l used the exact phrase straight out of the novel [Le Feu Follet by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle]: ”l’m killing myself because you didn’t Iove me, because l didn’t love you.” l find that admirable because the most important part is ”because l didn’t love you.” lt was ultimately the story of a man who was incapable of loving. He was a ladies’ man. Women protected him. He was ”covered” with women. The Man Covered with Women [L’homme couvert de femmes: novel of Pierre Drieu La Rochelle]. But he was incapable of loving, and he knew it. Lots of people can’t love. Most of the people l know! But they don’t know it. They think they love. But he had the clarity to know that he lacked this dimension of giving. l felt that strongly at the time too. lt’s great in the film, because we realize that this character cannot truly become a man and take part in life, because he still has this adolescent weakness. Being a man means taking responsibility, and being able to give, to love.

— Louis Malle. While talking about his movie Le feu follet (1963).