🌨️ Alain Delon About Romy Schneider

In tanti giurano di averlo sentito, Alain Delon, mentre visibilmente commosso dalla Palma d’oro ricevuta in occasione del Festival di Cannes il 19 maggio 2019 ha pronunciato il suo nome, quello di Romy. E non facciamo fatica a credere che lo abbia fatto davvero perché la sua mente così come il suo cuore, oggi come allora vagano sempre sulle stesse strade, quelle che lo portano tra le braccia del suo grande e perduto amore. Perché la storia tra Alain Delon e Romy Schneider, per quanto intensa ed eterna, non ha avuto il suo lieto fine. Perché gli errori sono stati tanti, forse troppi, ma per i ripensamenti era tardi. E quello strappo è stato così violento da condizionare la vita di entrambi, per sempre. Rosemarie Magdalena Albach-Retty, questo il nome all’anagrafe di Romy Schneider, si trovava già all’apice del suo successo quando ha conosciuto lui, l’uomo dagli occhi di ghiaccio che faceva capitolare ogni donna ai suoi piedi. Romy era già la principessa Sissi, tutti desideravano riaverla sul set per girare il quarto capitolo della saga di successo, ma lei era stanca di quel ruolo ed era volata altrove, inconsapevole che quella maledizione che era appartenuta all’imperatrice d’Austria ora era anche la sua. Galeotto fu il set del film L’amante pura, dove i due si ritrovano a recitare insieme e a coltivare un sentimento impetuoso che li legherà per sempre. Non un banale colpo di fulmine però, Romy conosceva già la fama dell’attore dagli occhi blu, del mito ribelle dal carattere scontroso, dell’uomo bello e dannato. E probabilmente qualcuno le aveva anche detto di stare alla larga da lui e dalla sua fama di sciupafemmine ma lei lo desiderava già al suo fianco, come attore e come partner. E così è stato. Tante le scappatelle di lui, alcune delle quali hanno gettato la coppia più bella di Francia nello scandalo. Ma Alain Delon tornava sempre da Romy Schneider – dalla sua Puppelé – e da lei mai si separava, e forse questo bastava all’attrice almeno all’inizio. Bastava pure agli altri, probabilmente, che deliziavano le loro giornate guardando le fotografie sui tabloid dei due attori. Bellissimi, talentuosi e innamorati. Alain e Romy erano proprio così. Un idillio, il loro, che resiste anche nel 1962 quando i loro nomi finiscono nel bel mezzo di una tempesta. È ancora Alain a gettare la coppia nello scandalo per quella relazione con la Sacerdotessa delle Tenebre, musa di Andy Warhol e cantante dei Velvet Underground. Nico resterà incinta in quel periodo: la somiglianza del bambino con Alain è tanta ma lui nega di essere il padre. Bufera passata, allora, soprattutto perché si vocifera dell‘imminente matrimonio tra Alain Delon e Romy Schneider. La proposta c’è stata e le intenzioni anche, eppure le nozze vengono continuamente rimandate. Gli impegni, del resto sono tanti. Lui, lei e la nuova signora Delon Ma l’attesa non sarà ripagata dal sogno realizzato, no. Verrà interrotta bruscamente da un biglietto di poche parole scritto dal divo alla sua Romy. Mi dispiace. So che ti avrei resa infelice. Parto per il Messico con Nathalie. Ti auguro ogni bene L’ennesima scappatella dell’attore, questa volta, si trasforma in qualcosa di più serio. Nathalie Barthélémy, la bellissima e irrequieta attrice francese ha 22 anni e un passato travagliato alle spalle. Anche lei è una ribelle come Alain Delon è forse è per questo che la relazione tra i due non si limita a un rapporto occasionale. Il divo dagli occhi blu perde la testa e lascia Romy, la sua Romy. Di Alain Delon e Romy Schneider restano solo i ritagli di giornale che parlano della ormai ex coppia più bella di Francia che probabilmente lui neanche legge più perché ora ha una nuova vita. Con Nathalie compie il passo che aveva rimandato a lungo con Romy. Un matrimonio e una famiglia, ecco il nuovo ritratto della vita dell’attore più famoso di Francia. Il loro idillio sembra quasi un déjà vu, ma è solo un’illusione. Sarà la stessa signora Delon a dichiarare in seguito che un velo di tristezza ha sempre accompagnato il marito durante gli anni della loro relazione, lo stesso dietro al quale, probabilmente, si nascondeva proprio il profilo di Romy. E questo acuisce la distanza tra i coniugi Delon che diventano estranei. È