Louis Malle and the 1950s: Ambiguities, Friendships and Legacies

This article discusses the early films of Louis Malle. It offers an analysis of the political subtext of his work and the influences that he drew on when beginning his career in 1950s France. Special attention is paid to Malle's collaborations with the novelist and scriptwriter Roger Nimier. It is suggested that in both men's art there is a common desire to shock a complacent post-war bourgeois public. Some speculation is also made as to the psychological motivation behind Malle's links to the right-wing literary intelligentsia. In addition, the article sheds light on how Malle's early films, especially Les Amants (1958), influenced his later work, Le Souffle au coeur (1971). The article is written to contextualise the first English language translation of an interview between Louis Malle and the literary scholar Professor Marc Dambre. Their conversation provides a fascinating insight into the history of Malle and Nimier's work on the film noir, L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1956).