Louis Malle
Louis Marie Malle (30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. His film "The Silent World" won the Palme d'Or in 1956 and the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1957, although he was not credited at the ceremony with the award instead being presented to the film's co-director Jacques Cousteau. Later in his career he was nominated multiple times for Academy Awards. Malle is also one of the few directors to have won the Golden Lion multiple times. Malle worked in both French cinema and Hollywood, and he produced both French and English language films. His most famous films include the crime film "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958), the World War II drama "Lacombe, Lucien" (1974), the romantic crime film "Atlantic City" (1980), the comedy-drama "My Dinner with Andre" (1981), and the autobiographical film "Au Revoir les Enfants" (1987). Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries, Nord, France. He initially studied political science at Sciences Po before turning to film studies at IDHEC instead. He assisted Robert Bresson on "A Man Escaped" (1956) before making his first feature, "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958), a taut thriller featuring an original score by Miles Davis, which made an international film star of Jeanne Moreau, at the time a leading stage actress of the Comédie-Française. Malle was 24 years old. Malle's "The Lovers" (1958), which also starred Moreau, caused major controversy due to its sexual content, leading to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case regarding the legal definition of obscenity. Malle is sometimes associated with the nouvelle vague movement, and while Malle's work does not directly fit in with or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, Rohmer and others, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with the Cahiers du cinéma, his films do exemplify many of the characteristics of the movement, such as using natural light and shooting on location, and his film "Zazie dans le Métro" (1960), an adaptation of the Raymond Queneau novel, inspired Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle. In 1968 Malle visited India and made a seven-part documentary series "Phantom India" (1969), which was released in cinemas. 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. Malle later claimed his documentary on India was his favorite film. Malle later moved to the United States and continued to direct there. Just as his earlier films such as "The Lovers" helped popularize French films in the United States, "My Dinner with Andre" was at the forefront of the rise of American independent cinema in the 1980s.
Becoming Cousteau
as Self (archive footage)Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four...
Movie pageThe Thief of Paris
as Un figurant (uncredited)In Paris around 1900, a young man raised by his wealthy uncle plots revenge after his cousin is...
Movie pageMiles Davis: Birth of the Cool
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz...
Movie pageLa Vie de Bohème
as GentlemanThree penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no...
Movie pageGod's Country
as Narrator (voice)In 1979, Louis Malle films the thriving lives of a Minnesota farming community, but returns six...
Movie pageA Very Curious Girl
as JésusTreated as an outcast and exploited by the villagers of a small town, a young woman liberates...
Movie pageA Very Private Affair
as Le journaliste (uncredited)After achieving fame as a movie star, a woman finds her private life invaded by relentless fans,...
Movie page… And the Pursuit of Happiness
as Narrator (voice)In 1986, Louis Malle examines the immigrant experience in America by interviewing newcomers from...
Movie pageThe Road to Bresson
as SelfA Dutch documentary about legendary French filmmaker Robert Bresson.
Movie pageJerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown
as Self (archive footage)Since the early days, Jerry Lewis—in the line of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel—had the masses...
Movie pageCrazeologie
as uncreditedLouis Malle's student film, featuring the title song by Charlie Parker.
Movie pageJean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II
as SelfPart one of a BBC documentary about Jean Renoir.
Movie pageJeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one...
Movie pageWho Is Henry Jaglom?
as SelfHailed by some as a cinematic genius, a feminist voice and a true maverick of American cinema,...
Movie page365 Day Project
as uncreditedThis exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in...
Movie pageHollywood’s Children
as SelfA documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy...
Movie pageJacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years
as SelfDocumentary about the life of explorer Jacques Cousteau.
Movie pageLa Vie en Gris: The Anglophone Louis Malle in Seven Pictures
as uncreditedFilmmaker Louis Malle worked adjacent to the French Nouvelle Vague, but was admittedly never...
Movie pageCalcutta
as Narrator (voice)When he was cutting "Phantom India," Louis Malle found that the footage shot in Calcutta was so...
Movie pageUn metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson
as SelfA documentary, originally produced in 1966 for the French TV series "Pour le plaisir," about...
Movie pageL'affaire Matzneff
as Self (archive footage)About the Gabriel Matzneff affair and pedophilia in French culture and society from the 1950s to...
Movie pageMy Dinner with Louis
as IntervieweeInterview with director Louis Malle conducted by Wallace Shawn, produced for the BBC-TV...
Movie pagePlace de la République
as SelfLouis Malle presents his entertaining snapshot of the comings and goings on one street corner in...
Movie pageLes Rendez-vous du dimanche
as SelfA talk show presented by Michel Drucker
TV Show pagePretty Baby: Brooke Shields
as Self (archive footage)Actor, model, and global superstar Brooke Shields’ journey from a sexualized young girl to a...
TV Show pagePhantom India
as Self - NarratorLouis Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his...
TV Show page