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A film I discovered at the Pacific Cinematheque last year has haunted me ever since. Purple Noon (1960), directed by René Clément, is a lush, colourful adaptation of gender non-conforming author Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Maurice Ronet and Alain Delon in Purple Noon
Purple Noon(1960) sizzles with an understated homoerotic subtext at a time when being overtly homosexual landed you in jail. The film is notable both for its delicious cinematography and for putting into action the career of French actor, Alain Delon, whose terrible beauty caused international audiences to swoon – of all genders!
The role of Tom Ripley is better known to contemporary audiences from Matt Damon’s 1999 portrayal. However, Alain Delon is mesmerizing as the duplicitous American charmer in Rome on a mission to convey his privileged, devil-may-care acquaintance Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) help to the Combined States. What initially seems a carefree tale of friendship soon morphs into a thrilling saga of seduction, individuality theft, and murder.
Calgary Cinematheque invites everyone to a free screening of Purple Noon at the Central Libra
Between answering questions, Alain Delon scours the room full of reporters. His celebrated eyes narrow and stop on a young lady in the back, wearing a peasant shirt and resting against the wall.
"Are you a journalist?"
"I’m an actress."
"I could tell."
Alain Delon is a special guest at this year’s TIFF. He doesn’t grin too often, but he doesn’t depend on to. Although the room temperature is fine, he’s removed his jacket as soon as he enters the room. He’s left wearing a white shirt, with the first two buttons undone. He flirts with the cameras, because that is the character the audience years for. When someone asks why he hasn’t done any comedies, he blames the people. They’re the ones who flock to the cinema, to see him organism seductive, rough, and indifferent. “The audience wanted to observe me in a certain type of movie. The people wanted me to die at the end. If I didn’t give them that, I wouldn’t have been here, now.”
Lately, Delon has been openly supporting the National Front lead by Marine Le Pen. He says that France is a „Caucasian country” and that homosexuality is “unnatural”. Alain Delon is upset at his country, because it is asking of him to be a certain way
Queer & Now & Then: 1960
Flaunting a beauty so cruel it became the stuff of myth, Alain Delon first terrified viewers with his perfection in 1960’s Purple Noon (Plein soleil). He had appeared in smaller roles for a few years before that, such as Pierre Gaspard-Huit’s satisfactory piece of period eye candy, Christine (1958), hovering around Romy Schneider and the edges of the screen like an angel in waiting or, depending on your perception, a demon ready to pounce. At this point in his career, he didn’t look or move appreciate other French male stars with their burly, recessive Jean Gabin cool; he was tactile—lithe and slim, he gracefully slid across the screen with the confidence of a jackal. It’s conjecture to say that he loved being looked at, but in Purple Noon there’s something in that devious smile, and the way those crystal-blue eyes and delicately arched eyebrows are caught in high-angle close-up, that makes it unavoidable to assume so: he seemed preternaturally aware of the gaze of the camera and its ability to grant him superpowers.
René Clément’s clip is luscious and sinister (two words that could describe Delon), and in this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s
If you’ve ever seen “The Leopard” or “Rocco and His Brothers” or “Purple Noon” or “La Piscine” or “Le Samourai” then you know that the young Alain Delon’s unearthly physical beauty and the talent to go with it were gifts to movie-goers the world over.
If the name Alain Delon means little to you, I suggest you undertake a search. And if the first items that come up claim that the iconic 83-year-old French actor is a racist and sexist homophobe who shouldn’t have been honored by the Cannes Movie Festival on Sunday May 19, please climb into the nearest time machine and position the dial to “saner times.”
Over 25,000 people contain signed a petition chastising the world’s most vital film event for giving an Honorary Golden Palm to Delon for his cinema career. Since we don’t have the signers’ full names, we can’t single them out for a much-needed education that puts Delon in context.
Delon is being accused of being a homophobe because he has expressed the opinion that same sex couples shouldn’t adopt children. Public figures in a free society are allowed to have opinions. Even retrograde to cockamamie ones.
But let’s look at Delon’s actions rath