The long-awaited meeting between Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo
In 1970, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, the two young protagonists and stars of French cinema, finally played the two main roles in the same film. It is Borsalinoco-written and directed by Jacques Deray, which tells the story of two young delinquents from Marseille determined to take power.
Marseille 1930, the young gangster Roch Siffredi (Alain Delon) joins his friend Lola who is under the control of François Capella (Jean-Paul Belmondo), another gangster. After a stormy meeting, the two men become friends and decide to conquer the city together. They attack the “big boys” and eliminate them one after the other. Then they become bosses…
It was on the initiative of Alain Delon, then on the set of La Piscine, that Borsalino prepares. Between one take and another, Alain Delon reads the book Bandits in Marseilleand more specifically a chapter on real criminals Carbon AND Spirit. He wanted to adapt their story with his production company, directed by Jacques Deray and with Jean-Paul Belmondo in the role of Paul Carbone. But informed of the project, the Marseille underworld insisted: it was not a question of telling the story of the two bandits, and in particular their activities during the Occupation. Finally, the scenario, the title and the names of the characters were changed: Paul Carbone becomes François Capella and François Spirito becomes Roch Siffredi on the screen.
A commercial success and controversy among the actors
With 4.7 million viewers in France, Borsalino is a success and the public is enthusiastic about this successful show. Even if the film does not have the prestige of those that revealed respectively Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo Full sun AND Breathlessthe screenplay supervised by the legendary Jean-Claude Carrière and the expert direction of Jacques Deray offer a largely satisfying spectacle.
Without any real consequences, a legal conflict breaks out between Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Originally, Jean-Paul Belmondo’s name will appear before Alain Delon’s on the film’s posterbut it is Alain Delon’s who appears first. A failure to respect the clauses of the contract that causes a small ego duel between the two stars, to the point that Jean-Paul Belmondo then refuses to participate in the promotion of the film. But in reality the understanding between the two actors remains cordial and this small legal dispute benefits above all the publicity of the film.
Borsalino is a huge success in Italy, where it attracts nearly 7 million viewers. The film was nominated in 1971 for Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. For the record, pornographic film actor Rocco Siffredi found his name directly inspired by the character played by Alain Delon.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
