City to pay tribute to French cinema legend Alain Delon

Kolkata: In a bid to pay tribute to the French cinema’s legendary actor Alain Delon who passed away last year, the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata will be screening five of his movies directed by renowned auteurs.

The event is being organised jointly by Forum for Film Studies & Allied Arts and SRFTI. The event will be inaugurated on Monday and will continue till Friday. The first film ‘The Leopard’ by Luchino Visconti will be screened at 5pm on Monday. On Tuesday, ‘Spirit of the dead’ by Federico Fellini will be shown. For the third, fourth and the fifth day, movies ‘The Swimming Pool’ by Jacques Deray, ‘A Cop’ by Jean Pierre Melville, and ‘Mr Klein’ by Joseph Losey will be screened, respectively. The screening time is at 6 pm.

Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon, famously known as Alain Delon, was considered a star of the golden era of French cinema. He starred in hits from the 1960s, including in ‘The Leopard’ and ‘Rocco & His Brothers’. He played diverse roles from a murderer to a charismatic conman. On his death last year at the age of 88, French President Emmanuel Macron had said the actor “played legendary roles and made the world dream”. In his statement on X, he said Delon was more than a star; he was a French monument.

Delon was considered as one of the most famous European actors of his time.

The best and the renowned French auteurs sought for him during the golden era of French cinema. The French newspaper Le Monde had written that Delon “enjoyed international renown in many other countries where the actor and his films were revered”.

The Guardian had praised him as “a symbol of the beauty of 1960s”.