The question about Malle's ' greatness ' as a director is a question that I often ask myself. I cannot draw a definitive conclusion. He made two films ' Le Feu Follet ' and ' Les Amants ' which are in my opinion masterpieces, and perhaps ' Lacombe Lucien ' but he also made some truly bad films like ' Viva Maria ' and ' Zazie Dans Le Metro ' along with a few others. And then there are the good films that could have been better like ' Milou En Mai ' which attains its near perfection due to the casting of Michel Piccoli as a man who has done nothing really important in his life and wants to retain his vast house after his aged mother's death. In the background of this situation there are the May riots of 1968 which arguably wanted another social order than his. So how does Malle treat this subject ? Mainly by farce when the family horde descend to try to take the house away from him, but even they superficially get their own attempt at ' revolution ' by getting high on drugs and question if sex should have more freedom than it had before 1968. They totally miss the point that France was at a turning point politically and that basically it is was not superficial at all. No spoilers as to the conclusion. I just want to add that the final scene is superb and a dance of death comparable to the end of Pasolini's ' Salo ' but in a minor key with a Chekhovian feel. A good film it is, but only in part and the acting is too broad when it could have been concise, and that goes for the scenario as well.
