Louis Malle @ 75.

If he were still with us, Louis Malle wouldn't actually turn 75 until next Tuesday, but as Thom at Film of the Year points out, TCM is celebrating now. Writing TCM's profile, Lorraine LoBianco opens with a quote from Pauline Kael:

The only quality common to the films of Louis Malle is the restless intelligence one senses in them. A new Chabrol or a Losey is as easily recognizable as a Magritte, but even film enthusiasts have only a vague idea of Malle's work. Had Malle gone on making variations of almost any one of his films, it is practically certain he would have been acclaimed long ago, but a director who is impatient and dissatisfied and never tackles the same problem twice gives reviewers trouble and is likely to be dismissed as a dilettante.

And TCM's featuring essays on each of the ten films it'll be broadcasting this evening and tomorrow:

• Jay Carr on Elevator to the Gallows.

• Michael Atkinson on Zazie dans le métro.

• David Sterritt on The Fire Within.

• Lorraine LoBianco on Murmur of the Heart.

• Jeff Stafford on Black Moon.

• Jay S Steinberg on Au revoir, les enfants.

• Paul Tatara on Lacombe, Lucien.

• Sean Axmaker on Calcutta.

• Stephanie Thames on Place de la réplublique.

• Felicia Feaster on God's Country.

Posted by dwhudson at October 23, 2007 11:52 AM