The death of Alain Delon, one of the last holy monsters of French cinema

Alain Delon left us this Sunday, August 18th. He was 88 years old. A major figure in French cinema, he lit up the films of Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray and Bertrand Blier with his animalistic presence. The actor was also an international star, playing under Visconti and Joseph Los.

He gives up on the United States!

Born in the suburbs of Paris and constantly expelled from the schools he attended, Alain Delon joined the navy at the age of 17. It was not long before he left for Indochina, where he took part in heavy battles.

Back in France, he worked on various small jobs, most notably at Fort des Halles. For several months he stalked Saint-Germain-des-Prés, making friends with, among others, Jean-Claude Brial.

By chance and because he had an exceptional physique, he approached the world of cinema without any special dramatic training. Discovered by a “talent scout” during the Cannes festival in 1957, he traveled to Rome for an audition so convincing that he was offered a seven-year contract in the United States.

However, she turned down the offer when Yves Allegre offered her her first role at the age of 22 in When the Woman S’En Meddles. The following year, during the filming of Christine, he met Sissy’s young star Romy Schneider. It was the beginning of a five-year relationship in the spotlight of the global celebrity press.

Meeting with Visconti

Alain Delon rose to film stardom in 1960 with the novel adaptation, Plein soleil. Mr. Ripley By Patricia Highsmith, directed by Renee Clement. The following year, he followed up with Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. The Italian filmmaker found her again in 1963 for Leopard, where she starred alongside Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale.

Her career in the 1960s did not stop with famous directors such as Henri Vernoy in Mélodie en sous-sol in 1963, René Clement, who directed the actress four times, or even Jean-Pierre Melville, who directed her. Le Samouraï in 1968.

By Alain Delon with Alain Delon

Alain Delon is approaching his 70s as an actor and producer. After trying his hand at producing for the first time with L’Insoumis in 1964, he became heavily involved in this activity in 1968, making almost 30 films, from Jeff to Borsalino, including Flic Story, Deux hommes in the city or Death of. rotten person

During the decade, he developed and brought two essential aspects of Delon’s character: clothing fetishism (hat and raincoat) and professionalism. We find this aspect in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Cercle rouge, 1970, where he rubs shoulders with Bourville, or even the policeman, and Borsalino & Co.

In 1981, he tried directing for the first time in the film Policeman Cannes, where he portrayed a young Ann Parrillo, but quickly returned to his first love, until he was awarded the César for the best actor in 1985 for his performance in Notre Dame. An intimate work by Bertrand Blier. That same year, he returned to action cinema in Parole de Flic opposite Jacques Perrin.

We find him in more unusual works in the 90s, such as The Dancing Machine, where he plays a dance teacher, The Return of Casanova, which sees him as an elderly Venetian seductress, or even Day and Night, the first film of the philosopher Bernard-Henry. Levi.

selected appearance

In 1998, more than thirty years later, he reunited with his Borsalino partner Jean-Paul Belmondo and Vanessa Paradis for Une chance sur deux, a comedy full of references to their past careers.

In 1999, Alain Delon announced his retirement from the film industry, but he soon fulfilled his decision by appearing in Bertrand Blier’s Les Acteurs the following year. In 2008, he made a big return to screens as Julius Caesar in Asterix at the Olympic Games.

Then he devoted himself to the theater with several plays, and then the last Russian feature film, in which he plays himself, Happy New Year Mothers!. In 2019, the Cannes Film Festival awarded him an honorary palm branch for his entire career.