RIP, Jean-Paul Belmondo

Sad news to pass on again. Jean-Paul Belmondo, one of the most famous French actors, died a couple of days ago.              

Belmondo was a very successful actor and, again, one of the best known actors from France, especially during his time. He worked along many legendary actors, including some very famous Americans names, including James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Humphrey Bogart, according to Wikipedia.              

He also played in the starring role of one of my very favorite movies, French or otherwise, back in 1995. The movie is Les Misérables du XXième siècle, and as the title suggests, was a 20th century take on Victor Hugo’s legendary book, Les Misérables. A couple of times, I heard some people refer to it as the greatest movie ever, although I would not perhaps place it quite that high. However, it is a movie that I enjoyed right from the first time that I saw it, being a fan of Hugo’s work, as well as the very popular plays of the famous novel, despite not generally being a huge fan of musicals otherwise. This movie was different, and most certainly not a musical. It also is not exactly a happy movie, and is actually quite depressing. Of course, any movie with some form of the word “miserable” in it is not likely to be a barrel full of laughs, in any case. But I found it to be an excellent movie, and it shows a glimpse of what France was like during both world wars, including the occupation and liberation. There are parallels with Hugo’s famous book throughout, yet it is obviously different in some important ways. For anyone who had not seen it, and is willing to give a chance to a movie that is not filled with explosions and special effects every five minutes, and also might require reading subtitles for anyone who does not speak French, I would highly recommend it.              

Wow, sorry. That was not meant to be a movie review, or anything, yet I went on a bit longer than expected about that particular movie.              

In any case, while that was my personal favorite Belmondo movie, I also saw him in some others as well, including some where he worked alongside fellow French acting legend Alain Delon, one of the few French actors who was possibly more famous internationally than Belmondo was. Belmondo had a storied career, obviously. And he was truly beloved in his native country of France, of course.              

RIP, Jean-Paul Belmondo