The Films of Louis Malle: A Critical Analysis

by Nathan C. Southern

With films like Les Amants and Le Souffle au cœur, Atlantic City and Au Revoir les enfants, French writer-director Louis Malle compiled a remarkable 40-year career, creating thirty acclaimed features and documentaries. Despite this success, Malle’s work has not received the critical attention it is due—largely because for nearly thirty years, several of his films remained unavailable to the public. This is the first book-length critical study of Malle’s entire oeuvre, covering The Silent World (1956) through Vanya on 42nd Street (1994). Here, Malle’s work is approached non-theoretically on a film-by-film basis; each motion picture is examined as an individualistic, self-referential exploration of its own subjects and themes, with form and style relative to content. The darker, more provocative side of Malle’s films is also explored, and the director’s need to challenge his audiences ethically is addressed. Film analyses are supplemented by interviews with those who have worked with Malle. A bibliography of major American, French and British books and articles on Malle is included, as is a Malle filmography, including cast and crew information, running times, years of release, production company data and a list of awards and award nominations for each film.

422 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 2005

Reviews

[Sammy]

A useful and, in many ways, exceptional companion to one of cinema's most intriguing directors. Malle's films were rarely flashy, rarely at the centre of critical analysis, and often experimental. Nathan C. Southern's book explores every nook and cranny of Malle's filmography. More importantly, it does it in a way I wish I could have for all of my favourite directors. Each film is given a decent-sized chapter including a full synopsis, critical analysis, history and production notes where available, and other commentary. From the very design of the book (which feels like it has come from a smaller university press) this is functional rather than flashy, in a good way. This seems like a textbook one could use to teach a semester on the films, rather than being filled with cool listicles and sappy interviews like I often expect from these kinds of guides.

Everyone will have their individual bugbears. Sometimes Southern's writing can be a little broad in its academic sweep, as is always the case. He leaves so much to the massive collection of endnotes, that I often wish there had been footnotes instead because it's a surprise to turn to the back of the book and find anecdotes further explored or pivotal connections made. And he exhibits a tendency I never enjoy, which makes sense in an actual academic paper but not in a book like this, of being hesistant in many of his statements. "According to X, production began in September 1978" or "as Y mentions in her memoir, three cameras were used to achieve this effect". Given that these claims are almost invariably sourced to an endnote, the book would read more seamlessly and declaratively if the "according to" bit were left out. It happens really rather frequently - and while such a habit can make sense when the content is subjective (e.g. "according to Z, Malle was really angry about the outcome"), it just seems messy when discussing things that are factual statements. (And if they're not factual, like anything cited from another course, the fault surely can lie elsewhere!)

Surely one of the most comprehensive volumes we're ever going to get on Malle's films.