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.
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
all 63
Movies 56
Director 26
self 23
TV Shows 7
Producer 4
Narrator 2
Writer 1
Voice 1
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023)
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)
Elevator to the Gallows (2010)
On the Trail of the New Wave (2009)
Louis Malle - Un cinéaste français (2003)
The Ogre (1996)
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)
Black Moon (1975)
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche (1975)
The Lion Roars Again (1975)
Spécial cinéma (1974)
Place de la République (1974)
A Human Condition (1974)
Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
Murmur of the Heart (1971)
Samedi soir (1971)
A Very Curious Girl (1969)
Phantom India (1969)
Calcutta (1969)
Spirits of the Dead (1968)
The Thief of Paris (1967)
The Birth of Children of Paradise (1967)
Young Törless (1966)
Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson (1966)
Viva Maria! (1965)
The Thief of Tibadabo (1965)
World Without Sun (1964)
Best Regards from Bangkok (1964)
The Fire Within (1963)
Ils ont tué Jaurès (1963)
Vive Le Tour (1962)
A Very Private Affair (1962)
Zazie dans le Métro (1960)
Discorama (1959)
The Lovers (1958)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
The Silent World (1956)
Cinépanorama (1956)
Station 307 (1955)
La Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (1955)
Crazeologie (1954)
Ratings
Gallery
Information
Known ForDirecting
GenderMale
Birthday1932-10-30
Deathday1995-11-23 (63 years old)
Birth PlaceThumeries, France
ReligionCatholicism
RelationshipsCandice Bergen (1980-09-27 - 1995-11-23), Anne-Marie Deschodt (1965-01-01 - 1967-01-01)
RelativesXavier Malle
CitizenshipsFrance
Also Known As루이 말, Louis Marie Malle, 루이 말레, 루이스 말레
AwardsCésar Award for Best Director, BAFTA Award for Best Film, David di Donatello for Best Foreign Director, United Nations Awards, French Syndicate of Cinema Critics, European Film Award for Best Screenwriter, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director, César Award for Best Writing, Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Award for Best Direction, Louis Delluc Prize, César Award for Best Film, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Lion, César Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Palme d'Or
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