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{{Infobox actor
Le Douche Bag
| name = Louis Malle
| image =
| birthdate = 30 October 1932
| birthplace = [[Thumeries]], [[Nord (département)|Nord]], [[France]]
| deathdate = 23 November 1995 (aged {{age|1932|10|30|1995|11|23}})
| deathplace = [[Beverly Hills]], [[California]], [[USA]]
| spouse = Anne-Marie Deschodt (1965-1967) <br>[[Candice Bergen]] (1980-1995)
| yearsactive = 1953-1994
| baftaawards = '''[[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]''' <br> 1980 ''[[Atlantic City]]'' <br> 1987 ''[[Au revoir, les enfants]]''
| cesarawards = '''[[César Award for Best Director|Best Director]]''' <br> 1988 ''[[Au revoir, les enfants]]'' <br>
'''[[César Award for Best Film|Best Film]]''' <br> 1988 ''[[Au revoir, les enfants]]''<br>
'''[[César Award for Best Writing|Best Writing]]''' <br> 1988 ''[[Au revoir, les enfants]]''
}}

'''Louis Malle''' (30 October 1932 &ndash; 23 November 1995) was a [[France|French]] [[film director]], working in both [[French language|French]] and [[English language|English]].

== Biography ==
=== Early years in France ===
Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries, [[Nord (département)|Nord]], [[France]]. He initially studied [[political science]] at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] before turning to [[film studies]] at [[La Fémis|IDHEC]] instead.

He worked as the co-director and cameraman to [[Jacques-Yves Cousteau|Jacques Cousteau]] on the [[Academy Award for Documentary Feature|Oscar]] and [[Palme d'Or]]-winning (at the 1956 [[Academy Awards]] and [[Cannes Film Festival]] respectively) documentary ''[[The Silent World]]'' (1956) and 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, ''[[Elevator to the Gallows|Ascenseur pour l'échafaud]]'' (originally released in the U.S. as ''Frantic'', later as ''Elevator to the Gallows'') in 1957. A taut thriller featuring an original score by [[Miles Davis]], the film made an international film star of [[Jeanne Moreau]], at the time a leading stage actress of the state [[Comédie-Française]]. Malle was 24 years old.

Malle's ''[[The Lovers (film)|The Lovers]]'' (''Les Amants'', 1958), which also starred Moreau, caused major controversy due to its sexual content leading to a landmark [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] case regarding the legal definition of obscenity. In [[Jacobellis v. Ohio]], a theater owner was fined $2500 for obscenity. It was eventually reversed by the higher court that found that the film was not obscene and hence constitutionally protected. However, the court could not agree on the definition of "obscene," which caused Justice Potter Stewart to utter his "[[I know it when I see it]]" opinion, perhaps the most famous single line associated with the court.

[[Image:amants02.jpg|thumb|left|A Scene from ''[[The Lovers (film)|The Lovers]]'' (1958)]]
Malle is sometimes incorrectly associated with the ''[[nouvelle vague]]'' - his work does not fit in or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of [[François Truffaut|Truffaut]], [[Claude Chabrol|Chabrol]], [[Éric Rohmer|Rohmer]], and others, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with ''[[Cahiers du cinema]]''. Nonetheless, his film ''[[Zazie in the Metro (film)|Zazie dans le métro]]'' ("Zazie in the Metro," 1960, an adaptation of the [[Raymond Queneau]] novel) did inspire Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle.

Other films also tackled taboo subjects: ''[[The Fire Within]]'' ("Le Feu follet") (1963) centres on a man about to commit suicide, ''[[Le souffle au cœur|Murmur of the Heart]]'' (1971) deals with an [[incest]]uous relationship between mother and son and ''[[Lacombe Lucien]]'' (1974) is about collaboration with the [[Nazi]]s in [[Vichy]] France in [[World War II]]. The second film earned Malle his first (of three) [[Academy Award]] nominations for "Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced."

=== Move to America, Work in English ===
Malle later moved to the United States and continued to direct there. His later films include ''[[Pretty Baby (film)|Pretty Baby]]'' (1978), ''[[Atlantic City (film)|Atlantic City]]'' (1981), ''[[My Dinner with Andre]]'' (1981), ''[[Crackers (1984 film)|Crackers]]'' (1984), ''[[Alamo Bay]]'' (1985), ''[[Damage (film)|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. It is interesting to note that just as his earlier films such as ''Frantic'' and ''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.

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

He married actress [[Candice Bergen]] in 1981. They had one child, a daughter, Chloé Malle, in 1985. He died at their home in [[Beverly Hills, California]], of [[lymphoma]].

==Awards and nominations==
*''[[Le Monde du silence]]'' (1956)
**[[Cannes Film Festival]] '''[[Palme d'Or]] Winner'''
*''[[The Lovers (film)|The Lovers]]'' (1958)
**[[Venice Film Festival]] '''Special Jury Prize Winner'''
*''[[Le Feu follet]]'' (1963)
**[[Venice Film Festival]] '''Special Jury Prize Winner'''
**[[Venice Film Festival]] '''Italian Film Critics Award Winner'''
*''Calcutta'' (1969)
**[[Cannes Film Festival]] Official Selection
*''[[Murmur of the Heart]]'' (1971)
**[[Cannes Film Festival]] Official Selection
*''[[Pretty Baby (film)|Pretty Baby]]'' (1978)
**[[Cannes Film Festival]] '''Technical Grand Prize Winner'''
*''[[Atlantic City (film)|Atlantic City]]'' (1981)
**[[Venice Film Festival]] '''[[Golden Lion]] Winner'''
*''[[Crackers (1984 film)|Crackers]]'' (1984)
**[[Berlin Film Festival]] Official Selection
*''[[Au revoir, les enfants|Goodbye, Children]]'' (1987)
**[[Venice Film Festival]] '''[[Golden Lion]] Winner'''
**[[Venice Film Festival]] '''OCIC Award Winner'''

== Filmography ==
=== Feature Films ===
*''[[Lift to the Scaffold]]'' (1958)
**''Ascenseur pour l'échafaud''
*''[[The Lovers (film)|The Lovers]]'' (1958)
**''Les Amants''
*''[[Zazie in the Metro (film)|Zazie in the Metro]]'' (1960)
**''Zazie dans le métro''
*''[[Vie privée|A Very Private Affair]]'' (1962)
**''Vie privée''
*''[[The Fire Within]]'' (1963)
**''Le feu follet''
*''[[Viva Maria!]]'' (1965)
*''[[The Thief of Paris]]'' (1967)
**''Le voleur''
**''Spirits of the Dead''
*''[[Murmur of the Heart]]'' (1971)
**''Le souffle au cœur''
*''[[Lacombe Lucien]]'' (1974)
*''[[Black Moon (film)|Black Moon]]'' (1975)
*''[[Pretty Baby (film)|Pretty Baby]]'' (1978)
*''[[Atlantic City (film)|Atlantic City]]'' (1981)
*''[[My Dinner with Andre]]'' (1981)
*''[[Crackers (1984 film)|Crackers]]'' (1984)
*''[[Alamo Bay]]'' (1985)
*''[[Au revoir, les enfants]]'' (1987)
*''[[Milou en Mai]]'' (1990)
**''May Fools''
*''[[Damage (film)|Damage]]'' (1992)
*''[[Vanya on 42nd Street]]'' (1994)

=== Short Films ===
*''Crazeologie'' (1953)
*''Station 307'' (1954)
*''[[Histoires extraordinaires]]'' (1968) ''(segment "William Wilson")''

=== Documentary Films ===
*''[[Le Monde du silence|The Silent World ]]'' (1956) ''Co-director''
**''Le Monde du silence''
*''Vive le Tour'' (1962)
*''Calcutta'' (1969)
*''Humain, trop humain'' (1974)
*''Place de la république'' (1974)
*''Close Up'' (1976) ''Short''

=== TV ===
*''Bons baisers de Bangkok'' (1964) ''Documentary Short''
*''L'Inde Fantôme'' (1969)
**''Phantom India''
*''Dominique Sanda ou Le rêve éveillé'' (1977) ''Documentary Short''
*''[[God's Country]]'' (1986) ''Documentary''
*''[[...And the Pursuit of Happiness]]'' (1986) ''Documentary''

== Bibliography ==
A number of books have been written on Malle and his work. The interview collection ''Malle on Malle'' was published by [[Faber and Faber]] in 1992 and revised, after the director's death, in 1996. The definitive biography of the director is only available in French, Pierre Billard's ''Louis Malle - Rebelle solitaire'' (2003). The study, ''Louis Malle'', written by Hugo Frey, was published by Manchester University Press in 2004. ''The Films of Louis Malle: A Critical Analysis'', a detailed critical exploration of Malle's films, written by Nathan Southern and Jacques Weissgerber, was published by [[McFarland]] in 2005.

