Alain Delon: Great Actor and Sex Symbol

He epitomized the European superstar of the 1960s. Alain Delon: a great film actor, starred in a wide variety of films and something of a sex symbol. On a par with stars like Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Paul Belmondo. He had a career full of highlights and was known for his high-class orgies, his involvement in murders and his links with the Corsican mafia. He was a friend of Jean-Marie Le Pen and a big supporter of the National Front. But that didn’t stop France from awarding him the Legion of Honor in 1991 for his importance to French culture. Because no one doubted that he meant a lot to that end.

Alain Fabian Maurice Marcel Delon died this Sunday at the age of 88. He had been a Swiss citizen since 1999. He remained a movie star, but was also a long-time businessman, with interests ranging from racehorses and helicopters to perfume, champagne and very luxurious watches. He officially retired from acting in 1997, but still occasionally plays a role he loves. So at 69, he’s not doing badly. Funny Julius Caesar Will be portrayed in the comic book movie adaptation Asterix at the Olympics (2008). Delon’s Caesar looks in the mirror for a long time, accidentally scratches a leopard behind his ear, and utters “Ave moi!” He gleefully parodies his career and his image as a vain man who wants to know his own beauty.

The early films that defined Delon were warrior Jean-Pierre Melville (1967) portrayed the cool, uncompromising French gangster as the human condition. In that film, the final silhouette of Delon was born: his slender last body was covered in a sleek raincoat, his face obscured by borsalino. Singer Madonna dedicated her song “Beauty Killer” To him

I like the way you stand on the street, like a samurai, you can withstand the heat…

Borsalino suited Delon so well that three years later a legendary crime film was released: Borsalino (1970) – set in 1930s Marseille and starring Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021) – the only colleague who could rival him.

Alain Delon rarely gives interviews, and this aggressive journalist may be a hit. But his private life is sometimes so chaotic that he can’t keep it completely to himself. The French love this movie swimming pool (1969). His partner was Romy Schneider, his fiancée who had only recently been dumped by him, and in their scenes together she was visibly pining for him. On the other hand, his long-term relationship with Dutch fashion model Rosalie van Breemen was not very high profile. But the fact that he would become the father of pop legend Nico’s son is still a thing Famous careerdespite his continued denials. Against her better judgment: Delon’s mother raised the boy, who looked just like him.

As a teenager, Delon had thought about becoming a butcher like his stepfather, but things turned out differently. After serving in the French Navy for four years, including eleven months of military service in the Indochina War and being dishonorably discharged for persistent misconduct, he worked as a waiter and porter in Paris. A friend took him to the Cannes Film Festival. There he caught the eye of American producer David O. Selznick. He was allowed to go to Hollywood on the condition that he learn English.

But before that, Delon met filmmaker Yves Allegret in Paris, and everything changed. He did not go to Hollywood; Allegret When Women Intervene (1957)playing the role of an assassin. As an actor, he still needs to grow, but the camera loves him, his tight jawline, his sinister eyes, his slender figure. He has become the master of the cold face and the flat and ruthless voice. He is a sexy dormant volcano. Tough but secretly pleading: Love me, love me, I look bad, but I am so lonely.

Allegre’s film was the start of Delon’s incredible film career, and three years later he reached his next peak with his lead role in this masterpiece Rocco and his brothers （Rocco and his brothers1960), by Italian master Luchino Visconti: a still-breathtaking American-style realist drama about two brothers and their mother who emigrate from the harsh south of Italy to a Milan where modern society is breaking down. Delon reveals his vulnerability, and Italian cinema becomes the cradle of his career. He shines in the nihilism of Michelangelo Antonioni masterpiece eclipse (1962)and a year later he became the radiant love interest in Tancredi. Visconti leopard (Tiger Cat, 1963).

Delon has always been interested in making films. From 1964 onwards, he ran several of his own production companies. In 1981, he made his directorial debut For the policeman’s skin (1981). He himself played the title role. Of course.

Suppose he went to Hollywood. He became a fine actor there, but the American film industry relentlessly condemned him to action films and romantic comedies.

Fortunately, Delon stayed in Europe. There, he also starred in thrillers, but those made by filmmakers such as Alain Corneau were just as exciting but with psychological depth. In addition, art filmmaking flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, with many outstanding filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle. He flourished with them and left his mark. Not because of Jean Guest, but because of him. Sicilian clans(Henri Verneuil, 1969) is still a joy to watch, no matter how dated it may be. Thanks to his confusing fragility Mr. Klein (Joseph Losey, 1976) One of the best films about collaboration and World War II. A slightly unsuccessful film adaptation of Proust Love from Swan (Volker Schlöndorff, 1984) Still worth a look, this film owes a lot to Delon as Baron Charlus, who makes him charming, authoritarian and autonomous. A sexy figure. And secretly naughty, there’s nothing he can do about it.

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