Actor Alain Delon — who died yesterday aged 88 — was France’s greatest screen seducer.
To some he was the sexiest man of the 20th century who played the impeccably tailored, ice-cold killers popularized by 1960s New Wave films to perfection.
To others, the man who often referred to himself in the third person and admitted to having slapped a woman, was an egotistical chauvinist, with feminists appalled by the lifetime achievement award the Cannes Film Festival gave him in 2019.
Photo: AFP
His millions of fans, from France to Japan — where Delon was adored as an idol of male beauty — were prepared to overlook his failings.
The whiff of sulfur and his angelic face also proved an irresistible combination to a long line of glamorous actresses who fell for him.
In a note to Delon on his 80th birthday, one of his oldest friends, fellow 1960s icon Brigitte Bardot, called him “an eagle with two heads ... the best and the worst.”
Delon’s legend was launched in 1960, playing pretty boy killers and mysterious schemers in Purple Noon — later remade as The Talented Mr Ripley — and Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard. He then set the template for one of Hollywood’s favorite tropes — the mysterious, cerebral hit man — with his staggering performance as the silent killer in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samurai (1967).
Directors from Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino to John Woo (吳宇森) all acknowledge a debt to the inner life Delon gave his stylish killer.
Despite the mixed emotions he generated, film historian Jean-Michel Frodon said no other French male actor in the last half century “had the same screen presence.”
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field
Brazil, the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, saw its Catholic population decline further in 2022, while evangelical Christians and those with no religion continued to rise, census data released on Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed. The census indicated that Brazil had 100.2 million Roman Catholics in 2022, accounting for 56.7 percent of the population, down from 65.1 percent or 105.4 million recorded in the 2010 census. Meanwhile, the share of evangelical Christians rose to 26.9 percent last year, up from 21.6 percent in 2010, adding 12 million followers to reach 47.4 million — the highest figure
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there. Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement. They are being held at a detention center ahead of a
‘THE RED LINE’: Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised a thorough probe into the attack on the senator, who had announced his presidential bid in March Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.” The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. The Santa Fe Foundation
RSS