== External links ==
*[http://www.theyshootpictures.com/mallelouis.htm They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?]
*{{imdb name|id=0001501|name=Louis Malle}}
*[http://rialtopictures.com/elevator.html/ Rialto Pictures Website] - entry for ''Elevator to the Gallows''.

{{Louis Malle's films}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malle, Louis}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:Cancer deaths in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from lymphoma]]
[[Category:French expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:French film directors]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]

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Revision as of 15:01, 5 December 2008

Louis Malle
Years active1953-1994
Spouse(s)Anne-Marie Deschodt (1965-1967)
Candice Bergen (1980-1995)

Louis Malle (30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, working in both French and English.

Biography

Early years in France

Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries, Nord, France. He initially studied political science at the Sorbonne before turning to film studies at IDHEC instead.

He worked as the co-director and cameraman to Jacques Cousteau on the Oscar and Palme d'Or-winning (at the 1956 Academy Awards and Cannes Film Festival respectively) documentary The Silent World (1956) and 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 (originally released in the U.S. as Frantic, later as Elevator to the Gallows) in 1957. A taut thriller featuring an original score by Miles Davis, the film made an international film star of Jeanne Moreau, at the time a leading stage actress of the state Comédie-Française. Malle was 24 years old.

Malle's The Lovers (Les Amants, 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. In Jacobellis v. Ohio, a theater owner was fined $2500 for obscenity. It was eventually reversed by the higher court that found that the film was not obscene and hence constitutionally protected. However, the court could not agree on the definition of "obscene," which caused Justice Potter Stewart to utter his "I know it when I see it" opinion, perhaps the most famous single line associated with the court.

File:Amants02.jpg
A Scene from The Lovers (1958)

Malle is sometimes incorrectly associated with the nouvelle vague - his work does not fit in or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of Truffaut, Chabrol, Rohmer, and others, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with Cahiers du cinema. Nonetheless, his film Zazie dans le métro ("Zazie in the Metro," 1960, an adaptation of the Raymond Queneau novel) did inspire Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle.

Other films also tackled taboo subjects: The Fire Within ("Le Feu follet") (1963) centres on a man about to commit suicide, Murmur of the Heart (1971) deals with an incestuous relationship between mother and son and Lacombe Lucien (1974) is about collaboration with the Nazis in Vichy France in World War II. The second film earned Malle his first (of three) Academy Award nominations for "Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced."

Move to America, Work in English

Malle later moved to the United States and continued to direct there. His later films include Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City (1981), 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. It is interesting to note that just as his earlier films such as Frantic and 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.

Personal life

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

He married actress Candice Bergen in 1981. They had one child, a daughter, Chloé Malle, in 1985. He died at their home in Beverly Hills, California, of lymphoma.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Feature Films

Short Films

Documentary Films

  • The Silent World (1956) Co-director
    • Le Monde du silence
  • Vive le Tour (1962)
  • Calcutta (1969)
  • Humain, trop humain (1974)
  • Place de la république (1974)
  • Close Up (1976) Short

TV

  • Bons baisers de Bangkok (1964) Documentary Short
  • L'Inde Fantôme (1969)
    • Phantom India
  • Dominique Sanda ou Le rêve éveillé (1977) Documentary Short
  • God's Country (1986) Documentary
  • ...And the Pursuit of Happiness (1986) Documentary

Bibliography

A number of books have been written on Malle and his work. The interview collection Malle on Malle was published by Faber and Faber in 1992 and revised, after the director's death, in 1996. The definitive biography of the director is only available in French, Pierre Billard's Louis Malle - Rebelle solitaire (2003). The study, Louis Malle, written by Hugo Frey, was published by Manchester University Press in 2004. The Films of Louis Malle: A Critical Analysis, a detailed critical exploration of Malle's films, written by Nathan Southern and Jacques Weissgerber, was published by McFarland in 2005.

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