Belmondo, a few prizes and some great movies

Alicia Garcia de Francisco

Editorial Culture, September 6 (EFE). Jean-Paul Belmondo, the youngest and (for some) ugliest actor in French cinema, has built an erratic career, based more on popularity than quality and has won very few awards but leaves history with a handful of legendary titles.

In nearly a hundred titles in the more than fifty years of his career, he specialized in action cinema, but has shown in some already legendary films that he was much more than that funny man associated with the most beautiful actresses of his time.

“At the End of Escape” (1960), where it all began

It wasn’t his first movie but “it all started there,” Belmondo admitted a few years ago when he was awarded the Golden Lion in Venice. “At the End of the Escape” by Jean-Luc Godard has become a true cinematic manifesto for Nouvelle Vague and a legendary film thanks to the legendary couple that Belmondo composed with Jean Seberg.

“Two Women” (1960), Belmondo opposite Sophia Loren

A brilliant film by Vittorio De Sica that went down in history for Sophia Loren’s Oscar (the first for an actor in a film that was not in English), but it’s a good example of Belmondo’s interest in making films outside of his country, but not necessarily in the United States, where he felt misplaced.

“PIERROT, EL LOCO” (1965), a character designed specifically for Belmondo

In his third collaboration with Godard, Belmondo collaborated with Anna Karina on the Swiss director’s most active film and also his biggest commercial success. And this despite the fact that it is not a story with the usual structure, but rather an exercise in which the director and a reflection of love were lucky enough to meet a pioneering couple who drew a lot of chemistry. A beautiful picture of the kiss between the two was the image that Cannes chose for the 2018 edition poster.

“BORSALINO” (1970), an unforgettable duet with Alain Delon

Thanks to his broken nose inherited from his time as a boxer and the handsome Alain Delon, he was the ugly Belmondo, with a face sculpted in marble. The two actors knew how to put pressure on their friendship / rivalry for the expansion of French cinema, but despite everything, they made two films together: “Borsalino” and thirty years later “Uno de dos”. It was the gangster story signed by Jack DeRay that showed the couple in their splendor.

“The Professional” (1981), the strongest Belmondo

Belmondo for years focused on making blockbuster movies in which he had characters who were either cute or tough. From the second installment stands out “The Professional”, an action movie in which he plays a French secret agent in a mixture of James Bond and Dirty Harry, the type of character that the actor specialized in.

“The Lion’s Empire” (1988), only Caesar Prize

Despite being one of the most famous actors in French cinema for decades, Belmondo has only managed one nomination and one win at the César Awards. It was with Claude Lelouch’s “Empire of the Lion” in which he played an old man who wanted to retire on a desert island. Years ago, his star faded and the actor turned to the theater, although he did not completely abandon the cinema. EFE