Nathalie a porre fine al matrimonio stanca di essere tradita continuamente e forse anche di vivere all’ombra del fantasma di Romy. Nel 1969 il divorzio arriva, ma non si traduce in un ritorno di fiamma con la Schneider, perché le ferite del cuore e dell’anima sono troppo grandi. E anche perché Romy intanto è andata avanti, o almeno ci ha provato. Ha coronato il suo sogno d’amore ma sull’altare non c’era il suo Alain. Così divorzia, la prima volta e pure la seconda. A riempire la sua vita, però, arrivano i figli Daniel e Sarah. Romy e Alain si incontreranno di nuovo però, insieme si ritroveranno sul set La Piscina e nonostante le voci di un possibile ritorno, questo non ci sarà, anche se i due dichiareranno in più occasioni di non aver mai smesso di amarsi reciprocamente. Ma ormai è troppo tardi. Ti dico addio, il più lungo degli addii, mia Puppelé Romy, bellissima e fragile, colleziona un disastro sentimentale dietro l’altro così si abbandona alla depressione e all’alcolismo. Ma tutto sembra precipitare pericolosamente con la morte di suo figlio Daniel. Ha solo 44 anni quando il suo cuore, stanco, smette di battere. Delon, alla notizia, si precipita a Parigi per guardare la sua Puppelé l’ultima volta, per dichiarargli ancora il suo amore eterno. E chissà se nell’eternità, un giorno, finalmente si ritroveranno. Ti guardo dormire. Sono accanto a te, mia Puppelé. Sei vestita di una lunga tunica nera e rossa, ricamata sul petto. Sono fiori, credo, ma non li guardo. Ti dico addio, il più lungo degli addii, mia Puppelé. E penso che sei bella, e che forse non lo sei mai stata così tanto. Per la prima volta nella mia vita – e nella tua – ti vedo serena, in pace. Come sei calma, come sei bella. Sembra che una mano abbia dolcemente cancellato dal tuo viso tutte le angosce. Ti guardo dormire, dicono che sei morta. Mio Dio, come eravamo giovani, e come siamo stati felici. Poi la nostra vita, che non riguarda nessuno se non noi, ci ha separati. Mia Puppelé, ti guardo ancora e ancora. Voglio divorarti di sguardi. Riposati. Sono qui, vicino. Ti amo. Ti amo, mia Puppelé.

1969 trafen sich Romy Schneider und Alain Delon, ehemalige Liebhaber, auf der Leinwand für "Der Swimmingpool" wieder 👙📽️#arte #romyschneider #alaindelon Sc

Ce vendredi 20 mai, France 3 propose le documentaire Romy, femme libre qui revient notamment sur la fin (mouvementée) de la relation entre la comédienne et Alain délicat équilibre à trouver. Romy Schneider et Alain Delon n'y sont pas parvenus. Dès leur rencontre en 1958, il y a eu des étincelles, tant par leur coup de foudre que par leurs différences fondamentales. Et cela n'a fait qu'empirer avec le temps qui passe. Pendant quatre ans, ils ont formé l'un des couples les plus emblématiques du cinéma. Les plus glamours aussi. Ce qui ne les a pas empêchés de vivre des périodes difficiles. Si cela peut être rassurant de sortir avec quelqu'un qui fait le même métier que soi, cela peut également engendrer des frustrations. Surtout lorsque leurs carrières n'en sont pas au même stade. "Quand j'avais connu Alain, c'était lui le débutant prometteur et moi l'actrice à succès. Pour la première fois de ma vie, je devins jalouse. Jalouse de son succès", reconnaissait Romy Schneider, comme le rapporte le documentaire de France 3 Romy, femme à ce moment-là, Alain Delon ne cesse plus de tourner. Il enchaîne les films, tandis que Romy Schneider ronge son frein. Pire, son fiancé lui conseille d'attendre. Attendre le bon projet. Plus facile à dire qu'à faire. "C'est très facile à dire mais je ne veux plus attendre. Combien de temps, je vais attendre pour faire quelque chose de bien ? Pour faire ce que j'ai envie de faire ?", l'interroge-t-elle. Romy Schneider broie du noir. "Je restais à la maison à dormir des heures durant, je n'avais pas envie d'aller me balader ou de faire quoi que ce soit. Je n'avais aucune énergie", confiait-elle. Désormais, ils ne font plus que se croiser. Alors, quand en 1963 les portes d'Hollywood s'ouvrent à elle, Romy tente sa chance. "Alain est un jeune chien autodestructeur. Plus souvent nous étions séparés par notre travail, plus la situation devenait dangereuse pour nous deux", reconnaissait Romy lettre de rupture qu'Alain Delon a envoyé à Romy Schneider