Alain Delon

The unconventional French have never hesitated to honour their artists on the same level as their big intellectual luminaries. It is not surprising then that the French matinee idol Alain Delon, who died on Sunday at the age of 88, went into national mourning, and they were joined by the country’s president Emmanuel Macron.

In many ways, Delon’s life paralleled in some ways his screen journey. He rose from deprivation and hardship from the back-alleys of Paris to be the glamorous star of its cinema, where the most beautiful women in the business fell in love with him. He was handsome in the old sense of Grecian aesthetic with perfect physical features.

Delon was never modest about this aspect of his personality. And film directors, from the Italian masters like Luchino Visconti and Michelangelo Antonioni, anchored their accomplished films in his glinty persona. After winning the histrionic laurels with the Italian neo-realists, Delon made a mark with the French Nouveau Vogue (New Wave) film directors of the 1960s like Jean-Pierre Melville and Jean Gabin.

But he did not remain on the margins. He was a hero and a star though he acted in auteur films where the directors ruled the roost. It is true that Delon did not make an impact in Hollywood but that did not in any way diminish his star status. He was adored for his good looks and cool acting.

In France he was an undisputed legend. President Macron said that Delon was more than a star, that he was a monument. Macron was expansive in his tribute to Delon. He said, “Alain Delon has played legendary roles and made the world dream. Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star, a French monument.”

The interesting thing about Delon was that he did not project the image of a good human being who cared for society and he made himself out to be a role model for the rest of society. He remained a man with his rough edges intact. He did not shy away from admitting that in his growing-up years he became friends with criminals and gangsters, and that he knew the mafia.

He narrowly escaped criminal charges over the death of his bodyguard despite the strong suspicion that it was the work of the mafia. But Delon survived the black mark. He also stuck to his misogynistic and homophobic views, and reach out to the far-right French political leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. But his unpopular views did not take away from his image of an irresistibly attractive man for generations of women in France and beyond.

What makes the Delon phenomenon fascinating is the fact that he showed human failings along with his artistic triumph, a contradiction but one that is a harsh reality. Delon lived this contradiction with a straight face and to a great extent honesty. The majority of roles were those of characters on the other side of the law, but not full evil. Of course, he played the diabolical Ripley in one of his early movies and that party contributed to his reputation as well.

Unlike the Americans who are overwhelmingly sentimental about their icons – witness the Elvis Presley fan-following even after his death – the French have an intellectual fascination for their heroes, fully aware of the ironies in the lives of the heroes. So, Delon is not transformed into an angel because of the adulation of the people. He remains what he was, a human with flaws and an artist with a flair for perfection. And in many ways, Delon also represented the France of his time, and also of the world, where glamour and grime rubbed shoulders with each other.