisais des bandes dessinées tous les soirs.When I was little, I used to read comics every evening.
B1neutral The imparfait describes what used to happen again and again.
Je l’ai vu doublé, et je pense que la version originale est bien meilleure.I saw it dubbed, and I think the original version is much better.
B2neutral
Sans les sous-titres, j’aurais raté la moitié des dialogues.Without the subtitles, I’d have missed half the dialogue.
B2neutral
Le personnage principal évolue beaucoup au fil de l’histoire.The main character changes a lot over the course of the story.
B2neutral
J’aime les films qui ont une fin ouverte et qui font réfléchir.I like films with an open ending that make you think.
B2neutral
Bien que l’intrigue soit simple, le film est très réussi.Although the plot is simple, the film is very well made.
B2neutral
Le réalisateur a choisi de tourner tout le film en noir et blanc.The director chose to shoot the whole film in black and white.
B2neutral
Ce qui m’a frappée, c’est la musique : elle dit tout ce que les personnages taisent.What struck me was the music: it says everything the characters keep to themselves.
B2neutral

What matters here

In France and Belgium the bande dessinée (comic) counts as an art form in its own right; people talk about it the way they talk about literature.
Films in the original version with subtitles are shown en VOST, dubbed versions en VF.
Opinions come in shades: J’ai bien aimé is friendly, j’ai adoré enthusiastic, bof means “meh”.
At the cinema la séance is the screening at a given time; at the theatre you say la représentation.

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in French, then open it to compare.

I love reading.
J’aime beaucoup lire.
I prefer films in the original language.
Je préfère les films en version originale.
I found the characters very convincing.
J’ai trouvé les personnages très crédibles.
It’s a work that takes a bit of patience.
C’est une œuvre qui demande un peu de patience.

Keep learning

The grammar behind it

Word lists that go with it

Practise

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Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.