Qu'importe si son couple bat sérieusement de l'aile. Elle a besoin de se sentir désirée en tant qu'actrice. "Elle a 24 ans, l'Amérique l'appelle, elle s'en va", résume si bien le documentaire. Un départ de courte durée. Après quelques films américain, Romy Schneider se rend compte que la mentalité hollywoodienne ne lui correspond pas. Au même moment, "de méchantes rumeurs arrivent d'Europe. Delon en aimerait une autre. Elle s'appelle Nathalie et tous les journaux en France consacrent leurs couvertures à cette idylle". Romy Schneider ne peut y croire. Jusqu'à ce que la réalité la rattrape et la gifle en pleine figure : Alain Delon lui apprend par une lettre - accompagnée d'un bouquet de roses Baccara - qu'il la quitte. "La raison me force à te dire adieu. Nous avons vécu notre mariage avant de nous épouser. Notre métier nous enlèverait toute chance de survie... Ne te trompe pas sur la couleur de ces fleurs : ce ne sont pas des roses noires. Je te rends ta liberté en te laissant mon cœur. Je suis parti avec Nathalie. Pardonne-moi. Alain", aurait-il écrit, comme l'a rapporté l'auteur de La dernière vie de Romy Schneider, Bernard Pascuito. Une rupture terrible pour Romy Schneider qui "s'abîme dans un immense chagrin" et se "bourre de tranquillisants".© AVCO EMBASSY PICTURES 2/12 - Alain Delon et Romy Schneider Mais leur idylle était loin d'être un long fleuve tranquille © AVCO EMBASSY PICTURES 3/12 - Alain Delon et Romy Schneider Romy Schneider et Alain Delon ont connu de nombreuses périodes délicates au sein de leur couple © SNC 4/12 - Alain Delon et Romy Schneider Déjà lorsque la carrière d'Alain Delon a explosé alors que celle de Romy Schneider était au point mort © AVCO EMBASSY PICTURES 5/12 - Romy Schneider et Alain Delon "Quand j'avais connu Alain, c'était lui le débutant prometteur et moi l'actrice à succès. Pour la première fois de ma vie, je devins jalouse. Jalouse de son succès", reconnaissait Romy Schneider © AVCO EMBASSY PICTURES 6/12 - Alain Delon et Romy Schneider Alain Delon et Romy Schneider ne font plus que se croiser, alors, quand en 1963 les portes d'Hollywood s'ouvrent à elle, Romy tente sa chance © AVCO EMBASSY PICTURES 7/12 - Alain Delon et Romy Schneider Elle savait pourtant qu'"Alain est un jeune chien autodestructeur. Plus souvent nous étions séparés par notre travail, plus la situation devenait dangereuse pour nous deux" © ASLAN-RINDOFF 8/12 - Alain Delon et Romy Schneider Pire au même moment, Romy Schneider apprend qu'Alain Delon la trompe avec celle qui deviendra sa femme, Nathalie © ASLAN-RINDOFF 9/12 - Romy Schneider et Alain Delon Romy Schneider ne peut y croire © ASLAN-RINDOFF 10/12 - Romy Schneider et Alain Delon Jusqu'à ce que la réalité la rattrape et la gifle en pleine figure : Alain Delon lui apprend par une lettre - accompagnée d'un bouquet de roses Baccara - qu'il la quitte © ANGELI-RINDOFF 11/12 - Daniel Biasini et Romy Schneider "La raison me force à te dire adieu. Nous avons vécu notre mariage avant de nous épouser. Notre métier nous enlèverait toute chance de survie... (...) Je te rends ta liberté en te laissant mon cœur. Je suis parti avec Nathalie. Pardonne-moi. Alain", aurait-il écrit © BERTRAND RINDOFF PETROFF 12/12 - Romy Schneider Une rupture terrible pour Romy Schneider qui "s'abîme dans un immense chagrin" et se "bourre de tranquillisants" ^{Entre Alain Delon et Romy Schneider, l'amour a duré cinq ans. Cinq années intenses et vécues à cent à l'heure, marquées par des coups d'éclat et des réconciliations. Les deux acteurs se} There's a disquieting moment in Purple Noon, René Clément's 1960 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel The Talented Mr Ripley, in which Tom Ripley muses upon his fresh murder. He sits, glass of wine in hand, sipping it, slowly. His eyes, the focus of the shot, are the clearest grey. Like marbles, they are beautiful, but they are cold, glassy and empty. They are Alain Delon's eyes and they would make him an overnight star. Often dubbed the male Brigitte Bardot, it only took one film, Purple Noon (adapted again in 1999 as The Talented Mr Ripley, starring Matt Damon) for 25-year-old Delon to take the title as the most seductive man in cinema. Delon's lazy insouciance, cold detachment, shady sophistication