The irony here is that I love Malle- he\’s one of my two or three very favorites- but I loathed the film that he\’s best known for, \”My Dinner with André\”.

RE: Godard vs. Malle, Godard has 11 films in the Criterion Collection, so it\’s not as if they\’re completely neglecting him. Seven of the 16 Malle films are sold as part of a single set- The Documentaries of Louis Malle. In short, you can make 10 Malle purchases and 11 Godard purchases. And who knows what the rights issues may or may not be regarding Godard\’s films. Moreover, Malle himself was a New Waver, if only subtly. While not technically an author for Cahiers du Cinema, he employed many of the same techniques that fit the New Wave aesthetic, and worked in the same era and country of origin.

Anyhow, I can\’t contribute in any particularly meaningful way either as I\’ve seen no Malle films, to my great shame. I\’ve been reading a lot about him in the weeks since Black Moon and Zazie were announced as Criterions, and he definitely seems like my kind of guy. Thank you for the primer, and once more, keep up the good work on things like this. The Internet is such an important tool for sharing information and, perhaps more importantly, passion. So keep doing this and hopefully a few people will pay attention in between the casting roundups and synopses leaks.

I really do think Criterion picks favorites, by the way. Malle is a perfect example (with Roeg also being a good guess). I think most cinephiles would rank Godard over Malle, yet which of the two has a more extensively covered filmography? I mean, at least someone is putting out some French New Wave, but as with any tastemaker with a monopoly on the public conscience, it\’s a little disconcerting when they have that kind of authority. The cinephile world at large has forgotten Godard after the 60s (deservedly or not isn\’t part of the debate here), yet Malle lives on just because Criterion says so. Again, worse things have happened in the world of movies, but hopefully this won\’t reach any kind of tragic peak in the near future. I\’d hate for a Criterion backlask, much less a deserved one.