Alain Delon: These 8 Movies You Must See

French cinema is in mourning. French cinema legend Alain Delon died on August 18 at the age of 88. On this sad occasion, take a look at eight of the actor’s most important films, from Samurai to La Piscine with Le Cercle rouge.

Borsalino

union Alain Delon And Jean-Paul Belmondo, two enemy brothers, you must dare! At the time, stars at the box office watching each other’s careers, filming went well under the direction of Jacques Deray. The story centers on François Capella and Roch Sifred, two thugs in Marseilles in the Roaring Twenties who join forces to take over the city. Obviously, things don’t turn out the way these two bandits imagined.

Borsalino visually evokes the beginnings of New Hollywood, such as Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Cassidy and the Kid, and brings to the two actors at the height of their fame the charisma necessary to give the film its full scope. A sequel was released in 1974, still directed by Deray with Alain Delon, Borsalino & Co.

red circle

Just released from prison, a gangster pulls off a fabulous heist with the help of an escaped gangster and an alcoholic ex-cop. The shot is successful. Frightened by the size of the loot, the fence advises to contact a specialist. The latter is none other than the commissioner in charge of investigation…

Alain Delon. Yves Montagne. (Andre) Burville in one of his last roles. Gian Maria Volonte. At first glance, the casting of this is amazing red circle. One of the most impressive in the history of French cinema, its quality outweighs its quantity. The cast, not to spoil anything, is directed here by Jean-Pierre Melville.

After the souffle of Le Deuxieme at the top, Samurai And Army of Shadows, the director adds a new, very dark diamond to his filmography with this cat-and-mouse game between a commissioner and a trio of gangsters on the brink of the heist of the century.

The great gangsters, no matter what, are struck by the seal of fate, as the Buddha’s quote at the beginning of the film emphasizes: “When men, even if they ignore each other, should meet again one day, anything can happen to each of them and they can follow different paths, on that day, they will always be reunited in the red circle.”

Cheetah

Italy, 1960. The nobility declines in favor of a new bourgeois social class made up of landowners. During his summer residence at Donafugata, Don Salina (Burt Lancaster) reflects wistfully on the ongoing changes and his place in this new society. A new collaboration between Luchino Visconti and Alain Delon after Rocco and his brothers (see below), The Leopard is a masterpiece, a piece of Italian history as well as a perfect family portrait.

Still in the early stages, but buoyed by his performances in Plein soleil and Rocco and his brothers, Delon plays the nephew of Don Salina, who is involved with the Garibaldi and is in love with the characters of Lucilla Morlac and then Claudia Cardinale. He stars with Burt Lancaster, who was originally set up by the producers, and who gets into a public feud with Visconti before the two men begin filming amicably.

Mr. Klein

During the German occupation of Paris, Robert Klein, an Alsatian who bought works of art at low prices, received and re-sent a newspaper under his own name. Hebrew information which is issued only by subscription. He soon discovers that a fellow Jew is using his name and decides to follow the trail that will lead him to this stranger…

It is amazing that this great work that is Monsieur Klein, perhaps the greatest French film dedicated to the dark period of Vichy France, is directed by an American. In this case Joseph Losey. Echoing the Vel d’Hiv Raid organized by the French police on July 16 and 17, 1942, the film is a highly committed and Kafkaesque political piece that exposes the destructive machinery of the administration that destroys the people.

Handily directed by Alain Delon, as he also produced, the film was a huge failure in theaters. Which was very painful for the actor-producer, who did not even receive a Cannes award. A cruel injustice, which luckily time took care of correcting: Mr. Klein It is one of Delon’s greatest roles.

swimming pool

Jean-Paul and Marianne make the perfect couple and spend happy days at their villa in Saint-Tropez, until the day Harry arrives with his daughter, the fiery Penelope, on his arm. Mariana’s former lover disturbs this peaceful life. The tension is rising.

Released in 1969, the erotic year, swimming poolScored by Michel Legrand, it is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing films in his filmography. Delonfor its subject and its treatment. But also for the sensuality that emerges in the couple that he forms with Romy Schneider.

Even today, the charm still works and it is impossible not to be enchanted by this love ballet for four, an atmosphere rich in unspoken words and silences that become more and more oppressive as the minutes pass. Disturbing, depraved, sometimes disturbing, it Thriller It hasn’t really gotten old as a closed session.

How can I not mention the duo Delon / Schneider…As a bored bourgeois couple who see their daily lives turned upside down, they literally radiate from the screen, with a magnified staging. Jacques Deray. The performance is all the more charming because the two stars, here at the height of their beauty, were a couple in the city five years before filming. inevitable.

full sun

in 1960, Alain Delon becomes a star. The film that drives it, is it fair to say, in the light? THE Thriller full sun By René Clement, in which he plays Tom Ripley, an American billionaire accused of returning to San Francisco his son Philip, who spends too long on vacation in Italy with his beloved Marge. Tom enters into the couple’s intimate relationship and becomes Philip’s handyman, who forces him to participate in all his adventures and does not cease to despise him.

In full sun, Alain DelonPlaying the character created by novelist Patricia Highsmith in 1955, she literally radiates from the screen. Its poisonous charm, under the bright Italian sun, lends itself to a dark story of passion and murder. It is impossible not to be fascinated by the magnetism of the actor…

After this film, which received more than 2.4 million screenings in French cinemas, the careerAlain Delon Definitely takes off in the 1960s. Luchino Visconti Via Henri Vernay Jean-Pierre MelvilleTherefore, the actor will never stop shooting with famous directors.

Rocco and his brothers

After the death of her husband, in extreme poverty, Rosaria left Calabria to live in Milan with her children. There he finds his elder Vincenzo, and they settle down in a slum. It was then that his two sons, Rocco and Simone, developed a passion for boxing and began trying to make a living from it.

The sixth feature from Luchino Visconti, Rocco and his brothers is a Greek tragedy centered on family dislocation (a favorite theme for the filmmaker) that combines a very rare alchemy between a well-written script, great actors, and great photography. Direction and impeccable composition.

Samurai

Jeff Costello, aka Samurai, is an assassin. As he leaves the office where the body of Marte, his latest target, lies, he meets the club’s pianist, Valerie. Despite a good alibi, he is suspected of murder by the commissioner in charge of the investigation. When questioned by him, the pianist pretends not to recognize him. Freed, Jeff tries to understand why the young woman acted like this.

“There is no deeper loneliness than that of a samurai. Except a tiger in the jungle…” Taken from the book BushidoThis quote explains Melville’s masterpiece. This hunting, distinguished, elegant beast, always alert, has the features of Alain Delon, who finds here one of his greatest roles, undoubtedly embodying the quintessence of the killer.

Samurai There are references to many filmmakers, including John Woo and his compatriot Johnny To, Jim Jarmusch, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Joel Coen, Michael Mann. However, if these directors don’t dwell on the motifs of Melville’s film, they still resort to radically opposite staging principles. Melville’s style, on the other hand, is an ode to purity similar to Japanese prints. Excited.

“Samurai” trailer: