Four great French movies to watch on your Summer holiday!

Le retour du héros, Laurent Tirard

France 1809. The charming Captain Neuville is set to marry the naive Pauline when the war breaks out, forcing Neuville to depart for the battlefield. After not hearing from the captain for months, Pauline soon starts to become ill with worry, pushing her sister Elizabeth to write fake letters on behalf of Neuville thinking he would never come back.When Neuville finally returns home unexpectedly, he is welcomed in glory but in truth is a war deserter and an opportunistic coward. A suspicious Elizabeth is determined to expose the real Neuville and the two imposters are about to start a ruthless fight, conspiring against each other using the best tricks they can find.

120 BPM, Robin Campillo

As the AIDS epidemic tears through their community, the members of ACT UP Paris are fighting for survival. While they battle against governmental apathy, pharmaceutical greed and public ignorance, they also go out partying, debate politics and, occasionally, fall in love. One day, as outspoken radical Sean (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) strikes up a conversation with shy newcomer Nathan (Arnaud Valois), they have no idea that their lives are about to change forever.

L’Atelier, Laurent Cantet

La Ciotat, the South of France. Antoine attends a summer writing workshop in which a few young people have been selected to write a crime thriller with the help of Olivia, a famous novelist. The creative process will recall the town’s industrial past, a form of nostalgia to which Antoine feels indifferent. More concerned with the fears of the modern world, the young man soon clashes with the group and Olivia, who seems at the same time alarmed and captivated by Antoine’s violence.

Polisse, Maïwenn

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for 13 César Awards, Polisse follows the daily lives of a tight-knit team of men and women working in the Child Protection Unit of the Parisian police. Basing her richly textured script on real child investigation cases, writer-director actor Maïwenn has gathered an accomplished ensemble cast of French actors who convey the emotional strain of the unit’s work with gritty realism. They not only deal with the stress of their jobs but the inevitable fall-out in their personal lives-breakdowns, divorce and adulterous relations within the force. In between, there are frequent flashes of humor as the team attempts to diffuse daily realities. As the cases,confessions and interrogations pile up, the squad members have only each other as support as they face an uphill battle against both criminals and bureaucracy.