327-330 3 Films by Louis Malle

[backstreetsbackalright]

It's obvious that a Malle box is in the works. I'll bet the five missing spines are the three confirmed titles (Murmur of the Heart, Lacombe Lucien and Au Revoirs Les Enfant) and one of his documentaries, a la the The Dreyer Box or the Bergman trilogy.

I think it's rather a long bow to draw from the certainty of future Malle releases to the certainty of a box set (other than the mammoth Phantom India, which can't really be accommodated otherwise). There's no real precedent for Criterion to assemble anything quite so random as the sort of collections suggested above.

Except for the Cassavetes set....

[zedz]

I think it's rather a long bow to draw from the certainty of future Malle releases to the certainty of a box set (other than the mammoth Phantom India, which can't really be accommodated otherwise). There's no real precedent for Criterion to assemble anything quite so random as the sort of collections suggested above.

Except for the Cassavetes set....

Isn't the Cassavetes all of his independently produced films?

[Mental Mike]

The Malle box does have a theme - Lacombe, Lucien - Murmur of the Heart and Au Revoir Les Enfants are "mis-spent youth" type films...

...The Fire Within could be another addition, as, quoting Pauline Kael, "The Maurice Ronet character is a man who never grew up" -- and there are repercutions for this...

[backstreetsbackalright]

I think it's rather a long bow to draw from the certainty of future Malle releases to the certainty of a box set (other than the mammoth Phantom India, which can't really be accommodated otherwise). There's no real precedent for Criterion to assemble anything quite so random as the sort of collections suggested above.

Except for the Cassavetes set....

Isn't the Cassavetes all of his independently produced films?

It appears that you are correct about that. Thanks for clearing that up. I always wondered why they picked those five. Now I feel like a total bonehead. Which is far from unusual.

[zedz]

The Malle box does have a theme - Lacombe, Lucien - Murmur of the Heart and Au Revoir Les Enfants are "mis-spent youth" type films...

...The Fire Within could be another addition, as, quoting Pauline Kael, "The Maurice Ronet character is a man who never grew up" -- and there are repercutions for this...

But I'd say that this kind of theme is far too loose for a coherent box set. Where do you draw the line? I don't see what's so "misspent" in Au revoir les enfants, and why wouldn't Zazie dans le metro or Pretty Baby belong in such a box? And if we're going to include immature adults as de facto children, let's throw in Damage, Les Amants and (why not?) Ascenseur pour l'echafaud as well. Lacombe, Lucien and Au revoir les enfants have got WWII in common (and boy, do they provide a contrast with one another), but as soon as you add another one or two, you lose focus.

This seems to me no different from putting four or five random Bergmans into a 'Family Life' box-set. I could see Criterion doing this for a 'collectors set' like Rebel Samurai or Great Adaptations, but not for a box set.

[Rupert Pupkin]

I'm curious to see how different (better) would be the Criterion transfer of Au Revoir Les Enfants (better extras perhaps ?) in comparison to the Arte releases of Louis Malle's movies.
Le Feu Follet and Le Souffle Au CÅ“ur (aka Murmur..., which is one of my Louis Malle's favorite movie, with Lacombe Lucien) are already planned by Arte for their next Malle's batch... I would be really interested in a criterion release of Le Souffle Au CÅ“ur and Lacombe Lucien (Arte's next release too); but since Arte put some great transfers with great extrats (Ascenceur pour l'Echaffaud); I'll have to wait for some comparison between Criterion/Arte in terms of extras and picture transfer.

Milou en Mai is already released by Arte.
Perhaps we can expect all Louis Malles titles on Criterion that are planned are already released by Arte ? (perhaps they have a kind of sort of agreement ? Just like Mk2 or Montparnasse editions ?)

[a7m4]

Zazie is the early Malle I want to see the most

That's interesting. It's one of my least favorite Malle film. It's important for the kenetic visual styles and editing, but the film seems the most dated of any Malle I've seen. I saw this in a sold-out theater, and no one ever laughed or made any exclamation at any point in the movie, even the French-speaking young children in the audience were silent throughout.

I just saw Zazie (on a double feature with Black Moon) at LACMA on Friday and loved it. I didn't really laugh all that much (other people in the theatre were quite a bit), but it was immensely entertaining. The best way I could describe it would be the closest thing to a live action Looney Toons I have seen, but even that doesn't do it justice. I had just finished reading Raymond Queneau's novel the morning I saw the film and it's a great adaptation. According to Malle he was trying to make fun of the language of cinema in the film in the same way that Queneau makes fun of words in the novel.

