The late Louis Malle had one of the more illustrious and varied careers in modern cinema: from his early work as a cinematographer shooting underwater films for Jacques Cousteau to a stint as assistant to the legendary French director Robert Bresson to his emergence in his own right as one of the founding figures of the French New Wave. Atlantic City was part of yet another extraordinary shift marked by Malle’s move to the U.S. and his commitment to English-language production. Written by the noted playwright John Guare, the film focuses on a very American tale with universal appeal as it follows the lives of two very different generations of people who attempt to live their lives in the shadows of the gambling casinos of Atlantic City.