5 Hollywood movies you didn't realise were remakes of French films

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France has a reputation for great cinema. From the films of François Truffaut to the acting performances of Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon and Sophie Marceau, French cinema has inspired numerous innovations in the world of filmmaking, and produced a litany of classics that in some cases have served as the basis for popular Hollywood remakes.

What many people don't realise is that some of their favourite movies were originally French. True - in some cases, the adaptation is only loosely based on the original. But in other cases, they are nearly word-for-word remakes (albeit in a different language...).

Let's take a look at some of the French films that have been remade as American movies over the years.

The 2010 comedy film starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd was actually based on Le Dîner de Cons, a 1998 comedy written by Francis Veber. In both films, the premise is the same: a group of well-to-do guests get together for a weekly dinner party. Each guest brings a plus one. Instead of a friend or romantic partner, however, the they must bring an amusing (and somewhat unintelligent) 'schmuck' (or 'con', in the French original) to entertain the other guests.

Both films follow the ups and downs of the relationship between the main character, a wealthy businessman, and the schmuck, although there are a few key differences. In Le Dîner de Cons, Pignon, the 'con', spends his free time building matchsticks replicas of famous landmarks, while in Dinner for Schmucks, which is even more ridiculous than the source material, Barry Speck (played by Steve Carell) creates 'mousterpieces': taxidermies of mice arranged into famous art pieces.

While The Birdcage was preceded by the French-Italian film, La Cage aux Folles, it's probably more accurate to state that it was based on the 1973 French play of the same name. The story is about a gay couple whose son announces his engagement to the daughter of a very conservative politician, and the fallout that happens as a result.

The original play (and film) were somewhat ahead of their time in exploring issues around society and sexuality, although the American adaptation received favourable reviews and was still considered revolutionary for being one of the first movies from a major studio to feature LGBT protagonists.

Not many people know that Terry Gilliam's 1995 sci-fi thriller is based on the short French film, La Jetée. While both films are set in an apocalyptic wasteland, La Jetée's setting is the aftermath of a nuclear war, 12 Monkeys' the aftermath of a virus. Stylistically, the films are very different too. Indeed, La Jetée is composed almost entirely of an audio narration played over a series of stills, while 12 Monkeys is a live action thriller. Given that the American remake is over four times as long as the half-an-hour long La Jetée (which you can watch on YouTube for free), it also covers a lot more thematically, such as the thin line between sanity and madness, as well as more profound questions around identity, politics and environmental themes.

Some Like It Hot remains to this day one of Hollywood's silver screen comedy classics, but it's based on an even earlier French film called Fanfare d'amour, about two musicians who disguise themselves as women in an attempt to join an all-female orchestra on their way to the Côte d'Azur. In the American remake, the destination is Florida but the other details remain the same, and both films continue to elicit laughs from viewers even today.

Fanfare d'amour was also remade in West Germany in 1951 as Fanfaren der Liebe.

In this instance, the original arguably remains more famous than the remake.

Intouchables follows the story of two men, one a Parisian aristocrat, the other a live-in caretaker who is charged with looking after him after a paragliding accident. Despite their backgrounds, the two develop an enduring, heartwarming friendship. The story inspired by the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his carer, Abdel Sellou.

It was remade in 2017, starring Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart and Nicole Kidman, and received mixed reviews. In 2016, Indian and Argentinian remakes of Intouchables were also produced.

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