Delon's 40-year acting career celebrated in Jakarta, Surabaya
By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo
JAKARTA (JP): Legend has it that Alain Delon came to Cannes in the cool spring of 1956 wearing a rented tuxedo jacket. He arrived at the right time: the big screen's bad boy, James Dean, had died a year earlier. The world was waiting for a new star to blossom.
Seduced by his sexuality and charm -- Delon had just returned from his military tour in Indochina -- Hollywood producers and directors were vying to sign him up before the festival was over. At 22 years old, Delon decided it was not yet his time to cross the Atlantic. Choosing to stay home, he got the chance to be directed by European art-house directors.
It was the right decision, since in just four years Delon made his debut in America in Purple Noon, the English-dubbed version of Plein Soleil; the bad boy had come to town.
Directed through the graceful hands of Rene Clement, Delon played Tom Ripley, a private detective searching for Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), the son of his rich old friend.
Instead of pursuing Phillipe home, Tom becomes intimate with Phillipe. The friendship grows as Phillipe asks Tom to come along with him and his fiancee (Marie Laforet) for a boating trip. The mystery, however, unfolds as Tom kill Phillipe on the open sea.
Using the beautiful Mediterranean as the backdrop, Clement directed scenes that later on inspired younger directors, while exposing Delon's masculinity. Rumor has it the two men were lovers during the film making, and Delon later confirmed that "it was one facet of a bizarre existence".
After 40 years of film making, Delon also directed and produced a number of movies, besides being the star in more than 80 films.
His accomplishments in the film industry were recently recognized through Germany's Golden Camera Award. Paramount Pictures is also planning to produce a new version of Purple Noon, starring Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Seven).
To celebrate his feat a selection of Delon's movies will be screened at Senayan 21 in Jakarta this Saturday and Sunday, and at Mitra 21 in Surabaya on Friday (today). The screenings are a part of Festival du Cinema Francais, organized by Unifrance Film with the French Embassy. Founded in 1949, Unifrance film is an organization that promotes French films throughout the world.
The festival is the third of its kind. Selections of Delon's films that will be screened are: Plein Soleil (1959), Le Samourai (1967), Trois hommes a Abattre (1980) and Le retour de Casanova (1992).
While the selection of Delon's films reflects his career, the festival, which started on Tuesday, also features a number of contemporary French movies.
Taking place in the Usmar Ismail Film Center in South Jakarta, Saturday's selection will be Paparazzi, Un air de famille, and Didier. The Sunday selection will be Comme elle respire, Marius et Jeannette and On connait la chanson.
Paparazzi features a story of a fanatic sports fan bent on vengeance against a paparazzi after his picture was taken, causing him to be fired from his job. Un air de famille is a reflective comedy about family reunion turned into a personal revelation session. Written and directed by and starring Alain Chabat, Didier is a comedy about a sports agent who has to host Didier, a dog turned human.
While Comme elle respire is a tragic love story of a pathological liar who falls in love with a con man, Marius et Jeannette is a romantic love story of Marius, a night watchman at a defunct paint factory with Jeannette a widow who used to look for some 'leftover' cans of paint in the factory. On connait la chanson is a modern, entertaining movie, where the six main characters roam around the city of Paris in search for each other's company.
Tickets can be obtained at Center Culture Francais (390 8585) before the screening or at the Usmar Ismail Film Center (526 8458).