How do I prepare for the French film essay?

The two main aptitudes tested by the A level film essay (for most boards you will have the option to write an essay either about a French film or a French language text) is your understanding of the film and your ability to write an essay in French language. At A level you are not expected to perform like a professional film critic! So it is important that you know the film well: watch it several times, try to understand its essence, form some ideas about what the filmmaker is trying to say, the techniques with which they try to do so, and maybe even the film's place in French cinematic history if it is a famous film or contains notable references to other aspects of French culture. Imagine you are going on a date with somebody who has told you this is their favourite film, and you want to have some interesting things to say about it! Part of this process is storing some memorable scenes, lines, shots (visuals), techniques (like camera angles, sound effects, soundtracks) and trivia about the film in your head that you can use in the exam once you see the question.Once you've spent some time getting to know the film and forming opinions about it, you can prepare to use all of that to your advantage in the exam. The first way in which you should go about this is by learning appropriate vocabulary and grammar - the names of cinematographic techniques, for example, and important verb constructions - so that you can turn your ideas into a substantial French essay. Because you don't know what question will come up, avoid pre-learning phrases and ideas before you go in (because this will limit the accuracy of your answer) but you could definitely think about certain constructions or tenses that can fit specific ideas that you like. If in the exam you are discussing past films' influences on this one, you might want to use si+imparfait+conditionnel: you could say that if another filmmaker hadn't used a certain technique first, then it might not have been used in this way in your film. Again: interesting ideas are what will really make your essay stand out, but the ideas are primarily a vehicle for you to demonstrate your understanding of French language and culture (in your understanding of the film) and your ability to use French language to communicate ideas (in your writing of the essay).