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Louis Malle
Malle2.jpg
Born
Louis Marie Malle

(1932-10-30)30 October 1932
Thumeries, Nord, France
Died 23 November 1995(1995-11-23) (aged 63)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Alma mater Sciences Po
La Fémis
Occupation
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active 1953–1995
Spouse(s)
Anne-Marie Deschodt
​
​
(m. 1965; div. 1967)​

​
(m. 1980)​
Children 3

Louis Marie Malle (French: [lwi mal]; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmography encompassed a variety genres that included documentaries, romances, period dramas, and thrillers. He often depicted provocative or controversial subject matter.

His most famous works include the crime thriller Elevator to the Gallows (1958), the romantic drama The Lovers (1958), the World War II drama Lacombe, Lucien (1974), the period drama Pretty Baby (1978), the romantic crime film Atlantic City (1980), the dramedy My Dinner with Andre (1981), and the autobiographical Au revoir les enfants (1987). He also co-directed the landmark underwater documentary The Silent World with Jacques Cousteau, which won the 1956 Palme d'Or and the 1957 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Malle was one of only four directors to have won the Golden Lion twice. His other accolades included three Césars, two BAFTAs, and three Oscar nominations. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1991.

Early life

Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries, Nord, France, the son of Françoise (Béghin) and Pierre Malle.

During World War II, Malle attended a Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau. As an 11-year-old he witnessed a Gestapo raid on the school, in which three Jewish students, including his close friend, and a Jewish teacher were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz. The school's headmaster, Père Jacques, was arrested for harboring them and sent to the concentration camp at Mauthausen. Malle later depicted these events in his autobiographical film Au revoir les enfants (1987).

As a young man, Malle initially studied political science at Sciences Po from 1950 to 1952 (some sources incorrectly state that he studied at the Sorbonne) before turning to film studie] at IDHEC.

Career

Malle worked as the co-director and cameraman to Jacques Cousteau on the documentary The Silent World (1956), which won an Oscar and the Palme d'Or at the 1956 Academy Awards and Cannes Film Festival respectively. He assisted Robert Bresson on A Man Escaped (French title: 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. as Lift to the Scaffold and in the U.S. originally as Frantic, later as Elevator to the Gallows). A taut thriller featuring an original score by Miles Davis, Ascenseur pour l'échafaud 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 is sometimes associated with the nouvelle vague movement. His work does not directly fit in with or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Éric Rohmer and others, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with the Cahiers du cinéma. However, Malle's work does exemplify some of the characteristics of the movement, such as using natural light and shooting on location, and his film Zazie dans le Métro ("Zazie in the Metro", 1960, an adaptation of the Raymond Queneau novel) inspired Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle.

Documentary on India

Malle visited India in 1968, and made the seven-part documentary series L'Inde fantôme: Reflexions sur un voyage and the documentary film Calcutta, 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.

Move to the U.S.

Malle later moved to the United States and continued to direct there. His later films include Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City (1980), My Dinner with Andre (1981), Crackers (1984), Alamo Bay (1985), Damage (1992) and Vanya on 42nd Street (1994, an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya) in English; Au revoir les enfants (1987) and Milou en Mai (May Fools in the U.S., 1990) in French. 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.

Towards the end of his life, Malle was interviewed extensively for The Times by cultural correspondent Melinda Camber Porter. In 1993, the interviews were included in Camber Porter's book Through Parisian Eyes: Reflections On Contemporary French Arts And Culture.

Personal life

Malle was married to actress Anne-Marie Deschodt from 1965 to 1967. He later had a son, Manuel Cuotemoc Malle (born 1971), with German actress Gila von Weitershausen, and a daughter, filmmaker Justine Malle (born 1974), with Canadian actress Alexandra Stewart.

He married actress Candice Bergen in 1980. They had one child, a daughter, Chloé Françoise Malle, on 8 November 1985. He died from lymphoma, aged 63, at their home in Beverly Hills, California on 23 November 1995.

Filmography

Feature films

Year Title Director Writer Producer Other Notes
1953 Crazeologie Yes Yes Short film
1954 Station 307 Yes Yes Yes Short film; Also cinematographer
1958 Elevator to the Gallows Yes Yes
1960 Zazie in the Metro Yes Yes Yes
1962 A Very Private Affair Yes Yes Yes Appeared as a journalist
1963 The Fire Within Yes Yes
1965 Viva Maria! Yes Yes
1967 The Thief of Paris Yes Yes
1968 Spirits of the Dead Yes Yes Segment: "William Wilson"
1969 A Very Curious Girl Yes Appeared as Jésus
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 La Vie de Bohème Yes Appeared in a cameo
1992 Damage Yes Yes
1994 Vanya on 42nd Street Yes Yes

Documentary films

Year Title Director Writer Producer Other Notes
1956 The Silent World Yes Co-directed with Jacques Cousteau
1962 Vive le Tour Yes Yes Yes Also cinematographer
1969 Calcutta Yes Yes Yes Also narrator
1973 Human, Too Human Yes
1974 Place de la République Yes Yes Appeared as himself
1976 Close Up Yes Short film
1986 And the Pursuit of Happiness Yes Yes Also cinematographer and narrator

Television

Year Title Director Writer Producer Other Notes
1964 Bons baisers de Bangkok Yes Short film
1969 Phantom India Yes Yes Miniseries; Also narrator
1985 God's Country Yes Yes Also cinematographer and narrator
1994 Murphy Brown Yes Appeared as himself; Episode: "My Movie with Louis"

Awards and nominations

See also

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