My Dinner with Andre
Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
Despite its microbudget of $475K, My Dinner with Andre became a commercial juggernaut, earning $5.3M worldwide—a remarkable 1005% return. The film's distinctive approach found its audience, confirming that strong storytelling can transcend budget limitations.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
My Dinner with Andre (1981) exhibits precise story structure, characteristic of Louis Malle's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 50 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.4, the film takes an unconventional approach to traditional narrative frameworks.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Wally walks through gray New York streets in autumn, narrating his mundane life as a struggling playwright, worrying about money and avoiding people. His world is safe, small, and defined by material anxieties.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 14 minutes when Wally enters the restaurant and sees Andre for the first time in years. Andre looks older, almost unrecognizable. The meeting Wally has been dreading can no longer be avoided.. At 13% through the film, this Disruption is delayed, allowing extended setup of the story world. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 28 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Wally stops resisting and begins to actively listen to Andre's story about the forest in Poland. He leans in, engaged. The choice to truly participate in this conversation rather than endure it., moving from reaction to action.
At 55 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. The analysis reveals that this crucial beat Andre describes his darkest moment: feeling that some evil force is creating robotic, unconscious people, and wondering if he himself is dead. The stakes shift from adventure stories to existential terror. False defeat: is awareness itself a curse?., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 83 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Wally confesses his own deadness: his days are filled with trivial anxieties, he avoids real connection, he's imprisoned by comfort. The painful recognition that Andre might be right about unconscious living., shows the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 88 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Wally realizes he doesn't have to choose between Andre's extremism and his own routine. The insight: awareness itself is the point. You can live an ordinary life with extraordinary consciousness. Both men are right., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
My Dinner with Andre's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping My Dinner with Andre against these established plot points, we can identify how Louis Malle utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish My Dinner with Andre within the drama genre.
Louis Malle's Structural Approach
Among the 5 Louis Malle films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. My Dinner with Andre takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Louis Malle filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Louis Malle analyses, see Au Revoir les Enfants, Damage and Atlantic City.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Wally walks through gray New York streets in autumn, narrating his mundane life as a struggling playwright, worrying about money and avoiding people. His world is safe, small, and defined by material anxieties.
Theme
Wally's friend mentions Andre Gregory is back in town after disappearing for years, prompting the question: "What is it to truly live?" The tension between comfortable routine and authentic experience is established.
Worldbuilding
Wally narrates his reluctance to meet Andre, establishing his worldview of comfort, routine, and practical concerns. We see his apartment, his girlfriend Debby, his daily rituals. He rides the subway to the restaurant, anxious about the encounter.
Disruption
Wally enters the restaurant and sees Andre for the first time in years. Andre looks older, almost unrecognizable. The meeting Wally has been dreading can no longer be avoided.
Resistance
Initial awkward pleasantries give way to Andre beginning his stories. He describes abandoning theater and traveling to find meaning. Wally listens uncomfortably, ordering food, not yet ready to truly engage with Andre's radical ideas.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Wally stops resisting and begins to actively listen to Andre's story about the forest in Poland. He leans in, engaged. The choice to truly participate in this conversation rather than endure it.
Mirror World
Andre describes Grotowski and the theatrical experiments that showed him a different way of being. This mentor figure represents the world of direct experience and spiritual seeking that contrasts with Wally's materialism.
Premise
Andre unfolds increasingly surreal and profound stories: being buried alive, the commune in Scotland, Halloween in Long Island, encounters in Tibet. Wally listens, fascinated and disturbed, occasionally interjecting with nervous humor. The conversation explores what makes life meaningful.
Midpoint
Andre describes his darkest moment: feeling that some evil force is creating robotic, unconscious people, and wondering if he himself is dead. The stakes shift from adventure stories to existential terror. False defeat: is awareness itself a curse?
Opposition
Wally begins to push back against Andre's philosophy, defending ordinary life, comfort, routine, electric blankets. The debate intensifies as Wally articulates his own worldview: maybe the simple pleasures are enough. The conversation becomes increasingly confrontational.
Collapse
Wally confesses his own deadness: his days are filled with trivial anxieties, he avoids real connection, he's imprisoned by comfort. The painful recognition that Andre might be right about unconscious living.
Crisis
A quieter moment as both men sit with the weight of their conversation. The dinner is ending. They've exposed themselves completely. Wally processes whether his life needs to change or if acceptance of limitation is itself wisdom.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Wally realizes he doesn't have to choose between Andre's extremism and his own routine. The insight: awareness itself is the point. You can live an ordinary life with extraordinary consciousness. Both men are right.
Synthesis
They part as friends, the tension resolved. Wally takes a taxi home through New York. In narration, he describes the familiar streets with new attention, finding wonder in memory, in his girlfriend, in coffee, in ordinary moments seen clearly.
Transformation
Wally arrives home to his apartment building, the same place we saw at the beginning, but now he sees it with gratitude and presence. He hasn't changed his life, but he's changed his consciousness. The ordinary world transfigured by attention.