Last year, the world lost Jean-Paul Belmondo. His passing went largely unnoticed as people were preoccupied with global health crises. This year, amid yet another wave of stress, the world barely registered another monumental loss: Jean-Luc Godard, the cinematic father of Belmondo, has also left us.
Over the past half-century, women around the globe have come to realize that the structure of society is built on adventurous and often reckless men. These men are the driving force behind progress, fearlessly paving the way into the future. And if marriages during this period of history crumbled en masse and everywhere—due to the disparity between real men and the mythical ideal—it’s thanks to Monsieur Belmondo.
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Rome, 1962
He became the face of an era, translating his on-screen masculinity into his own existence. He didn’t break, even when death came knocking in 2001. After winning his battle with time, Belmondo learned to walk and talk again. His recovery story ended unexpectedly for everyone: in 2003, this man of transformation managed to become a father for the fourth time.
Jean-Paul Belmondo at the Cannes Film Festival, 2011. Georges Biard
In 2008, he once again astonished film lovers by starring in the movie “The Man and His Dog” directed by François Uzan. The indomitable actor rekindled his relationship with cinema. His role in this film, a remake of Vittorio De Sica’s “Umberto D” (1952), introduced the world to a very different Belmondo. Yet, a hint of the former Jean-Paul remained: even in his later works, he was still a genuine superhero. Perhaps a slightly unconventional superhero, one who had grown weary of passions and turned inward.
In this, his first age-related role, which caught up with him at 75, he embodied the character of a retiree abandoned by everyone except for his loyal dog. Belmondo did not resist such a sad but, unfortunately, objective metamorphosis. The lesson from 2001 forced this once-wild stuntman to learn to appreciate life at any age, no matter how cliché that may sound.
On the “New Wave”
Belmondo amassed a filmography of over a hundred films. His on-screen biography is contemporaneous with the “New Wave” movement. He became its face in the late 1950s, thanks to his cinematic father—Jean-Luc Godard. At that time, a rephrased slogan could have been quite relevant: when we say Belmondo, we mean “New Wave.” And vice versa.
The actor and the new cinematic era emerged before the public with equal boldness. European cinema shed its complexes. Directors experimented, indulging themselves in every way. Characters embarked on a path of rebellion (read: permissiveness).
Belmondo and Pascal Petit on the set of “Letters from a Nun” (1960)
As for the plots, directors seemed to be trying to burn everything they had ever been offered and stage a revolution in screenwriting. The conformism that replaced the excesses of post-war society ensnared many. Stilted societal values no longer attracted audiences. Their wave receded into the “no.” In its place rose the “New Wave.”
Godard’s film “Breathless” (1960), which made Jean-Paul Belmondo famous, encapsulated the initial experiments of this newly born movement.
The 26-year-old actor initially did not believe in the film’s success. Most likely, the recent theater performer and budding film artist was still unaware of his potential. At that time, Belmondo had some experience in cinema, particularly with Claude Chabrol’s “The Double Lock” (1959), which he considered a fairly successful endeavor.
Jean-Paul Belmondo during the filming of “The Man from Rio” (1964).
At first, Jean-Paul was intimidated by Godard’s deep dive into the search for form. It seemed the director didn’t know what he was looking for. Yet, ultimately, the free cinema about free people in “Breathless” resonated with audiences. And this audience suddenly shuddered: the film was existence itself—both real and surreal. The live camera in the hands of the proponents of the new wave brought people closer together, both on and off-screen.
But back in 1960, the time for cultivating antiheroes had not yet arrived. Michel, played by Belmondo—a hustler, steward, thief, murderer, gigolo—stirred the imagination of the average viewer with a light romanticization of crime. Jean-Paul portrayed a very different kind of personal downfall than that of Camus: devoid of any deep anguish or self-examination. The misdeeds in the interpretation of the young actor appeared almost as mere actions. The hero was both repulsive and likable. The emerging postmodernism proclaimed equal rights for the high and the low, the simple and the arrogant.
Contemporary and Classic
It wasn’t long before an army of fans of the beloved Belmondo created a named movement in his honor: Belmondism.
Jean-Paul Belmondo’s handprint on the sidewalk in front of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes. Marco Bernardini
In the 1970s, the actor divorced from elite cinema. Jean-Paul was cast in commercial projects, often in comedies with an adventurous twist. Against the backdrop of political and economic instability, the era of entertaining, audience-driven cinema soon took hold. A significant part of this shift can be attributed to the presence of contemporary classic Jean-Paul Belmondo in films.
Selected filmography: “Breathless” (1960), “The Sorceress” (1961), “The Man from Rio” (1964), “The Thief” (1967), “The Siren from Mississippi” (1969), “Borsalino” (1970), “Second Marriage” (1971), “The Monster” (1977), “The Game of Four Hands” (1980), “The Professional” (1981), “Ace of Aces” (1982), “Les Misérables” (1995), “Desire” (1996), “One Chance for Two” (1998), “The Man and His Dog” (2008).