Jazz on Screen : Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

Traduction en français…

To celebrate the centenary of Miles Davis, we present Louis Malle's crime thriller Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) , one of the few films for which Davis composed the score. Starring Jeanne Moreau alongside Maurice Ronet, this elegant classic, was made in 1958 when Louis Malle was just 24, and remains an important snapshot of Paris and of French filmmaking at the cusp of Nouvelle Vague. Davis arrived in Paris in 1957 at the invitation of French producer Marcel Romano and was asked to provide music for Malle's new film. Working with a group of local musicians, he recorded the score in a single late-night session, creating music that is spare, restless and unmistakably modern. More than a soundtrack, it became a defining meeting of jazz and cinema, helping to shape the…