and angelic insolence - learnt, no doubt, from past connections with the French criminal underworld - carved him a niche: the pretty-boy killer. Delon was later credited as having created cinema's "cerebral hitman".Classic followed classic, from Luchino Visconti's Rocco And His Brothers in the same year of Purple Noon, to Visconti's The Leopard in 1963, via Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï in 1967 and Jacques Deray's seminal masterpiece La Piscine in 1969. With each film, Delon's impossible beauty and impenetrably dark temperament would swell his status further. But because Delon rejected English-speaking roles (the effort entailed would scupper his trademark languor) and thus a contract with American producer David Selznick, he was God everywhere but Hollywood. He was idolised by men and women alike, from France to Japan. He dated everyone from Mireille Darc to Romy Schneider. From the Sixties to the mid-Eighties, Delon dominated the national box office and was the highest-paid actor in France's year will mark Delon's sixth, and last, decade in cinema. At 81 years old, with a repertoire of 80-plus films, for which he has won France's highest film prize, the César, and was awarded the Legion Of Honour, Delon is retiring. The choice was easy: an exceptional past, a mediocre future. There's no point in dawdling. He will do one more play and one last film with Patrice Leconte, starring opposite Juliette Binoche, then it will be over. Cut. The kiss: After meeting on the set of Jeff (1969), Delon and Mireille Darc dated for 15 yearsGetty ImagesAlong with Charles de Gaulle, Alain Delon is one of the most recognisable Frenchmen in the world. When I meet him, he is standing by the general's tomb in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, northeastern France, where de Gaulle died. He stands with his face turned towards the sun, looking up at the giant Lorraine cross which seems to tower above the whole of France. Moments earlier, he laid a wreath on the general's tomb and crossed himself twice, observed by a couple of delighted onlookers asking for selfies. He searches for the right voice - slows his words, gives them weight - and begins to recite de Gaulle's famous appeal, broadcast by the BBC 77 years ago, asking the French to join him in fighting the German occupying forces."I, General de Gaulle, currently in London, invite French officers and soldiers located on British territory, or those heading this way, armed or unarmed, as well as engineers and specialised workers of the armament industries, to contact me." Alain Delon, who has always played the part of Alain Delon, now thinks he is General de Gaulle. And he gives himself fully to the part. How could he not? Once considered one of the world's most handsome men, Delon is entitled to show off a 14 July 1958, Delon was standing near de Gaulle on the Champs Élysées during an inspection of the troops. De Gaulle was acknowledging the cheering crowd. Delon was an unknown orderly among thousands. De Gaulle did not recognise Delon in the crowd. "That was inevitable," Delon explains, snootily. "In 1958, Delon was not Delon. And when he became Delon, he did not have the opportunity to meet the general." When did he become Delon? "Only after Purple Noon," he replies, unfazed that I, too, am talking about Delon in the third person. "The film was a great hit in Japan. I became an emperor over there. All the boys were crazy about Delon. They styled their hair like Delon. A taxi driver in Tokyo told me, 'So you are a Frenchman? Like Alain Delon?' They only knew two French names in Japan: de Gaulle and Delon."Rex/ShutterstockThere are two types of Delon: annoyed Delon and emotional Delon. The megalomaniac and the nostalgic. They feed off each other. The night before Delon read de Gaulle's BBC appeal, just under a hundred of us are sitting outside in the dark, facing the gigantic Lorraine cross as it wanes in the black starry night. Delon is in the first row, shaking intermittently with muffled sobs. A projector has been assembled on its large granite base and arms. A film is showing. The voiceover in the commentary is that of Alain Delon. Delon is listening to himself speak. He is speaking about de