Eclipse Series 2: The Documentaries of Louis Malle
Over the course of a nearly forty-year career, Louis Malle forged a reputation as one of the world’s most versatile cinematic storytellers, with such widely acclaimed, and wide-ranging, masterpieces as Elevator to the Gallows, My Dinner with Andre, and Au revoir les enfants. At the same time, however, with less fanfare, Malle was creating a parallel, even more personal body of work as a documentary filmmaker. With the discerning eye of a true artist and the investigatory skills of a great journalist, Malle takes us from a street corner in Paris to America’s heartland to the expanses of India in his astonishing epic Phantom India. These are some of the most engaging and fascinating nonfiction films ever made.
Films In This Set
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Vive le Tour
1962
In his short documentary Vive le Tour, Louis Malle presents his energetic evocation of the Tour de France. This, Humain, trop humain, and Place de la République, Louis Malle’s three French-set documentaries, reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director’s eternal fascination with, and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people.
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Humain, trop humain
1973
Louis Malle presents his meditative investigation of the inner workings of a French automotive plant. This, Vive le Tour, and Place de la République, Malle’s three French-set documentaries, reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director’s eternal fascination with, and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people.
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Place de la République
1974
Louis Malle presents his entertaining snapshot of the comings and goings on one street corner in Paris. This, Vive le Tour, and Humain, trop humain, Malle’s three French-set documentaries, reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director’s eternal fascination with, and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people.
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Phantom India
1969
Louis Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his career. And this extraordinary journey to India, originally shown as a miniseries on European television, is infused with his sense of discovery, as well as occasional outrage, intrigue, and joy.
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Calcutta
1969
When he was cutting Phantom India, Louis Malle found that the footage shot in Calcutta was so diverse, intense, and unforgettable that it deserved its own film. The result, released theatrically, is at times shocking—a chaotic portrait of a city engulfed in social and political turmoil, edging ever closer to oblivion.
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God’s Country
1985
In 1979, Louis Malle traveled into the heart of Minnesota to capture the everyday lives of the men and women in a prosperous farming community. Six years later, during Ronald Reagan’s second term, he returned to find drastic economic decline. Free of stereotypes about America’s “heartland,” God’s Country, commissioned for American public television, is a stunning work of emotional and political clarity.
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. . . And the Pursuit of Happiness
1986
In 1986, Louis Malle, himself a transplant to the United States, set out to investigate the ever-widening range of immigrant experience in America. Interviewing a variety of newcomers (from teachers to astronauts to doctors) in middle- and working-class communities from coast to coast, Malle paints a generous, humane portrait of their individual struggles in an increasingly polyglot nation.
Films In This Set
-
Vive le Tour
1962
In his short documentary Vive le Tour, Louis Malle presents his energetic evocation of the Tour de France. This, Humain, trop humain, and Place de la République, Louis Malle’s three French-set documentaries, reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director’s eternal fascination with, and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people.
-
Humain, trop humain
1973
Louis Malle presents his meditative investigation of the inner workings of a French automotive plant. This, Vive le Tour, and Place de la République, Malle’s three French-set documentaries, reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director’s eternal fascination with, and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people.
-
Place de la République
1974
Louis Malle presents his entertaining snapshot of the comings and goings on one street corner in Paris. This, Vive le Tour, and Humain, trop humain, Malle’s three French-set documentaries, reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director’s eternal fascination with, and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people.
-
Phantom India
1969
Louis Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his career. And this extraordinary journey to India, originally shown as a miniseries on European television, is infused with his sense of discovery, as well as occasional outrage, intrigue, and joy.
-
Calcutta
1969
When he was cutting Phantom India, Louis Malle found that the footage shot in Calcutta was so diverse, intense, and unforgettable that it deserved its own film. The result, released theatrically, is at times shocking—a chaotic portrait of a city engulfed in social and political turmoil, edging ever closer to oblivion.
-
God’s Country
1985
In 1979, Louis Malle traveled into the heart of Minnesota to capture the everyday lives of the men and women in a prosperous farming community. Six years later, during Ronald Reagan’s second term, he returned to find drastic economic decline. Free of stereotypes about America’s “heartland,” God’s Country, commissioned for American public television, is a stunning work of emotional and political clarity.
-
. . . And the Pursuit of Happiness
1986
In 1986, Louis Malle, himself a transplant to the United States, set out to investigate the ever-widening range of immigrant experience in America. Interviewing a variety of newcomers (from teachers to astronauts to doctors) in middle- and working-class communities from coast to coast, Malle paints a generous, humane portrait of their individual struggles in an increasingly polyglot nation.
