Hugo Frey introduces Malle's work through a lucid analysis of his many masterpieces, includingLe Feu Follet,Lacombe LucienandAu Revoir les Enfants. He also traces the director's extended period of work in America, which resulted in powerful films such asPretty Baby,Atlantic CityandMy Dinner with Andrbliogeacute;. The book focuses on the most challenging aspects of Malle's oeuvre, his aesthetic vision, his youthful attraction to a form of right-wing pessimism, and his 1970s libertarianism. By rethinking Malle's portrayals of Nazi-occupied France, Frey demonstrates that he is of equal importance to contemporary historians as to film studies. This is a nuanced study of an important filmmaker, and a critical intervention in the debates which surround Malle's work.