Gaulle, about himself and, in truth, about us. This is because the film, a little gem directed by the company Penseur De Prod, is a sonic and visual retrospective of 12 years of Gaullism, from 1958 to 1969. It's a return to the joyous Sixties, full of innovation and a single hour, a whole decade flits across the screen: politics, adverts, newsreaders, TV programmes, famous songs, films and actors; de Gaulle speaking on the news; de Gaulle's Citroën DS; the opening credits of the Eurovision Song Contest; Bardot's bottom in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt; Johnny Hallyday and Claude François and young bucks about to become stars, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Delon, Maurice Ronet... Their photos flicker on the cross. Then there are the dead: small animated coffins that take off like rockets along the cross up to the stars. Edith Piaf, Gérard Philipe... With each death, Delon emits a kind of hiccup, like a brief cry of pain. On 28 April 1969, President de Gaulle stands down after his referendum defeat and dies the following year. "France will never be the same again," solemnly concludes Alain Delon's disembodied voice from the Delon crying over de Gaulle, himself, these golden years, or the France he has loved and lost? All of it, no doubt. His greatest years coincide with that same decade: 1958-1969. It was a turbulent era, gripped by conservatism - carefully censored news, quietly growing social taboos - and the irrepressible desire for freedom and celebration. Delon was there. The stepson of a butcher from Bourg-la-Reine, Delon was too restless to study, so he enrolled as a marine at the end of the First Indochina turning point for Delon was when his friend and colleague Brigitte Aubert introduced him to the director Yves Allégret, who cast him in Send A Woman When The Devil Fails. "I had no idea what to do," says Delon, with his trademark stare. "Allégret stared at me, just like that, and told me: 'Listen to me, Alain. Speak as you are speaking to me. Stare as you are staring at me. Listen as you are listening to me. Don't act. Live.' It changed everything. If Yves Allégret had not told me that, I would never have had this career."Getty ImagesDelon made films with the greats, from Jean-Pierre Melville to Luchino Visconti, via Joseph Losey, Michelangelo Antonioni and Jacques Deray. He was their protégé and then he was their icon. Delon's CV may as well be a list of French and Italian cinematic masterpieces. Modern cinema, however, doesn't interest him. "It's a shallow, worthless era soured by money. We no longer film with a moving camera but a digital thing stuck on the end of your fist," he sighs. "No one gives a shit about anything any more. If Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura were alive today, they'd be completely stumped." He's talking like an old fogey and he knows it. "Those who use the phrase 'It was better in my day' are old fools. But when I say it, it's different, because it's true: in my day, it was something else, it really was better. You see, I don't have anything to lose any more, I've had it all." He opens one of the many photo albums weighing down the table. "Look, I had incredible luck. I've been happy all my life; I filmed with the best. I did what I wanted, with who I wanted, when I wanted. I dwell on the past more than I think about the future, yes, because my past was extraordinary. Today just doesn't compare. A life like I had doesn't come around twice. That's why when it comes to retirement, I have no regrets."How can one not succumb to nostalgia when one has lived a life like Delon's? But Delon takes nostalgia to new levels. His Parisian office on Boulevard Haussmann is astonishing: Alain Delon is everywhere. There isn't a wall, table or corner without a picture of Alain Delon. Sometimes they are interspersed by pictures of his dogs or of Romy Schneider or Luchino Visconti. A little lost in all the clutter are pictures of a naked Marilyn, Edwige Feuillère and the Gaullist Jacques Chaban-Delmas. Just in case I missed the obvious, Delon says, with a sweeping gesture, "Here is Alain Delon." The Delon tour is in the first person. "I am handsome. And it seems, my darling, that I was very, very, very, very