R.I.P ALAIN DELON (1935-2024): the last great French movie star?

[Chris Knipp]

ALAIN DELON (November 8, 1935-August 18, 2024): The last great French movie star?. NYT obituary


OF THE YOUNG DELON THE WORD "BEAUTIFUL" COULD FAIRLY BE USED

An article (one of many) in Le Monde by film critic Jacques Mandelbaum speaks of "The muted ambivalence of the man and the actor: Cop and thug, grace and violence, progressive acts and reactionary ideology." Throughout his career, it goes on, Delon "walked a tightrope." He seemed best when he was silent, mysterious, attractive yet menacing. We see this in two of his iconic roles, a dangerously glamorous version of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley in René Clément's PURPLE NOON (PLAIN SOLEIL) and the enigmatic hired killer Jef Costello in Jean-Pierre Melville's LE SAMOURAÏ.

These are two films of such glittering perfection and distinctive style they can be watched over and over and over.

But another Delon, which makes use of his fabulous looks but brings out (with dubbing in Italian) his gentleness and humanity, is Luchino Visconti's ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, and that is a Delon and a movie worth going back to also. He also starred in Antonioni's L'ECLISSE and Visconti's THE LEOPARD, and so became an Italian film icon.

That other male icon of French cinema Jean-Paul Belmondo preceded Delon in death by three years, dying September 6, 2021, also aged 88.




ALAIN DELON IN LE SAMOURAÏ


DELON IN ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS