Zazie dans le metro: Criterion Collection

Zazie dans le metro (1960) is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Raymond Queneau, former surrealist turned respected poet, novelist and critic. The book was a huge hit in France and considered a comic masterpiece, one that playfully experimented... 

Black Moon: Criterion Collection

Filmmaker Louis Malle once described his film Black Moon (1975) as a “mythological fairy tale taking place in the near future.” Following on the heels of his German-occupation drama Lacombe, Lucien (1974), it was not a commercial success and relegated... 

My Dinner with Andre: Criterion Collection

When I was a kid my parents used to let me stay up and watch Siskel and Ebert on television. This was back in the day when they were still on PBS and had yet to hit the big time. Their show gave me my first exposure to Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andre... 

The Lovers: Criterion Collection

When Louis Malle’s film The Lovers (1958) debuted at the Venice Film Festival, it caused outrage in Catholic Italy. Two months later, it was released in France and shocked and angered Conservative audiences with its sexual frankness. However, the film... 

Elevator to the Gallows

After his stint working as Jacques Cousteau’s camera operator, Louis Malle tried to make an autobiographical film but found that no producers were interested in it. A friend of his had read a book called Elevator to the Gallows and suggested that it... 

3 Films by Louis Malle

French filmmaker Louis Malle was born in 1932 in Thumeries which is located in Northern France. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a Catholic boarding school near Paris at the age of 12. After World War II, Malle studied political science in... 

Vanya on 42nd Street: Criterion Collection

Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) began in 1989 as an extended workshop by legendary stage director Andre Gregory. He assembled a cast of actors to rehears Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at the abandoned Victory Theater on 42nd Street in New York City. They...