handsome indeed. Look at Rocco [And His Brothers], look at Purple Noon! The women were all obsessed with me. From when I was 18 till when I was 50." He chooses to omit the fact that he was the object of desire for as many men as women. He first became aware of this when a friend took him to Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the mid-Fifties, to meet the literati among the iconic Parisian cafés De Flore and Les Deux Magots. "I realised that everyone was looking at me. Women became my motivation. I owe them everything. They were the ones who inspired me to look better than anyone else, to stand stronger and taller than anyone else, and to see it in their eyes."Delon rarely watches films, because almost all his colleagues are dead. Delon can't stop counting those still alive and he is haunted by those on their way out. He regularly attends funerals and memorials - he likes the solemnity. "He suits grief better than joy," says his friend, the director Philippe Labro. Each day, solitude gains a little more ground on Delon. He splits his time between his office in Paris, his apartment in Geneva, and his country home in Douchy, between Auxerre and Orléans, with Loubo, his latest dog. Fifty other dogs are buried in his garden. Delon has already prepared his sepulture in a chapel, next to his dead chic: With 'love of his life' Romy Schneider at Nice airport, 1968Getty Images"It's too hard. I could never watch La Piscine again. That would be impossible. The three people I loved have gone: Romy, Deray and Ronet. I know the film off by can recite every line before it's even uttered." He pauses. "To hear Romy say, 'I love you', when she is no longer with us, I just can't bear it." From his red sofa, Delon stares at the large photo resting on the floor of his fiancée from the early Sixties, Romy Schneider - "the love of my life" - to whom, like so many other women, he was ultimately unable to commit. "She's been dead 35 years," he repeats. "I can't believe it. And Dalida, 30 years! I adored that woman." After Romy's funeral, in 1982, Delon wrote her a love letter, recalling what Visconti had said to them when he cast them on stage together: "He said we resembled each other because we had, between our brows, the same V, which furrowed in moments of anger, fear and anxiety. He called it 'Rembrandt's V' because the painter bore the same V in his self-portraits. But now when I watch you sleep, Rembrandt's V is gone."Delon's V never vanished. I see it etched into his forehead during these serious moments, when the actor speaks of those no longer living, cinema's lost era or his own death. It appears when he recounts his encounter with René Clément, the director who made Delon Delon. It happened in 1958, when filming Purple Noon. Clément imagined Delon, then largely unknown, as perfect for the role of Philippe Greenleaf, the playboy son of a millionaire. But Delon wanted to play the con artist, Tom Ripley. Yet hotshot actor Jacques Charrier, dating Brigitte Bardot, had already been cast. Delon was invited to the director's home, near the Champs-Élysées, with producers Robert and Raymond Hakim. "In the salon, I said to René Clément that I wanted to be Ripley," recalls Delon. "The Hakim brothers were gobsmacked. They said to me: 'Who are you to demand one role over another? You are addressing Mr Clément!'" At the other end of the salon, a woman with a Slavic accent spoke: Bella, Clément's wife. Delon imitates her by rolling his Rs. "René, darling, the little one is right!" And so the little one won. "Match point," says Delon, "the end. The role was mine.""Ripley", he continues, "was right for me because I'm an actor, not a comedian. Comedy is vocational. You go to school, you learn the craft... Acting happens by accident. Depardieu is an actor. Jean-Paul [Belmondo] is an extraordinary comedian. He wanted this career since he was a little boy. He learnt his craft then went to drama school. I'm the son of a butcher. Even if my father had been a director, I wouldn't have found this career without literally falling into it. I'm an actor by accident." He rephrases: "An actor has a strong personality for directors to put to good use. The comedian acts, but the actor lives. That's