Person Details

Birthday: 1932-10-30 00:32:56

Death: 1995-11-23 00:32:56

Aliases: 루이 말

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Thumeries, Nord, France

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 89

TV Involvements: 4


Most Famous Work

Biography

Louis Marie Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. His film Le Monde du silence 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 Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (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 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 (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'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. Malle is sometimes associated with the nouvelle vague movement. 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. However, it does exemplify many 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. In 1968 Malle visited India and made a seven-part documentary series L'Inde fantôme: Reflexions sur un voyage and a 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. 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.

Most Famous Work

Damage
Average
7

Damage

(1992) Producer
Pretty Baby
Average
7

Pretty Baby

(1978) Story
Elevator to the Gallows
Average
8

Elevator to the Gallows

(1958) Screenplay
Murmur of the Heart
Average
7

Murmur of the Heart

(1971) Writer
Au Revoir les Enfants
Average
8

Au Revoir les Enfants

(1987) Screenplay
My Dinner with Andre
Average
8

My Dinner with Andre

(1981) Director
Atlantic City
Average
7

Atlantic City

(1980) Director
Spirits of the Dead
Average
6

Spirits of the Dead

(1968) Screenplay

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2023 Self (archive footage)
2021 Self (archive footage)
2020 Self (archive footage)
2019 Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2018 Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2016 Self (archive footage)
2015 Self (archiveFootage)
2009 Self (archive footage)
1997 Self
1993 Self
1992 Gentleman
1986 Narrator
1985 Narrator (voice)
Self
1984 Self
Interviewee
1982 Reader - Melies Catalogue (voice)
Self
1975 Self
Self (uncredited)
1974 Self
Self
1971 Self
1969 Jésus
Self - Narrator
Narrator (voice)
1967 Un figurant (uncredited)
Self
1966 Self
1962 Le journaliste (uncredited)
1959 Self
1956 Self
1954 N/A
Year Character Movie/Tv

Writing

Crew

Year Role Movie/Tv
1996 In Memory Of
1986 Cinematography
1956 Cinematography
Year Role Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1994 Director
1992 Director
1990 Director
1987 Director
1986 Director
1985 Director
Director
1984 Director
1981 Director
1980 Director
1978 Director
1975 Director
1974 Director
Director
Director
1971 Director
1969 Director
Director
1968 Director
Director
1967 Director
1965 Director
1964 Director
1963 Director
1962 Director
Director
1960 Director
1958 Director
Director
1956 Director
1955 Director
Director
1954 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Production

Camera

Year Role Movie/Tv
1985 Director of Photography
1962 Director of Photography
1956 Director of Photography
1955 Director of Photography
Year Role Movie/Tv

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