In Memoriam: ALAIN DELON (1935-2024)
Still from Blazing Sun (Plein soleil, 1960)
The passing of Alain Delon, symbolizes the slowly fading of an era of cinema that will no longer return, however, there´s no need of mourning, because in the magic of cinema, Delon will forever be young and beautiful in the more than 100 credits that he left behind his back throughout almost six decades of work…
Alain Delon was born November 8th, 1935 in Sceaux, France, after a problematic childhoold where he developed an unruly behaviourdue the lack of attention of his divorced parent, he was expelled of school several times and at the age of 17, the future French cinema icon enrolled in te French Navy, serving as paratrooper during 1953 to 1954 fighting to maintain the French Indochina, before being dishonourably discharged for theft… Nobody is perfect, folks.
On his return to France he had to do some odd jobs to support himself, but it was his brief romance with French actress, Brigitte Auber, what pushed him to pursue a film career, after being discovered by American producer David O. Selznick in 1956 on the popular Cannes film festival. The producer offered him a contract to learn english to work in the United States but on his return to Paris, he was persuaded by French director Yves Allégret, to break his contract and stay in France to start his career on his native country. The American producer didn´t oppose on the break of the contract and Alain debuted on French cinema in 1957 on Yves Allégret film, “Quand la femme s’en mêle”. He found his first starring role a year later in the film “Christine” by Pierre Gaspard-Huit, where he shared the screen with whom he often mentioned as the love of his life, Austrian actress Romy Schneider, nevertheless, the relationship far from be idilic, didn´t end well and the couple separated in 1963 after a troublesome and toxic relationship where the infidilities of the actor were constant. Despite the disagreements, the actor pursued her years later in search of a friendly reconciliaton to star together the film “The Swimming Pool” (La Piscine, 1969) a psychological thriller directed by Jacques Deray.
Despite his controversial personal life, the actor’s career was on an unstoppable rise, in 1960 he was praised as the star of Blazing Sun (Plein soleil) based on the novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (I bet you all remember the later adaptation starred by Matt Damon and Jude Law) Delivering such a solid performance that even Patricia Highsmith, the author of the novel, praised Delon´s work in the film.
However, his best roles were yet to come and it was the legendary Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti who finally granted him the passport to cinephile immortality, giving him the lead role in the classic of Italian cinema “Rocco and his brothers” (Rocco e i suoi fratelli, 1960) a film that established him among the public and critics as one of the most promising stars of the current scene, returning to work with Visconti 3 years later, in the classic “The Leopard” (Il Gatopardo, 1963) sharing the screen with American film legend Burt Lancaster and gorgeous Italian actress Claudia Cardinale as his love interest, a romance that that did not transcend the screen, but remained in a long friendship since the Italian actress never succumbed to his romantic infatuations . The 3-hour historical drama found great success on international audiences, including the American market, however, and though some timid attempts, Delon never found his way though the American cinema, nonetheless, he continued to be a top-grossing actor in the French and European markets, even his stardom power was able to reach far away lands such as Japan. His career never stopped growing participating in all kinds of productions such as swashbuckling films such as “The Black Tulip” (La tulipe noire, 1964 ), The Last Adventure (Les aventuriers, 1967) one of his biggest succeses, sharing the screen with Lino Ventura, or his prolific foray into action and gangster films with great classics such as “Farewell, Friend” (Adieu l’ami, 1968) sharing the screen with Charles Bronson on the rise of his popularity, Jeff (1969) produced by Delon himself, directed by Jean herman with Warner Bros financiation, “Borsalino” (1970) also produced by Delon, with his rival at the French box office in those days, Jean-Paul Belmondo as his screen opposition, or his fruitful collaboration with French director Jean-Pierre Melville that includes excellent films such as “The Sicilian Clan” (Le clan des Siciliens, 1969) or their masterpiece, “Le Samourai”, (1967) A neo-noir crime thriller that has influenced filmmakers around the world, including to Hong Kong action artisan John Woo, who based the plot of his own masterpiece “The Killer” (1989), on this excellent Melville´s work.
Entering the 70s and 80s, Delon‘s career continued on the path of success, still making timid attempts to enter the American industry that did not proliferate. Films such as the western filmed in Spain “Red Sun” (Soleil rouge, 1971) in which he shared the bill with international stars such as Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune or Ursula Adress did well in Europe but did not win the support of the American public, however, the action thrillers that he continued to star in the French market continued to be liked by the French public, becoming in his maturity a star of action cinema in direct competition with his professional partner, Jean-Paul Belmondo.
After starring action vehicles such as “For a Cop’s Hide” (Pour la peau d’un flic, 1981), “Extrait” (Le choc, 1982) and “The fighter” (Le Battant, 1983), In 1985, Delon was awarded with the prestigious César Award for Best actor, for his performance in Bertrand Blier’s “Notre histoire” (1984), a French drama where he portrayed an alcoholic who finds in a woman he meets by chance his only way of redemption. That same year, he would play the dandy Baron de Charlus in the film version of Marcel Proust’s classic “Swann in Love”, before returning to action thrillers such as “Cops Honour” (Parole de flic, 1986), “The Passage, Let Sleeping Cops Lie” (Ne réveillez pas un flic qui dort, 1988), and “Dancing Machine” (1990). With the arrival of the new decade, he finally had the opportunity to work with the genuine French creative filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard, in a film that shared the name with the cinematographic movement he had created in the 60s, “Nouvelle Vague” (1990) A film in which he had the challenge of playing some twins.
Delon continued working during the 90´s until announcing his retirement in 1998, after appearing in the film “Une chance sur deux”, a film directed by Patrice Leconte, that flopped in the box-office, where he shared the bill with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Vanesa Paradis…
However, his retirement did not last long, and in 2001 he returned to star in the French television drama “Fabio Montale”, where he played an aging cop that against all ods seduced the French public and became a TV success, which motivated him to try to replicate that unexpected success with a new police drama entitled “Frank Riva” (2003), which despite working well, did not achieve the success of its successor.
In 2008, he became Julius Caesar in one of the many film adventures of Asterix and Obelix, the box-office hit “Asterix at the Olympic Games” (Asterix aux jeux Olympiques, 2008), that same year, the actor directed a TV film based on a play by A.R. Gurney, titled “Love Letters”. After that, the actor took a hiatus of 8 years away from the spotlight where there was some interesting projects that never materialized, as his participation in the lead role in the Hong Kong crime thriller directed by Johnnie To, “Vengeance” (2009) where he was finally replaced by French Rock legend Johnny Halliday, or his participation in the French Film directed by Patrice Leconte “La Maison Vide” with Juliette Binoche, that was cancelled with no explanations given.
On the twilight of his life and career, Delon received in 2019, a Palme d´or for his long standing career in cinema, an award that was not exent of controversy due to the attempted cancellation that some media tried to do on him due to some unfortunate declarations he did somewhere at some point of his life, about his tumultuous relationships with women. At that point of his life, his health began to demise, suffering two heart attacks that diminished his abilities, the star began to fade and his interventions on television began to be increasingly unfortunate with comments about homosexuality or politics that did nothing but point him out against the insufferable political correctness that we suffer today.
In 2022, one of his sons revealed in a biography that his father wanted to end his life through euthanasia, however, the information was denied by those around him. The truth is that the career of the French star has survived all kinds of scandals, and although his vital light has been extinguished this August 18, 2024, passing the way in his home surrounded by his family from natural causes, the star will always remain young and beautiful a in the eternity of celluloid, which cinephiles of future generations will keep lit for the rest of eternity.
Rest in peace and thanks for the cinephile memories
Living through Cinematic memories while surviving the most putrified film swamps
