Louis Malle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Louis Marie Malle[1] (1932-10-30)30 October 1932 Thumeries, France |
| Died | 23 November 1995(1995-11-23) (aged 63) |
| Alma mater | Sciences Po Institut des hautes études cinématographiques |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1953–1995 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3; includingChloe Malle |
Louis Marie Malle (French:[lwimaʁimal]; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French filmmaker who worked inFrance andHollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "difficult to pin down", his works often depict provocative or controversial subject matter.[2]
Malle's most famous works include the crime thrillerElevator to the Gallows (1958), the romantic dramaThe Lovers (1958), the World War II dramaLacombe, Lucien (1974), the period dramaPretty Baby (1978), the romantic crime filmAtlantic City (1980), the dramedyMy Dinner with Andre (1981), and the autobiographicalAu revoir les enfants (1987). He also co-directed the landmark underwater documentaryThe Silent World withJacques Cousteau, which won the1956Palme d'Or and the1957Academy Award for Best Documentary.
CriticPauline Kael once wrote that the common quality of Malle's films was the "restless intelligence one senses in them".[3]
Malle is one of only four directors to have won theGolden Lion twice. His other accolades include threeCésar Awards, twoBAFTAs, and threeOscar nominations. He was made aFellow of theBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts in1991.[4]
Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family inThumeries,Nord, France, the son of Françoise (Béghin) and Pierre Malle.[5] He was part Jewish, but raised as a Catholic.[6]
DuringWorld War II, Malle attended a Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau. As an 11-year-old he witnessed aGestapo raid on the school, in which three Jewish students, including his close friend, and a Jewish teacher were rounded up and deported toAuschwitz. The school's headmaster,Père Jacques, was arrested for harboring them and sent to the concentration camp atMauthausen. Malle depicted these events in his autobiographical filmAu revoir les enfants (1987).
As a young man, Malle studied political science atSciences Po from 1950 to 1952 (some sources incorrectly state that he studied at theSorbonne) before turning to film studies atIDHEC.
Malle worked as co-director and cameraman withJacques Cousteau on the documentaryThe Silent World (1956), which won anOscar and thePalme d'Or at the 1956Academy Awards andCannes Film Festival, respectively. He assistedRobert Bresson onA Man Escaped (Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut, 1956) before making his first feature,Ascenseur pour l'échafaud in 1957 (released in the U.K. asLift to the Scaffold and in the U.S. originally asFrantic, later asElevator to the Gallows). A taut thriller featuring an original score byMiles Davis,Ascenseur pour l'échafaud made an international film star ofJeanne Moreau, at the time a leading stage actress of theComédie-Française. Malle was 24 years old.
Malle'sThe Lovers (Les Amants, 1958), which also starred Moreau, caused major controversy due to its sexual content, leading to a landmarkU.S. Supreme Court case about the legal definition of obscenity. InJacobellis v. Ohio, a theater owner was fined $2,500 for obscenity. The Supreme Court overturned the decision, finding that the film was not obscene and hence constitutionally protected. But the court could not agree on a definition of "obscene", with JusticePotter Stewart famously saying, "I know it when I see it".
Malle is sometimes associated with thenouvelle vague, but his work does not directly fit in with or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work ofJean-Luc Godard,François Truffaut,Claude Chabrol,Éric Rohmer, and others, and he had nothing to do withCahiers du cinéma. But Malle's work does exemplify some of the movement's characteristics, such as using natural light and shooting on location, and his filmZazie dans le Métro (Zazie in the Metro, 1960, an adaptation ofthe Raymond Queneau novel) inspired Truffaut to write Malle an enthusiastic letter.
Other films also tackled taboo subjects:The Fire Within (also calledLe Feu Follet) centers on a man about to commit suicide. Critic Pauline Kael said it should have solidified Malle's reputation in the U.S. as a great film director but suggested that its commercial failure may have been due to distribution issues.[3]Le souffle au cœur (1971) deals with an incestuous relationship between mother and son, andLacombe, Lucien (1974), co-written withPatrick Modiano, is about collaboration with theNazis inVichy France during World War II. The latter earned Malle his first Oscar nomination, for "Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced".
