Best movies like From Joan of Arc to Philippe Pétain

A fashionable contemporary art gallerist in Chelsea, New York falls for a brooding new music composer in this comic satire of the state of contemporary art.

In this short film, prominent jazz musicians of the 1940s gather for a rare filming of a jam session. This highly stylized chronicle features tenor sax legend Lester Young.

A divinely inspired peasant woman becomes an army captain for France and then is martyred after she is captured.

In the 15th Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen-year-old farm girl Joan of Arc claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army, and conquers Orleans.

Joan of Arc leaves her childhood home after hearing what she believes to be the voice of God. Convinced that only she can lead France to victory against the invading English, she pleads Charles, heir to the throne, to allow her to guide his troops on the battlefield.

In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.

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.

In a small town in occupied France in 1941, the German officer, Werner Von Ebrennac is billeted in the house of the uncle and his niece. The uncle and niece refuse to speak to him, but each evening the officer warms himself by the fire and talks of his country, his music, and his idealistic views of the relationship between France and Germany. That is, until he visits Paris and discovers what is really going on...

In 1429 a teenage girl from a remote French village stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. Following her mission to reclaim god's diminished kingdom - through her amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.

Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.

Biographic film chronicling the last year of the life of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, 1919, who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family. Her parents are against this relationship and stop financial help. Modigliani worked and died in abject poverty in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France.

Famed composer Gustav Mahler reflects on the tragedies of his life and failing marriage while traveling by train.

Rouen, Normandy, 1431, during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by French soldiers from an opposing faction, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, is unjustly tried by an ecclesiastical court overseen by her English enemies.

Young Joan of Arc comes to the palace in France to make The Dauphin King of France and is appointed to head the French Army. After winning many battles she is not needed any longer and soon she is thought of as a witch.

It's late 17th century. The viola da gamba player Monsieur de Sainte Colombe comes home to find that his wife died while he was away. In his grief he builds a small house in his garden into which he moves to dedicate his life to music and his two young daughters Madeleine and Toinette, avoiding the outside world. Rumor about him and his music is widespread, and even reaches to the court of Louis XIV, who wants him at his court in Lully's orchestra, but Monsieur de Sainte Colombe refuses. One day a young man, Marin Marais, comes to see him with a request, he wants to be taught how to play the violin.

Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, and those of his two successors, are followed in more detail to the start of the Revolution, after which the story is brought rapidly up to date. A huge cast plays mainly historical persons who appear briefly.

The history of one of France's most famous streets is retold, featuring multiple performances from Guitry himself.

Julie and Désirée Clary are courted by the brothers Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. Joseph marries Julie and Napoleon is affianced to Désirée. When Napoleon breaks the engagement and marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, Désirée becomes involved with General Bernadotte.

Husbands and wives, lovers and gigolos, all break a sweat when Dr. Marcelin’s newly-revised last will and testament is prematurely exposed.

The history of women through the Middle Ages as told to and by little boys and girls and an old man (Michael Lonsdale)

Three characters living in an unfinished painting venture out into the real world in search of their creator to convince him to finish his work.

In 1430, Joan of Arc, the prisoner of a powerful lord of the north of France is sold to the English. As a captive awaiting her death, she is approached by different men for whom she is believed to be the embodiment of the infinite.

A young journalist (Lespert) helps the French President compile his memoirs.

From Moscow to Mexico City, Eisenstein was privileged enough to met the cultural heroes of the era and embrace them as compatriots, with a handshake. Such was his reputation as the wunderkind of the new art of cinema, everybody wanted to meet him; there were writers, painters, critics, theorists and philosophers, as well as composers, architects, and artists from all branches of the cultural life that was shaping minds and civilizations. Our project would follow Eisenstein's journey and note the significant characters he encountered on his travels, with a focus on Switzerland.

Writer, journalist, explorer, filmmaker, communist militant, freedom fighter. Truths and lies. A plot twist. Politician. General De Gaulle's shadow. Overwhelmed by the weight of power. The numerous exploits of André Malraux (1901-1976).

The writer Pierre Carot became rich and famous with his book "Life as a Couple", which was based on the loving relationships of four couples. Now he's setting up his will and wants to leave his wealth to the couples among the four, which are still as deeply in love - if any: else, his companions get the money. He sends them out to visit the couples and test their love.

In 1944, a retired German detachment found itself stranded in a French town. The inhabitants try to live in good harmony with the occupants. But one day kids, playing with a grenade, accidentally cause the death of an SS lieutenant.

Writer and historian Dr Helen Castor explores the life - and death - of Joan of Arc. Joan was an extraordinary figure - a female warrior in an age that believed women couldn't fight, let alone lead an army. But Joan was driven by faith and today, more than ever, we are acutely aware of the power of faith to drive actions for good or ill. Since her death, Joan has become an icon for almost everyone: the left and the right, Catholics and Protestants, traditionalists and feminists. But where, in all of this, is the real Joan - the experiences of a teenage peasant girl who achieved the seemingly impossible? Through an astonishing manuscript, we can hear Joan's own words at her trial and, as Helen unpicks Joan's story and places her back in the world that she inhabited, the real human Joan emerges.

The most critically celebrated Rue essay of 1979 was the two-part Petit Manuel d'Histoire de France, directed by the exiled Chilean filmmaker Raul Ruiz, who brought to this commission some of the stylistic fabulism for which he was becoming known in avant-garde cinema.

The myth of Joan of Arc has fascinated people the world over. In the collective memory, she is the young shepherd girl who died at the stake having saved France. But 15th century chronicles report that following events in Rouen, certain people refused to believe she was dead and that another woman was burned instead.

A drama based on the life of 18th century Italian lyricist Lorenzo da Ponte, who collaborated with Mozart on his "Don Giovanni" opera.

On November 17, 2012, Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard joined the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra for a performance of Arthur Honegger’s oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake (Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher) at the L'Auditori de Barcelona in Spain, broadcast live on Medici.tv. By Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher (1938) is an imposing oratorio. The libretto is a highly original creation by French poet and playwright Paul Claudel, who dramatises the last moments of the martyr's life. Originally written for actress Ida Rubinstein, the oratorio is written as a flashback in which Joan recalls her life, just before she dies. Honegger creates visually evocative ambiances and fills the orchestra with new sounds (saxophones, ondes Martenot). The initial prologue to the piece was added in 1944 as a symbol of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of France: again, Joan goes beyond her own story.