French President Emmanuel Macron has paid his last respects to the titan of French cinema, Alain Delon, following his death at the age of 88.
Macron posted on X:
“Whether it was Mr. Klein or Rocco, the Leopard or the Samurai, Alain Delon played legendary roles and made the world dream. He shook up our lives with his unforgettable face.”
Melancholic, popular, mysterious, he was more than a star: a French monument.”
The country’s culture minister, Rachida Dati, wrote:
“We believe he was immortal… his talent, his charisma, his aura destined him for a Hollywood career from a young age, but he chose France.”
Other leading French figures also paid tribute to Delon, who appeared in a number of classic French films over the course of a career spanning more than half a century.
Former French Culture Minister Jack Lang called Delon “an acting giant, a child prodigy… a prince of cinema.”
“He was extremely modest, reserved, reticent, shy at the same time; even if he expressed himself brutally from time to time, he did so with great verve.”
Éric Ciotti of Les Républicains wrote that Delon was a star in his own right: “France mourns the loss of a sacred giant who existed in the daily lives of the French for generations and who will continue to inspire us for a long time to come.”
French author and film director Philippe Labro wrote: “Goodbye, friend. A wonderful collection of films, an incredible and fascinating personality. Beauty alone is not enough to explain the extraordinary development of his talent. He was the ultimate star. The samurai.”
