I have just spent a very entertaining, and educational couple of days watching 2 French films on Netflix.
I have been critical of Netflix France and made my views known to them more then once that of all the films and series they have, multi-lingual and multi-subtitled, most of the French films on there are only subtitled in French.
However, a few days ago I saw that Jean de Florette was listed and its sequel Manon des Source and, as I thoroughly enjoyed both years ago on cassette with English subtitles (still got them but nothing to play them on), thought I would give them a go totally French.
What a joy, perhaps helped by my dimly remembered understanding of the general plot, I kept up with the rapid Provencal accent and subs right through to the end of both. I did pause it once or twice to check on a word I didnât know - bossu=hunchback, baguette (de sourcier)=divining rod and, best of all oeillet=carnation, eyelet (I knew that), but also, hilariously, anus. 
Visions of walking down the road with a bunch of carnations up your arse. 
I am now going to try my hand at a few others that are listed, and maybe see if I can still keep up with a plot which is not, however dimly, remembered. 
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I guess even Netflix would have to have those two on their list. What about other FR films more in the Art Movie category? The class of films more or less equivalent to âliteratureâ?
When I took the Netflix 30 day free trial I went looking for movies by, amongst other directors from USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Japan etc, French directors.
Not one film by Chabrol, Truffaut, Resnais, Renoir, Rohmer. ⊠You name them. They were all absent.
To cancel Netflix one must telephone, so they can try to talk one into staying. I said Iâd stay if he could find me films by the above, and Kurasawa, AlmodĂłvar, Powell/Pressburger, Fellini. You name them - all absent.
I go scoping eBay for DVDs. Theyâre all there, mostly < âŹ10.
Donât have a dvd player anymore, I am very happy with the recently bought computer but didnât notice that it lacked one.
As far as that link to ARTE goes, I only had a quick look but most of what I saw seemed to be American, not French.
Does anybody know the UK film Le Weekend (Jim Broadbent, etc) ? - if you also like French classic cinema, thereâs a rather nice homage to Jean-Luc Godard at the end.
Should be about ÂŁ15-ÂŁ20 online for a USB DVD player.
Not heard of it Geof, but I am a fan of Jim Broadbent, he has been in many British films.
As far as a dvd player goes @Ancient_Mariner, I donât feel the need at the moment but I bet they are readily available on Amazon fr. if I do. 
If not a DVD player, a USB stick perhaps? Your computer should be so equipped already as maybe your TV will be too.
These days, a blue ray player may be more useful than a DVD player since blue ray can contain more data and save swapping out the disks whilst viewing something that cannot be contained on one DVD.
The computer is, though because of all the things that I permanently attach to it there is only one spare usb socket so it would have to be removed each time, might as well if anything have a dvd player. If I wanted one or had often enough need of one. Which at the moment, I donât. 
As to the tv, it does have a large screen and it is slim, but it must be the first of its generation because it is very old and, even if it does have a usb, I would be unwilling to use it as it is very delicate and temperamental. Witness my other thread when a simple thing like switching it off via the remote rather than the, nightly, mains, rendered it useless for the best part of a week. 
Are there any ÂŽclassicâ French films ?
Dunno, I thought tht 2 I just watched were, famous beyond France anyway.
I also have this list to work through and there are a few with GĂ©rard Depardeau to view as wellâŠ
Ad thereâs always Bruno Sellier as Maigret a real classic
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Many.
In the category âThe greatest films of All Timeâ must be âLes Enfants du Paradisâ . Gotta be - even Netflix.fr has it! Just two snippets of reviews
âMarcel CarnĂ©âs towering intimate epic of early 19th-century love and the lives of performers, often heralded as the greatest French film of all timeâ
and
"The great Francois Truffaut has once stated that he would indeed give up all of his films to have directed âChildren of Paradiseâ himself. If thatâs not a testament of the filmâs more than impressive whole, with its ability to impress and stir up healthy jealousy among other equally heralded filmmakers, then I donât know what else will be. The film, shot during the turbulent times of Nazi occupation in France (French Resistance members at the time even secretly worked in the filmâs production), is a miraculous achievement not just of cinema but of the entire realm of art. By merging the symphonic beauty of two of the greatest art forms the world has ever seen (theater and film), Marcel CarnĂ©, the filmâs director, has created an unforgettable screen masterpiece that is both aesthetically moving and emotionally evocative. "
And âLes Parapluis de Cherbourgâ - Netflix added to their catalogue in 2020 - they are improving!
Really, anything by the directors I have mentioned. Itâs the FR film equiv of listing their great writers - Zola, Flaubert, de Balzac et al.
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