What does Alain Delon remember?

Since the announcement of his death, there have been two movements around the character of Alain Delon. tributes in all directions that are part of the normal associated with this type of moment when an artist who has brought together a country and beyond, around; what was it and what did it do? But, and this is news, another movement has emerged that qualifies praise by recalling the character’s less-than-glorious deeds: questionable friendships, the way he treats children, the violence of romantic relationships.

What has come out and what is perceived as negative is directly related to what he does and how he is perceived in film and as an actor; Alain Delon must be unblemished, that is, without actually being crude. In other words, without friendship, without family, without love. This man was supposed to be only a fictional character, and his life was also supposed to be pure fiction, or at least the modern fiction that feeds magazines and celebrity websites, scandalous stories, but which, in the end, are not they don’t upset anyone, they don’t affect anyone. line, nothing breaks.

Work and personal life

The question then arises as to what exactly Delon represents in the landscape of our collective memory; Should Leet, Mr. Klein, Samurai be written off because of his proximity to Jean-Marie Le Pen, or the fact that he had a conflicted relationship with her? children? What memories do we really have of Delon? Could these memories still only be associated with cinema? In a world where journalism is constantly struggling to keep up with social networks and their instant emotions, there is a certain tension between what is produced, that is, work, and what is spied on, and what is private. life, and which prevails over the rest.

We remember the escapes, but not the rest. Delon’s memory, and he is undoubtedly the first big star we look at in this way, can no longer be that of an actor or of movies; it is the memory of the emotions it evoked. Aesthetic emotions against the beauty of movies, male plasticity, actor’s strength. Mixed and negative emotions about privacy. This mode of emotion, which leads, for example, to passionate and surprising discussions among Instagrammers about whether Delon was gay or straight, now prevents us from seeing the impact of the works and the game. from Cheetah has For the police skinFrom Melville to Godard, however, there was an active body and a central figure who told something about France: its internal expectations, but also its perception in the world.

A central figure who told something about France: its internal expectations, but also its perception in the world

Right of inventory

So what memory should we keep of Alain Delon? To know that, we must exercise the right to take stock of our own emotions, not let them invade us, and instead look at what this man went through, how he embodied society, and how he embodied more as time changed, and further back in memory. in despite its beauty, despite its play, despite its faults. Delon is a memory of the past era. too bad (for great movies), so much the better (for everything else).