Louis Malle
Born
30 October 1932 (93)
Place of Birth
Thumeries, Nord, France
Also known as
Louis Marie Malle
Biography
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....
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.
Filmography (40)
Louis Malle, le révolté
2025
La Vie en Gris: The Anglophone Louis Malle in Seven Pictures
2022
Becoming Cousteau
2021
L'affaire Matzneff
2020
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019
Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
2018
Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown
2016
Louis Malle, le rebelle
2015
The Bardot mystery
2012
On the Trail of the New Wave
2009
365 Day Project
2007
The Passions of Louis Malle
2003
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
1997
Vanya on 42nd Street
1994
Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II
1993
Damage
1992
La Vie de Bohème
1992
May Fools
1990
Au Revoir les Enfants
1987
… And the Pursuit of Happiness
1986
God's Country
1985
Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years
1985
Alamo Bay
1985
The Road to Bresson
1984
My Dinner with Louis
1984
Crackers
1984
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
1982
Hollywood’s Children
1982
My Dinner with Andre
1981
Atlantic City
1980
Pretty Baby
1978
Close up: Dominique Sanda ou le rêve éveillé
1977
🎬 DirectorClose Up
1976
🎬 Director
Black Moon
1975
The Lion Roars Again
1975
Place de la République
1974
A Human Condition
1974
Lacombe, Lucien
1974
Murmur of the Heart
1971
A Very Curious Girl
1969