Louis Malle
Louis Malle (
October 30,
1932 –
November 23,
1995) was a
French film director.
Malle was born into a wealthy family in Thumeries,
Nord,
France. He initially studied
political science at the
Sorbonne before turning to film studies instead. He worked as an assistant to
Jacques Cousteau on the documentary
The Silent World (1956) and assisted
Robert Bresson on
A Man Escaped (1956) before making his first feature,
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (
Frantic, re-released in 2005 as
Elevator to the Gallows) in 1957.
Malle's
Les Amants (1958), which like
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud starred
Jeanne Moreau, caused some controversy due to its sexual content.
Malle was not, ever, in any way, associated with the
nouvelle vague - his work doesn't fit in or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of
Truffaut,
Chabrol,
Rohmer, and others, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with
Cahiers du cinema. Nonetheless, his film
Zazie dans le métro (1960, an adaptation of the
Raymond Queneau novel) did inspire
Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle about
Zazie;
Truffaut probably felt that the film placed style-before subject -- an indication that Malle was heading off in an auteurist direction. (This assumption proved false;
Zazie, like Malle's other films, places a flexible array of styles at the service of their respective subjects).
Other films also tackled taboo subjects:
Le Feu Follet (
The Fire Within, 1963) centres on a man about to commit suicide,
Le souffle au cÅ"ur (1971) deals with an
incestuous relationship between mother and son and
Lacombe Lucien (1974) is about French collaboration and resistance in
World War II.
Malle later moved to
Hollywood and continued to direct there. His later films include
Pretty Baby (1978),
Atlantic City (1981),
My Dinner with Andre (1981),
Au revoir, les enfants (1987),
Milou en Mai (
May Fools, 1990),
Damage (1992), and
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994, an adaptation of
Anton Chekhov's play
Uncle Vanya).
Malle was married to Anne-Marie Deschodt from 1965 – 1967. He later married the actress
Candice Bergen in 1981. They had a daughter, Chloe Malle, in 1985. He also had a son, Manuel Cuotemoc (born 1971), with former girlfriend
Gila von Weitershausen.
He died at his home in
Beverly Hills of
lymphoma, aged 63.
A number of books have been written on Malle. The interview collection
Malle on Malle was published by
Faber in 1992 and revised, after the director's death, in 1996.
The Films of Louis Malle: A Critical Analysis, a detailed critical exploration of Malle's films, written by
Nathan Southern and
Jacques Weissgerber, was published by
McFarland in 2005.
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
(Ascenseur pour l'échafaud)The Lovers (1958)
(Les Amants)Zazie in the Metro (1960)
(Zazie dans le métro)Le Feu Follet (1963)
Murmur of the Heart (1971)
(Le souffle au cÅ"ur)Lacombe Lucien (1974)
Black Moon (1975
Pretty Baby (1978)
Atlantic City (1981)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Crackers (1984)
Au revoir, les enfants (1987)
May Fools (1990)
(Milou en Mai)Damage (1992)
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
