Film director, born in Thumeries, N France. He studied political science at the Jesuit College, Fontainebleau, and the Sorbonne, after which he entered the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques (1950). His first feature film was Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1957, trans Frantic) for which he won the Prix Delluc. The success of his second film Les Amants (1958, The Lovers) brought recognition, and he went on to establish an international reputation, receiving critical acclaim for such works as Zazie dans le Métro (1960), Vie Privée (1962, A Very Private Affair, starring Brigitte Bardot), Calcutta (1969), Le Souffle au coeur (1971, trans Dearest Love), Lacombe Lucien (1974), Atlantic City (1980, Golden Lion at Venice; BAFTA), Au Revoir les Enfants (1987, Goodbye, Children), Milou en Mai (1990, trans May Fools), and Damage (1993). He married actress Candice Bergen (1946 ) in 1980. His later career was spent in the USA, and he died in Los Angeles.
Louis Malle (October 30, 1932 – November 23, 1995) was a French film director.
Malle was born into a wealthy family in Thumeries, Nord, France.
Malle's Les Amants (1958), which like Ascenseur pour l'échafaud starred Jeanne Moreau, caused some controversy due to its sexual content.
Malle is sometimes incorrectly associated with the nouvelle vague - his work doesn't 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 (1960, an adaptation of the Raymond Queneau novel) did inspire Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle about Zazie;
Other films also tackled taboo subjects: Le Feu Follet (The Fire Within, 1963) centres on a man about to commit suicide, Le souffle au cœur (1971) deals with an incestuous relationship between mother and son and Lacombe Lucien (1974) is about French collaboration and resistance in World War II.
Malle later moved to Hollywood and continued to direct there.
Malle was married to Anne-Marie Deschodt from 1965 – 1967.
A number of books have been written on Malle and his work. The interview collection Malle on Malle was published by Faber in 1992 and revised, after the director's death, in 1996. 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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