Louis Malle

Born: 1932-10-30

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.


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Becoming Cousteau

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-10-22

Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four...

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The Thief of Paris

as Un figurant (uncredited)
Released: 1967-02-22

In Paris around 1900, a young man raised by his wealthy uncle plots revenge after his cousin is...

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Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Released: 2019-08-23

An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz...

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La Vie de Bohème

as Gentleman
Released: 1992-02-27

Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no...

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God's Country

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1985-11-27

In 1979, Louis Malle films the thriving lives of a Minnesota farming community, but returns six...

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A Very Curious Girl

as Jésus
Released: 1969-12-03

Treated as an outcast and exploited by the villagers of a small town, a young woman liberates...

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A Very Private Affair

as Le journaliste (uncredited)
Released: 1962-01-31

After achieving fame as a movie star, a woman finds her private life invaded by relentless fans,...

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… And the Pursuit of Happiness

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1986-06-27

In 1986, Louis Malle examines the immigrant experience in America by interviewing newcomers from...

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The Road to Bresson

as Self
Released: 1984-05-13

A Dutch documentary about legendary French filmmaker Robert Bresson.

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Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2016-09-02

Since the early days, Jerry Lewis—in the line of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel—had the masses...

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Crazeologie

as uncredited
Released: 1954-04-18

Louis Malle's student film, featuring the title song by Charlie Parker.

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Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II

as Self
Released: 1993-11-17

Part one of a BBC documentary about Jean Renoir.

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Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit

as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Released: 2018-04-02

An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one...

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Who Is Henry Jaglom?

as Self
Released: 1997-07-08

Hailed by some as a cinematic genius, a feminist voice and a true maverick of American cinema,...

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365 Day Project

as uncredited
Released: 2007-12-31

This exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in...

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Hollywood’s Children

as Self
Released: 1982-02-24

A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy...

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Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years

as Self
Released: 1985-06-23

Documentary about the life of explorer Jacques Cousteau.

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La Vie en Gris: The Anglophone Louis Malle in Seven Pictures

as uncredited
Released: 2022-10-26

Filmmaker Louis Malle worked adjacent to the French Nouvelle Vague, but was admittedly never...

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Calcutta

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1969-04-16

When he was cutting "Phantom India," Louis Malle found that the footage shot in Calcutta was so...

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Louis Malle, le rebelle

as Self (archiveFootage)
Released: 2015-03-30

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Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson

as Self
Released: 1966-05-11

A documentary, originally produced in 1966 for the French TV series "Pour le plaisir," about...

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L'affaire Matzneff

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2020-01-05

About the Gabriel Matzneff affair and pedophilia in French culture and society from the 1950s to...

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My Dinner with Louis

as Interviewee
Released: 1984-05-06

Interview with director Louis Malle conducted by Wallace Shawn, produced for the BBC-TV...

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Place de la République

as Self
Released: 1974-04-30

Louis Malle presents his entertaining snapshot of the comings and goings on one street corner in...

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Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-12

A talk show presented by Michel Drucker

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Cinépanorama

as Self
First aired: 1956-02-04

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Spécial cinéma

as Self
First aired: 1974-09-25

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Discorama

as Self
First aired: 1959-02-04

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Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

as Self (archive footage)
First aired: 2023-04-03

Actor, model, and global superstar Brooke Shields’ journey from a sexualized young girl to a...

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Phantom India

as Self - Narrator
First aired: 1969-07-25

Louis Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his...

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