Plein Soleil (1960) - before Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith's novel becomes alive with this movie. Alain Delon plays Tom Ripley, who is sent by Philippe Greenleaf's father to save his son from a decadent life in Rome. Although poor, Tom is inteligent and his talents include forging signatures and immitating voices. Upset because Philippe treats him badly, Tom kills him and steals his money and later moves towards Philippe girlfriend, Marge. The ending is good: Tom happily sits on a chair under the sun while the police are ready to catch him. I myself prefer if he can get away from his crime and live happily ever after with Marge.
L'Eclisse (1962) - This is an art movie by Italian director Michaelangelo Antonioni and too difficult for me. The black and white pictures are wonderful, each frame is beautiful, but often the story goes very slow with no dialogue at all. The heroine is Vittoria (Monica Vitti), who has just suffered the break-up of a relationship. When she meets Piero (Delon), a stockbroker, she learns to fall in love again only to find that their worlds are different. What I like about this movie is how they stage the Italian Stock Exchange and to see what the business is like in the 60's.Un Flic (1972) - I think what stands out from this one is the bank robbery in the beginning of the movie and the helicopter heist which seem very real and believable. Delon plays a cop (=flic) who has an affair with one of the robbers' girlfriend, played by Catherine Deneuve. There are parts in this movie where I can see how clear and blue Alain Delon's eyes are, so I can say the transfer is excellent, despite the grainy end credits.
Traitement de Choc (1973) - This one is a thriller. Annie Girardo plays Hélène Masson, a rich manager who is having a therapy at the Devilers centre. Delon plays the doctor who can make the old become younger and stonger. Hélène feels something is wrong but none believes him until she finds the doctor's terrible secret: take the essence from his young employees who are all illegal workers.
Flic Story (1975) - based on a true story set after the WW2. Paris cop Roger Borniche (Delon) tries to put dangerous criminal Emile Buisson who has escaped from a mental asylum into jail. During the pursuit, Buisson killed 36 people, including his mates who he thinks have betrayed him. This one is very enjoyable and Delon's Borniche reminds me of Lucky Luke, always has a cigarette in his mouth, lit or not; while Buisson who can kill without thinking is a fan of Edith Piaf's songs.
From all 5, my favourites are Plein Soleil and Flic Story, although I have to admit that I also like seeing young Alain Delon as a stockbroker running around in the Stock Exchange building in L'Eclisse.
1 comment:
Hello,
I happen to be a huge Alain Delon fan and I also have that screen icons box set. My fave movies in that set is "L'Eclisse" and "Un Flic". I think Delon plays brilliantly in "Un Flic" as that burned out cop. And to me, he is most handsome in "Traitement de Choc" and "Flic Story". Delon was also very convincing as Ripley in "Plein Soleil", however he looks so young in that movie it's hard for me at first to believe it is Alain Delon hahaha....
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