Malle visited India in 1968, and made the seven-part documentary seriesL'Inde fantôme: Reflexions sur un voyage and the documentary filmCalcutta, which was released in cinemas.[7] Concentrating on real India, its rituals and festivities, Malle fell afoul of the Indian government, which disliked his portrayal of the country, in its fascination with the pre-modern, and consequently banned the BBC from filming in India for several years.[8] Malle later said his documentary on India was his favorite film.[8]
Calcutta never opened in New York.[3]
Malle later moved to the United States and continued to direct there. His later films includePretty Baby (1978),Atlantic City (1980),My Dinner with Andre (1981),Crackers (1984),Alamo Bay (1985),Damage (1992) andVanya on 42nd Street (1994, an adaptation ofAnton Chekhov's playUncle Vanya) in English; andAu revoir les enfants (1987) andMilou en Mai (May Fools in the U.S., 1990) in French. Just as his earlier films such asThe Lovers helped popularize French films in the U.S.,My Dinner with Andre was at the forefront of the rise of American independent cinema in the 1980s.
Towards the end of his life, cultural correspondentMelinda Camber Porter interviewed Malle extensively forThe Times. In 1993, the interviews were included in her bookThrough Parisian Eyes: Reflections On Contemporary French Arts And Culture.
Malle was married to actressAnne-Marie Deschodt from 1965 to 1967. He later had a son, Manuel Cuotemoc Malle (born 1971), with German actressGila von Weitershausen, and a daughter, filmmaker Justine Malle (born 1974), with Canadian actressAlexandra Stewart.[9] From mid-1977 until early 1980, he was in a relationship withSusan Sarandon.[10]
Malle married actressCandice Bergen in 1980. They had one child,Chloé Françoise Malle, on 8 November 1985.[11] Malle died oflymphoma, aged 63, at their home in Beverly Hills, California, on 23 November 1995.[12]
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Crazeologie | Yes | Yes | |
| 1954 | Station 307 | Yes | Yes | Also cinematographer |
| 1968 | William Wilson | Yes | Yes | Segment ofSpirits of the Dead |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Elevator to the Gallows | Yes | Yes | |
| The Lovers | Yes | |||
| 1960 | Zazie in the Metro | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1962 | A Very Private Affair | Yes | Yes | |
| 1963 | The Fire Within | Yes | Yes | |
| 1965 | Viva Maria! | Yes | Yes | |
| 1967 | The Thief of Paris | Yes | Yes | |
| 1971 | Murmur of the Heart | Yes | Yes | |
| 1974 | Lacombe, Lucien | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1975 | Black Moon | Yes | Yes | |
| 1978 | Pretty Baby | Yes | Yes | |
| 1980 | Atlantic City | Yes | ||
| 1981 | My Dinner with Andre | Yes | ||
| 1984 | Crackers | Yes | ||
| 1985 | Alamo Bay | Yes | Yes | |
| 1987 | Au revoir les enfants | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1990 | May Fools | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1992 | Damage | Yes | Yes | |
| 1994 | Vanya on 42nd Street | Yes | Yes |
Acting credits
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | A Very Private Affair | A journalist |
| 1969 | A Very Curious Girl | Jésus |
| 1992 | La Vie de Bohème |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | The Silent World | Yes | Co-directed withJacques Cousteau | |
| 1962 | Vive le Tour | Yes | Yes | Also cinematographer |
| 1969 | Calcutta | Yes | Yes | Also narrator |
| 1973 | Human, Too Human | Yes | ||
| 1974 | Place de la République | Yes | Appeared as himself | |
| 1976 | Close Up | Yes | Short film | |
| 1986 | And the Pursuit of Happiness | Yes | Also cinematographer and narrator |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Bons baisers de Bangkok | Short film |
| 1969 | Phantom India | Miniseries; Also narrator |
| 1985 | God's Country | Also cinematographer and narrator |
As himself
| Year | Title | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Murphy Brown | Episode "My Movie with Louis" |
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| Other | |
