Actor Spotlight: Alain Delon

Ah, Alain Delon. He's been likened to James Dean of American cinema, with his weathered good looks, charm, and reckless 'tude. He stands, in my opinion, one of the best actors of the neo-noir film genre, and rivals Jean-Paul Belmondo as France's greatest export (outside of luxury goods: fur, fragrance, fromage, champagne, wine & jewelry). His roles are often the lonely, laconic criminal. Most notably he appeared in a string of Jean-Pierre Melville's neo-noir films, Le Samourai (1967), Le Cercle Rouge (1970), and Melville's final film, Un Flic (1970). He also appeared in softer roles, like opposite Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse (1962).

In Le Samourai, often hailed as Melville's chef-d'oeuvre (masterpiece), we see Delon playing Jef Costello, a quiet man living in a spartan Paris apartment, with nothing but neatly stacked mineral water bottles, a suit, trench coat, and hat, and his loyal companion- a bird in its gray wire cage. He sets out on a hit, only for it to go awry once he is seen by multiple people. As the intrigue rolls along, he's confronted by the police, his employers, his girlfriend (played by his then-wife, Nathalie), and the witnesses. He evades them all like a tiger in the jungle, as the opening quote states: "There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai, unless it be a tiger in the jungle, perhaps.."

In Le Cercle Rouge, Delon plays another criminal, a theif named Corey, and teams up with Yves Montand and Gian Maria Volonte to rob a prestigious Place Vendome jewellry store in Paris. Cold, contemplative and slick, Delon keeps it minimalist as per usual.

In Un Flic, Delon goes against type and plays a cop, Edouard Coleman, who is out to to catch a bank robber who turns out to be a friend, nightclub owner Simon (played by Richard Crenna). While clearly on the "right" side of the law in this film, he remains aloof and even manages to have an affair with Simon's girlfriend Cathy (played by Catherine Deneuve).

Side note: all of his Melvillian characters have American names (Costello, Coleman, Corey). An obvious nod to the American crime genre. Nicely done, Melville.