[What A Disgrace]

A bit lighter than what I had hoped for, but it still looks like a very worthwhile set. Besides, I imagine that with several other Malle films in their pocket, Criterion isn't about to blow all the possible supplementary materials on one set.

[zedz]

A bit lighter than what I had hoped for, but it still looks like a very worthwhile set. Besides, I imagine that with several other Malle films in their pocket, Criterion isn't about to blow all the possible supplementary materials on one set.

I'll say! It looks like the films themselves will be bare bones. This release is looking stranger and stranger. When Au revoir was originally announced, it was supposed to be a double-disc, as I recall, and it looks like the bonus disc of the set is heavily slanted towards that material (actually, if that original $39.95 title had gone ahead with these supplements it would have looked pretty lightweight, don't you think?) Here's hoping they've got some more material up their sleeves: as individual releases these are going to look pretty meagre.

[tavernier]

Here are the running times on the supplements:

New interviews with actor and Louis Malle widow Candice Bergen (13 mins) and biographer Pierre Billard (30 mins)

Excerpts from a French TV program featuring the director on the sets of Murmur of the Heart (8 mins) and Lacombe, Lucien (12 mins)

Audio interviews with Malle from 1974 (40 mins), 1988 (53 mins) and 1990 (52 mins) (74 and 90 are from the NFT in London and 88 is from the AFI in Washington)

The Immigrant, Charlie Chaplin's 1917 short comedy, featured in Au revoir les enfants (25 mins)

A profile of the provocative character of Joseph from Au revoir les enfants, created by filmmaker Guy Magen in 2005 (5 mins)

[daniel p]

Beaver review

[kieslowski_67]

This is a great box set by any standard. Mad props to Criterion for the pristine transfer. Except Warner's "Ryan's daughter", this is the best transfer I have witnessed on DVD for the classic films within the last few years (on par with "Death in Venice" and Criterion's own "Fanny and Alexander").

[benm]

having been extremely impressed by both au revoir les enfants and murmur of the heart i was excited to see lucien lacombe. but there was absolutely no substance to lucien, just a long story about some selfish teenager who never really seems to demonstrate any real emotion, even when he kills the german soldier it only seems to be so he can continue to have sex with france. the critique of the decadence of the french german police is well done but with such a character-driven film i never understood what purpose lucien was serving in malle's critique of the occupation.

also has this been mentioned?

wes anderson and noah baumbach sure do like to take from malle. so much of life aquatic is taken from silent world including the red cap idea. and then the parallels between murmur of the heart and squid and the whale are almost too similar. i guess we should just be glad they didn't include a long viscious series of shark killings in life aquatic.

[Gordon]

As you all probably know, Optimum in the UK, will be releasing a Malle set in June:

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
Les Amants
Le Feu Follet
Zazie dans le Metro

• Interviews with Vincent Malle, brother of Louis Malle on all the films
• Louis Malle's 1962 short "Vive Le Tour" (17 mins approx)
• Interview with Rene Urtreger, the pianist on the soundtrack of Ascenseur pour l'echafaud
• Interview with director Jean-Paul Rappeneau, who co-wrote Zazie Dans le Metro with Louis Malle

Ghislain Cloquet was one of the cinematographers on Vive Le Tour, focusing on the 1962 Tour De France. Music by Georges Delerue.

I discovered today that a second set will be released:

Le Souffle au Coeur
Lacombe Lucien
Black Moon
Au Revoir les Enfants
Milou en Mai

• Interview with Vincent Malle, Louis Malle's brother on all the films
• An analysis of the character of Joseph by Guy Magen

A wonderful surprise to see his elusive (never released in the USA, either in cinemas or home video) 1975 film Black Moon in addition to to thw more well-known masterpieces. However Volume 2 contains the three Criterion set films. Quandry.

[tavernier]

A wonderful surprise to see his elusive (never released in the USA, either in cinemas or home video) 1975 film Black Moon

Actually, Black Moon did play in theaters - at least in New York. I also remember seeing it on a fledgling cable network called HBO back in '76, when they would present two foreign films monthly. (I first saw Seven Beauties and Swept Away that way.)

