Six films to remember the career of Jean-Paul Belmondo, the genius of French film

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

By Alicia García de Francisco

Drafting Culture, September 6 (EFE). – Jean Paul Belmondo, the most sympathetic and (for some) ugliest actor of French cinemaHe’s built an uneven career, built more on popularity than quality, winning very few awards but leaving behind a handful of legendary titles.

In nearly a hundred films in the more than fifty years of his career, he specialized in action cinema, but showed 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 film but “There it all began,” Belmondo admitted a few years ago when he was awarded the Golden Lion in Venice. At the end of the getaway, by Jean-Luc Godard, became a full-length film statement for Nouvelle Vague and a legendary movie thanks to the legendary couple that Belmondo composed with Jean Seberg.

Two Women (1960), Belmondo opposite Sophia Loren

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpilKmE68oc

A brilliant film by Vittorio De Sica that went down in history for Sophia Loren’s Oscar (the first for a non-English film translator), but it’s a good example of Belmondo’s interest in making films outside of his country, but not necessarily America, where he felt out of place.

Piero, El Loco (1965), a character tailored to 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 that’s despite the fact that it’s not a story with the usual structure, but rather an exercise in by the director and a reflection of the love he was fortunate enough to meet a pioneering couple who had a lot of chemistry. The beautiful image of the kiss between the two was the image chosen by Cannes for its 2018 edition poster.

Borsalino (1970), an unforgettable duo with Alain Delon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COKkMeRo4ms

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 express their friendship/competition for the expansion of French cinema but despite everything, they only made two films together: Borsalino Thirty years later, one of two. It was the gangster story signed by Jack DeRay that showed the couple at their best.

The Professional (1981), The Hardest Belmondo

Belmondo for years focused on making blockbuster movies in which he had either cute or tough characters. Among the highlights of the second batch the professional, an action movie in which you play a French secret agent in a mixture of James Bond and Dirty Harry, a type of character that the actor specializes in.

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

Despite being one of the most famous actors of French cinema for decades, Belmondo has managed only one nomination and one victory at the César Awards. I went with lion empire, a film directed by Claude Lelouch in which he played the role of an old man who wanted to retire on a desert island. Years ago his star was fading and the actor turned to the theater, although he did not completely abandon the cinema.