The Cinema of Louis Malle : Transatlantic Auteur

A pioneer of the French New Wave, Louis Malle went on to an acclaimed transatlantic career. This collection of essays reassesses his eclectic and subversive oeuvre to redress the critical neglect it has suffered. The volume features contributions from playwright John Guare and filmmakers Volker Schlöndorff and Wes Anderson. Contents 5 Acknowledgements 7 Notes on Contributors 8 Foreword 11 Introduction 15 Transversal Studies 29 1. Malle Before Malle 29 2. The Art of Silence: From Documentary to Fiction 44 3. No Comment: Direct Cinema in Humain, trop humain and Place de la République 59 4. Louis Malle’s Nonfiction: Tradition, Rebellion and Authorial Voice 73 5. Louis Malle’s 1960s ‘Star’ Films 82 6. Experimentation and Automatism in Zazie dans le métro and Black Moon 96 7. Louis Malle and ‘His’ Writers (Drieu La Rochelle, Nimier, Modiano) 109 8. A Gendered Geography of Death: Louis Malle’s Orphic Voyage 117 9. The Figure of the Mother in May Fools, Au revoir les enfants and Murmur of the Heart 126 10. Jazz as Counterpoint in Elevator to the Gallows, Murmur of the Heart and Pretty Baby 137 Monographic Essays 155 11. The Fire Within: Touching 155 12. Le Voleur: (Self-)Portrait of the Filmmaker as a Thief 169 13. Absorption and Reflexivity in Phantom India 184 14. Fog of War: Lacombe Lucien and Its Afterlives 195 15. Memory, Friendship and History in Au revoir les enfants 210 16. Atlantic City: When Sound Meets Utopia 220 17. Between Conversation and Conversion: My Dinner with André 232 18. Vanya on 42nd Street: Inventing a Space of Creation 242 Interview 256 Truth and Poetry: An Interview with John Guare (New York, 7 October 2015) 256 Varia (Previously Unpublished Material) 267 Notes for a Lecture to be Given by Louis Malle on the Queen Elizabeth 2 267 Script of ‘The Loner’ by Louis Malle 275 Afterword 313 Filmography 315 Index 321 Arguably a pioneer of the French New Wave (with Ascenseur pour l{u2019}échafaud, 1957) Louis Malle went on to enjoy an acclaimed yet provocative and versatile transatlantic career. This collection of original essays proposes to reassess his richly eclectic and boldly subversive oeuvre and redress the surprising critical neglect it has suffered over the years. It does so through a combination of transversal and monographic analyses that use a variety of critical lenses and theoretical tools in order to examine Malle{u2019}s documentaries as well as his fiction features (and, more importantly, the constant shuttling and uniquely persistent cross-pollination between those two cinematic approaches), illuminate the profound, lasting dialogue his films entertained with literature and theater, bring to the fore their sustained, albeit often oblique autobiographical thrust along with their scathing sociopolitical critique, and scrutinize the alternating use of stars and non-professional actors.In addition, the volume features an exclusive interview with the acclaimed playwright John Guare (a close friend and collaborator of Louis Malle{u2019}s who scripted Atlantic City) and is bookended by a foreword by Volker Schlöndorff and an afterword by Wes Anderson, two renowned filmmakers who articulate their admiration for, and the seminal influence of, their predecessor Arguably a pioneer of the French New Wave (with Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , 1957) Louis Malle went on to enjoy an acclaimed yet provocative and versatile transatlantic career. This collection of original essays proposes to reassess his richly eclectic and boldly subversive oeuvre and redress the surprising critical neglect it has suffered over the years. It does so through a combination of transversal and monographic analyses that use a variety of critical lenses and theoretical tools in order to examine Malle's documentaries as well as his fiction features (and, more importantly, the constant shuttling and uniquely persistent cross-pollination between those two cinematic approaches), illuminate the profound, lasting dialogue his films entertained with literature and theater, bring to the fore their sustained, albeit often oblique autobiographical thrust along with their scathing sociopolitical critique, and scrutinize the alternating use of stars and non-professional actors. In addition, the volume features an exclusive interview with the acclaimed playwright John Guare (a close friend and collaborator of Louis Malle's who scripted Atlantic City ) and is bookended by a foreword by Volker Schlöndorff and an afterword by Wes Anderson, two renowned filmmakers who articulate their admiration for, and the seminal influence of, their predecessor.