not meant to be insulting. It's just how it is.""I was very, very handsome. Women were all obsessed with me."Delon functions by instinct. His daughter, Anouchka, understands. Herself a comedian, Anouchka followed the traditional drama school route. Six years ago, she played alongside her father in Eric Assous' play An Ordinary Day. "My father doesn't spend much time on his roles and he's not a fan of rehearsals," she says. "Whereas I work like mad to be as natural as possible, it comes instantly to him. He can deliver everything effortlessly. Before getting on stage he would say to me, 'Come on, let's have 'em.' It was a great pep talk." Out of Delon's four children, Anouchka is reportedly the only recipient of his unconditional love; Delon has more strained relationships with his three tries to explain how difficult her career is today. Her name holds her back. "The name prompts rejection. He has a hard time getting his head around that. Producers refuse to work with me because of my name. It began at drama school. I was shy, I was rubbish and all I could hear was, 'I just want to see how Delon's daughter falls flat on her face.' Together, Delon and his daughter watch DVDs, and sometimes Anouchka takes him to the cinema on the Champs-Élysées in the hope that he'll believe in great modern directors. But it's pointless. "He got me to love his films, but I've had less success with mine. He's always telling me cinema is dead. I allow him his nostalgia but I say, 'It's not cinema that's dead, it's your time.' Delon's daughter is 26 years old and has the same look as her father's, but with one blue eye and one brown. "My father's career has been extraordinary," she says simply. "No one else can ever achieve what he has achieved."Delon no longer looks like Delon. His life of fame and seduction has taken a toll on his skin. Yet, wherever he goes, he still seeks the most flattering light. Finding the best angle is a reflex. And as he finishes his monologue about his sparkling life, I get the strange feeling it's a collective life. It belongs to everyone. Whether we like it or not, he is right: the golden age of French cinema began and finished with Delon, with that humourless smile and Tom Ripley's clear, grey Delon: A life in film1960 Purple NoonDirected by René Clément, Delon's first major role, as a pretty-boy killer, was lauded by critics and turned him into an overnight Rocco And His BrothersLuchino Visconti's portrayal of the Italian working class was a first in operatic realism and stars Delon as Rocco, who endures a rivalry with brother Simone over the love of a beautiful The LeopardVisconti's historical epic, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel (often praised as the only film better than the book), captures the social upheaval during the unification of Italy in the 1860s. Delon is an opportunistic war hero intent on a politically advantageous Le SamouraïFate, solitude and psychosis are the heavy themes evoked by Jean-Pierre Melville's thriller starring Delon as a philosophical contract La PiscineJacques Deray's seminal masterpiece set around a swimming pool in Saint-Tropez channels repressed desire and fatal tension between a pair of lovers (Delon and Romy Schneider) and a father and his daughter (Maurice Ronet and Jane Birkin).1976 Mr KleinIn one of his career's most challenging roles, Delon is an art dealer who profits from Jews selling their possessions before fleeing France, until he is mistaken as a Jew by the Vichy police. This Kafkaesque film by Joseph Losey is one of the greatest films about wartime paranoia, and led to Delon's first nomination for a this? Now read:Iggy Pop: 'I’ve decided to have a shorter life. I don’t want to sit around till I’m 90'Rob and Nick Carter: The art of innovationIcon: David Bailey

The family of the tragic star Romy Schneider have attacked a new movie about the actress which they claim paints her as an alcoholic. whom the French film idol Alain Delon later called the

^{Alain Delon détaille aussi le tournage de La Piscine, quand il imposa Romy Schneider aux producteurs alors que celle-ci s'était retirée en Allemagne, loin du monde du cinéma.Et, évidemment} . 224 137 472 521 151 272 612 629

alain delon about romy schneider