Louis Marie Malle (; 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 made documentaries, romances, period dramas, and thrillers. He often depicted provocative or controversial subject matter. Malle's 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 Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

, which won the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and the 1957 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Malle is one of only four directors to have won the Golden Lion twice. His other accolades include three

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

, two BAFTAs, and three Oscar nominations. He was made a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Malle attended a Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau. As an 11-year-old he witnessed a

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

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 depicted these events in his autobiographical film '' Au revoir les enfants'' (1987). As a young man, Malle studied political science at Sciences Po from 1950 to 1952 (some sources incorrectly state that he studied at the Sorbonne) before turning to film studies at IDHEC.

Career

Malle worked as co-director and cameraman with

on the documentary '' The Silent World'' (1956), which won an Oscar and the at the 1956

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

and

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, respectively. He assisted

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...

on '' A Man Escaped'' (''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 Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, ''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'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 about the legal definition of obscenity. In '' Jacobellis v. Ohio'', a theater owner was fined $2,500 for obscenity. The Supreme Court overturned the decision, finding that the film was not obscene and hence constitutionally protected. But the court could not agree on a definition of "obscene", with Justice Potter Stewart famously saying, "

I know it when I see it The phrase "I know it when I see it" was used in 1964 by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his threshold test for obscenity in '' Jacobellis v. Ohio''. In explaining why the material at issue in the case was not obsce ...

". Malle is sometimes associated with the '' nouvelle vague'', but his work does not directly fit in with or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the Post-war, p ...

and others, and he had nothing to do with '' Cahiers du cinéma''. But Malle's work does exemplify some of the movement's characteristics, such as using natural light and shooting on location, and his film ''

Zazie dans le Métro Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes (born 18 April 1964), better known by her stage name Zazie, is a French pop singer and songwriter. Her greatest hits include "Je suis un homme", "À ma place" and "Speed (Zazie song), Speed". She co-pr ...

'' (''Zazie in the Metro'', 1960, an adaptation of the Raymond Queneau novel) inspired Truffaut to write Malle an enthusiastic letter. Other films also tackled taboo subjects: '' The Fire Within'' centers on a man about to commit suicide, '' Le souffle au cœur'' (1971) deals with an

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

uous relationship between mother and son, and '' Lacombe, Lucien'' (1974), co-written with Patrick Modiano, is about collaboration with the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s in

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

during World War II. The second of these earned Malle his first (of three) Oscar nominations for "Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced".

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 Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

'', 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 said 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 film), Crackers'' (1984), '' Alamo Bay'' (1985), '' Damage'' (1992) and '' Vanya on 42nd Street'' (1994, an adaptation of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's play '' Uncle Vanya'') in English; and '' 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 U.S., ''My Dinner with Andre'' was at the forefront of the rise of American independent cinema in the 1980s. Towards the end of his life, cultural correspondent Melinda Camber Porter interviewed Malle extensively for ''The Times''. In 1993, the interviews were included in her 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. From mid-1977 until early 1980, he was in a relationship with Susan Sarandon. Malle married actress Candice Bergen in 1980. They had one child, Chloé Françoise Malle, on 8 November 1985. Malle died of lymphoma, aged 63, at their home in Beverly Hills, California, on 23 November 1995.

Filmography

Film

Short film Feature film Acting credits

Documentary film

Television

As himself

Awards and nominations

* (1956) **

Winner *'' The Lovers'' (1958) **

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

Special Jury Prize Winner *'' Le Feu follet'' (1963) **

Special Jury Prize Winner **

Italian Film Critics Award Winner *'' The Thief of Paris'' (1967) ** 5th Moscow International Film Festival official selection *''

'' (1969) **

Official Selection **

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

: Grand Prix Winner *'' Murmur of the Heart'' (1971) **

Official Selection **

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

Nomination *'' Lacombe, Lucien'' (1974) **

Best Director Nomination *'' Pretty Baby'' (1978) **

Technical Grand Prize Winner *'' Atlantic City'' (1981) **

Golden Lion Winner **

Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...

Nomination **

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

Nomination ** Golden Globes Best Director Nomination **

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Best Director Winner *'' Crackers (1984 film), Crackers'' (1984) ** Berlin Film Festival Official Selection *'' Goodbye, Children'' (1987) **

Golden Lion Winner **

OCIC Award Winner **

Nomination **

Best Director Winner **

Best Film Nomination **

Best Screenplay Nomination **

Best Film Winner **

Best Director Winner **

Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation Winner **

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...

Best Screenwriter Winner **