Christine (1958)
Born in 1935 in the suburbs of Paris, tossed from one foster home and one school to another, Alain Delon enlisted in the Navy at 17. Four years later, the man who fought in the Indochina War worked multiple jobs before being spotted by a headhunter at the Cannes Film Festival, where he went with his friend Jean-Claude Brialy. Without training, but with the physique of a young leading man, Delon first appeared in When the woman gets involved (1957), by Yves Allégret. However, it is his role as a lieutenant in love with a married woman in Christineby Pierre Gaspard-Huit, which would be decisive for his career and his personal life. In fact, he shared the spotlight with Romy Schneider, already known worldwide thanks to Sissiwho becomes his first great love. He leaves her five years later, but finds her again on the set of The swimming pool (1969), by Jacques Deray.
Christine is available on AppleTV.
The Cheetah (1963)
Full sun (1960), by René Clément, after Mr. Ripleyby Patricia Highsmith; Rocco and his brothers (1961), by Luchino Visconti; The Samurai (1967), by Jean-Pierre Melville: there was no shortage of successes or major roles for Alain Delon in the 1960s. During this decade, when he experienced a meteoric rise and his love life made headlines, Delon starred alongside internationally renowned actors under the direction of the best directors. Among the latter, there was of course Visconti, with whom he starred The Cheetahfor which Delon earned a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Newcomer category. Alongside the masterful Burt Lancaster, he plays the nephew of a prince who agrees to marry the daughter of the mayor of a Sicilian village, played by Claudia Cardinale, in order to save the aristocracy.
The Cheetah is available on AppleTV, YouTube and Google Play.
The widow Couderc (1971)
As in previous decades, the 1970s were a successful decade, but it was not enough for Delon, who became a producer in order to have more control over the films he made. He thus produced Two men in the city (1973), where he shares the screen with Jean Gabin, a monument of French cinema, and The Gypsy (1975), by José Giovanni, as well as Cop Story (1975), by Jacques Deray. During the decade, he crossed swords with the great Simone Signoret in The widow Coudercby Pierre Granier-Deferre, based on the novel by Simenon. He plays a criminal who has escaped from prison and finds refuge with an old peasant woman who takes a liking to him. A moving meeting at the top.
A Swann’s Love (1984)
After production, Alain Delon briefly moved into directing, directing crime dramas – his favourite genre – For the skin of a cop (1981) and The fighter (1983). In 1985, he won the César for Best Actor for Our storyby Bertrand Blier, where he plays alongside Nathalie Baye. Having played cops, mafiosi and other tough guys for years, Alain Delon creates a surprise in A Swann’s Loveby Volker Schlöndorff, based on the work of Proust. The actor plays Baron de Charlus, an old homosexual seducer who plays matchmaker between an aristocrat (Jeremy Irons) and a demi-mondaine (Ornella Muti). A twilight role in which he reveals a certain vulnerability.
A Swann’s Love is available on AppleTV.
Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008)
The 1990s were certainly not the most significant years in Alain Delon’s career, although he nevertheless distinguished himself in The Return of Casanova (1992), by Édouard Niermans. A year before announcing his retirement, he mocks his image in One in two chance (1998), by Patrice Leconte, alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo, his partner in Borsalino (1970), by Jacques Deray. Under the direction of Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann, he makes an amusing appearance in Asterix at the Olympic Games under the laurels of Julius Caesar, who, like the imperial actor, liked to speak of himself in the third person. In 2019, in Cannes, Alain Delon received an honorary Palme d’honneur. “I’m going to leave, but I won’t leave without thanking you,” he said, moved, “if I’m a star, and that’s why I want to thank you, it’s to the public that I owe it, and to no one else.”
Asterix at the Olympic Games is available on Crave and Videotron.