by Louis Malle

POSTED ON OCTOBER 19 2022

Louis Malle had always remained a foreign filmmaker in the United States, which allowed him to paint a dissociated portrait of an America amid a transformation in Atlantic City of the 1980s.

A new world was gradually replacing the old. What to do with the ghosts of the past, these ageing Americans who are still alive? Allow them to try one last adventure. ‘Atlantic City’ is this last adventure and the last great role of Burt Lancaster. Once again, we are moved by the agile and graceful gesture of his eloquent hands, his ever-smiling face and his exquisite politeness, including his attire.

Atlantic City, 1980 © DR 

Burt Lancaster enthusiastically portrays the character of Lou, a gangster who has retired from the business. Opposite him, Malle films, as always, feminine grace, here in the form of Susan Sarandon. Cleverly, the French filmmaker brings together two worlds that are ultimately distinct only in appearance. Gradually, the same utilitarian sense, the same quest for money in a derisory dream, take precedence over sentiment. And Malle's genius is to narrate all this without a hint of cynicism and to turn the general immaturity of the characters into a driving force marked by the most touching kindness. Everything must change for nothing to change, said Lancaster in ‘The Leopard’. Atlantic City is no different.

 
Virginie Apiou

Screenings:

Atlantic City by Louis Malle (1980, 1h45)

Comoedia Tue. 18 10:45am | Pathé Bellecour Wed. 19 11:15am