Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Alain Delon * But Were Afraid to Ask By Jean-Michel Sourd*
The alarm bells began ringing in earnest when the Paris courts, not content with ordering the withdrawal of books already published, slapped a ban on a book that had yet to be written. The book, an unauthorized biography of Alain Delon, the colorful film star, existed at the time, only in the form of an 18-page synopsis submitted by Bernard Violet, the author, to Grasset, the Paris publishing house, in June 1998.
French laws on delving into private lives are notoriously strict. Delon himself, about whom scurrilous stories have circulated on the Paris gossip network going back to the era of Georges Pompidou's presidency in the 1960s, is especially protective of his privacy.
More seriously, the French weekly magazine Marianne, which specializes in investigations, obtained and published the Delon lawyers ‘statement and the text of the court injunction.” Delon wanted to use the law to prevent a book being written; we are now able to let the public know what he is hiding”, said Jean-François Kahn, the chief-editor of Marianne in its August 17th issue.
In fact this incident is not only for paparazzi’ interest but also determinant in the relative strong influence that Delon’s private life got on the direction of his career.
Delon born in the South suburb of Paris, in 1935 could have become “a- nobody” or even a delinquent if he didn’t make use, at the right moment, of his charming physical appearance.
It is indeed true that he was expelled from numerous education institutions, before finally joining the French navy on the French Indo-China battle line. His bad conduct (Alain carried out a jeep of army then, he goes to a town then, he caused traffic accident so he was sent to jail) will help him to be repatriated before the conflict becomes a tragedy in 1956. This particular period of his life will be important for him because, as he said, “it helped him to be the whole person that he is now”. His passage in the navy was also symbolized by using his recognition army number as his former detective card number in his own film production and script adaptation of 1985 “Paroles de Flic”. Moreover, Alain who is suffering trouble by seasickness will have a hard time when filming “Purple Moon” with René Clément and, later for the same reason, in 1977 will reject the offer to play the character of the Captain in “Le Crabe-Tambour” directed by Pierre Schendoerffer.
Under Italian master Visconti, Delon starts to learn to be a real professional actor especially with his performance in duo with Romy Schneider, in the leading role, on the stage, in John Ford’s play “It’s a pity she’s a whore”. Visconti will become a real mentor for Delon. He will have such a fascination for him that rumors said he got a kind of love affair with him. Nevertheless, Delon will become Visconti’s protégé and Alain will never refuse the demanding work of Visconti. “Rocco and His Brothers” and “The Leopard “are still there to see Visconti’s fantastic direction of the actor. “The Eclipse”(1962) will be another chance to prove his growing talent with the demanding director Antonioni.
With the determinate goal to become a real star, his fascination for Jean Gabin since he saw him, in Saigon, on the silver screen in “Pépé Le Moko” (1937) will bring him to work with him, on “Any Number Can Win”(1963). “The Kid” (Delon) wants so much to work with “the Boss” (Gabin) that he convinced the producers, to pay him only with the benefits that the film will make abroad in Argentina, Soviet Union and Japan. The film will be such an unexpected huge success in Japan that Delon will, since then keep a status of star and will visit 9 times the country of the rising sun.
His multiple “dangerous liaisons” with women will be a constant motivation for the rising star. In 1998, he will declare in an interview :“Today, what I am, everything I am doing “ is done in order that “they (women) become proud of me”. From Romy in “The Swimming Pool” (1968) to Anne Parillaud in “For a Cop’s Hide” (1981) it’s them who will “drive” his career. Even Jean-Pierre Melville will cast Nathalie Delon in "Le Samourai"(1967) while Alain was preparing his divorce from her. In 1992, “The Return of Casanova” will give him a last chance to play, at 57 the legendary Italian seducer. What a consecration for Delon!
Delon’s involvement in so many detective stories comes surely from his encounters with Mémé Guérini and Gaetan Zampa, who were notorious Marseille gang bosses,) the knowledge he gained of their milieu, are said to have helped him portray similar characters in films such as “Borsalino” (1970) and its sequel “Borsalino & Co.” (1974) depicting the rise of this Mafia from Marseille or Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle).
It is difficult to reduce the complexity of the personality of Alain Delon who will stay a versatile figure of French Cinema. This particular dimension of the actor is finally captured in Bernard Violet’s book with the title “Les mystères Delon” (Delon mysteries) despite all Delon’s wish to abort it. It will become quickly, not only in France, but also in the French speaking countries around the world, a 500 pages best seller. Shortly after, in 2001, another edition in pocket size will confirm its popular success despite Alain Delon's allegation saying "the story of my life is so impossible, that no journalist would dare write it down"**
*Jean-Michel Sourd has studied Art History and Archaeology at the University of Paris 1 - Panthéon- Sorbonne. He was also a student in visual anthropology under the supervision of Jean Rouch, Hélène Puiseux and Annie Comolli at the audio-visual laboratory of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) at the Sorbonne while he was also attending lectures of Annie Goldman and Marc Ferro at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. He is now working as a part-time lecturer in Film Studies at HKU SPACE and he is currently a Ph. D. candidate in Sciences of Information and Communication from the University « Jean Moulin », Lyon III (France), under the supervision of Jean-Pierre Esquenazi.
**Bernard Violet (2001) “Les mystères Delon”, J’ai Lu, note 1. page 493.
© J.-M Sourd All rights reserved