One of the most charismatic leading men to grace the silver screen, Alain Delon appeared in 107 films, starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and ’70s, and worked with many of the most celebrated directors of his time. While there’s no denying his iconic beauty, nor his on-screen charm he earned enormous critical acclaim for his modulated, at times searing, performances.
Alain Delon won a César Award for Best Actor for his performance in Bertrand Blier’s Notre histoire (1984) and has earned honorary lifetime achievement awards at film festivals worldwide, from Berlin to Cannes, Venice, Locarno, Taormina and Marrakesh.
He was nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Male Newcomer for Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (1963), and for a César Award as Best Actor for his riveting performance in Joseph Losey’s Mr. Klein (1976). A mere handful of his other titles include Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers (1969); Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï (1967), The Red Circle (1970) and A Cop (1972); René Clément’s Purple Noon (1960); Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclipse (1962); Henri Verneuil’s The Sicilian Clan (1969); and Jean-Luc Godard’s New Wave (1990).
We are greatly anticipating the tribute to Alain Delon at this years The American French Film Festival (TAFFF) with a screening of MORT D’UN POURRI/DEATH OF A CORRUPT MAN (1977) The event is free, at the massive auditorium of the Director’s Guild of America building on Sunset Boulevard.
Xavier Maréchal’s doorbell suddenly rings at 5 a.m. It’s his old friend, Senator Philippe Dubaye, with disturbing news. He’s just killed Serrano, a mobster with big-time political connections. Xavier instantly offers to serve as his pal’s alibi. However, the plot thickens.
The magnificent Alain Delon earned his second César Award nomination for his depiction of Maréchal, apparently the only honest man in a Paris teeming with corruption, in George Lautner‘s moody 1977 film noir. The sultry jazz score by Philippe Sarde, featuring the lyrical tenor sax of the great Stan Getz, weaves its way through the film as an added bonus.
DEATH OF A CORRUPT MAN | The American-French Film Festival | DGA Building | Sat Nov 2, 11 a.m.