[Lino]

Black Moon is a wonderfully weird film (that I incidentally have on a very good bootleg, complete with original theatrical trailer and all) and one that I would only recommend for those that are really adventurous or those that enjoy watching a sort of cinema that is formally and thematically experimental. This is definitely NOT your matinee flick. There's barely what you may call dialogue throughout the whole film and the little there is, is fractured and stream of conciousness-like.

This one was alledgedly born out of a Malle dream so expect all sort of strange things to happen. I watch it once in a while when I'm in the mood for something really different. I once watched it right after waking up, when you're still in that netherland between sleeping and waking states and it really worked for me that time.

So, yeah - I guess you could say I'm anticipating the eventual official DVD release.

[Gordon]

A wonderful surprise to see his elusive (never released in the USA, either in cinemas or home video) 1975 film Black Moon

Actually, Black Moon did play in theaters - at least in New York. I also remember seeing it on a fledgling cable network called HBO back in '76...

Thanks for that, Tavernier. I had always assumed that it was deemed to obscure for U.S. audiences.

[Gigi M.]

I finally went through the entire set last night, and I must say is worth every penny. The transfers are magnificent, especially Au Revoir Les Enfants. The extras are not long, but great nevertheless. This is one of best package of the year. Get it now!!!

[justeleblanc]

Did anyone notice that in Murmur of the Heart, in the scene where the brothers all go to the brothel, they are playing Mambo #5 in the background?

[Cinesimilitude]

It's got to be the music lou vega sampled for it. Murmur of the Heart is great by the way, a little fucked up, but great.

[pauling]

I finally got a chance to watch Lacombe, Lucien last night and was pretty impressed. It was a good representation of the banality of evil that seemed to flourish in provincial Europe at the particular time in history. Along those themes of good and evil, did anyone else notice what, I intuited, seemed to be a sort of Eden theme at the end?
Great ending, by the way.

[GringoTex]

I finally got around to Murmur of the Heart and detested it. Take a fourteen-year-old character, make him a genius, give him all the best taste in music and literature and politics, and throw in a fully formed teenaged facist to kick around with in the sandbox. And now we're ready to spend two hours to resolve his greatest problem in life, which is (surprise, surprise!) that he wants to fuck his mother.

This gift-wrapped package of trite cliches bored me to tears.

[jbeall]

This gift-wrapped package of trite cliches bored me to tears.

I respectfully disagree. I hardly think he's a genius, although he's a bit precocious for his age (but how genius do you have to be to like jazz?).

But the question Malle answers (admirably, IMHO) is: what would happen if Oedipus just laughed? That ending makes the movie for me.

[GringoTex]

I respectfully disagree. I hardly think he's a genius, although he's a bit precocious for his age (but how genius do you have to be to like jazz?

Maybe I took it too much at face value, but the father, mother, brothers, and priest all referred to him as a genius or prodigy. I assume he's writing killer dissertations on existentialism or something, but it's never really shown.

But the question Malle answers (admirably, IMHO) is: what would happen if Oedipus just laughed? That ending makes the movie for me.

Is there not a price to pay for getting it on with your mother? I'm not saying he should have gouged his eyes out, but the encounter seemingly transforms him into a normal healthy sexually active teen. Is Malle saying that the incest taboo is repressive?

[jbeall]

Maybe I took it too much at face value, but the father, mother, brothers, and priest all referred to him as a genius or prodigy. I assume he's writing killer dissertations on existentialism or something, but it's never really shown.

Is there not a price to pay for getting it on with your mother? I'm not saying he should have gouged his eyes out, but the encounter seemingly transforms him into a normal healthy sexually active teen. Is Malle saying that the incest taboo is repressive?

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I thought they referred to him as a prodigy because he was the 'baby' of the family. He's certainly a momma's boy! I saw him as intelligent for his age (he's reading The Story of O, which doesn't make him a genius by any stretch--his brothers could have given it to him). But the main thing is that he's just not a sociopathic f@^kup like his older brothers.

As for your second point, I honestly have no way of knowing. And who knows what happens down the road? It was interesting, however, that when he returns to the hotel room to find his entire family there, his mother has an apprehensive look on her face before his laughter dissolves the tension. It seems to me that Malle does an admirable job of exploring the oedipal theme and following through on it, but this is a comic film, not a tragedy.

And that's why it ends where it does, in the initial dissolution of tension. Maybe 'Renzino' winds up needing years of psychotherapy (although I suspect that a few weeks of a Lacanian analyst would put him right back in his mother's bed), but that's outside the scope of Malle's film.