Jean-Paul Belmondo Movies
Once a key face of the French New Wave and one of the most famous actors in French film, Jean-Paul Belmondo strayed from his art cinema roots and morphed into a prolific, bankable action comedy star from the mid-'60s on.The son of a sculptor, Belmondo spent his high school years as more of an athlete than an artist, but he decided that acting was his calling by the time he reached his twenties. After studying drama at the Paris Conservatory, Belmondo began his professional career on stage and spent the first half of the 1950s doing theater. Making his film debut in 1957, Belmondo appeared in several films in the last years of the decade, including Les Copains du Dimanche (1957) and his first co-starring role with fellow French idol Alain Delon in Sois Belle et Tais-Toi (1957).
Belmondo broke through as an international star, however, in Jean-Luc Godard's landmark first film, revisionist noir Breathless (1959). With his inimitable, roguish smile, unique looks, and witty yet moody performance as doomed thief/Humphrey Bogart fan Michel Poiccard, Belmondo perfectly embodied the cool youthful rebellion guiding Godard's trailblazing cinematic style, rendering Belmondo the Gallic James Dean and heir apparent to Michel Simon and Jean Gabin. Belmondo further displayed his range in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women (1960) opposite Oscar-winner Sophia Loren and as the titular priest in Jean-Pierre Melville's dark World War II drama Leon Morin, Prêtre (1961). After reteaming with Godard for the musical comedy A Woman Is a Woman (1961), Belmondo worked again with Melville in one of the director's signature gangster noir homages, playing the apparently double-crossing con Silien in Le Doulos (1962). Belmondo reached another artistic peak when he collaborated with Godard for the third time in the creatively complex romance-musical-gangster-road movie Pierrot le Fou (1965), but by then his career had already begun to move in another direction.
Though Belmondo's gallery of early-'60s charismatic losers like Silien and Poiccard made him synonymous with the new French cinema's edginess, he also established himself as a potentially more commercial star in such films as the period swashbuckler Cartouche (1962) and the romantic comedy La Chasse a L'Homme (1964). After his starring turn in Philippe De Broca's action comedy L'Homme de Rio (1964), Belmondo mostly focussed his energies on similar work, often produced by his own company, Cerito. Returning to his athletic roots, Belmondo became renowned for doing his own stunts as well as for his charming screen presence in such movies as the hit Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine (1965), the comic caper The Brain (1968), and his second film with Delon, Borsalino (1970). Along with the action and comedy vehicles in the late '60s and early '70s, Belmondo appeared in René Clement's all-star World War II epic Is Paris Burning? (1966), the James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967), and Claude Lelouch's romance Love Is a Funny Thing (1969). Belmondo also continued his association with the remnants of the New Wave, starring in François Truffaut's l'amour fou drama Mississippi Mermaid (1969) opposite Catherine Deneuve, Louis Malle's crime comedy Le Voleur (1967), and Claude Chabrol's black comedy Docteur Popaul (1972).
As the 1970s and 1980s went on, Belmondo churned out more and more genre entertainment, including De Broca's James Bond parody Le Magnifique (1973), and crime thrillers Peur Sur la Ville (1975) and L'Alpagueur (1976). In 1978, Belmondo began a profitable association with director Georges Lautner in the hit comedy thriller Flic ou Voyou, continuing through Le Guignolo (1979), Le Professionnel (1981), the comedy Joyeuses Paques! (1984), and the mystery L'Inconnu dans la Maison (1992). In 1987, Belmondo returned to the stage for the first time since 1959 and divided his efforts between theater and film from then on. Though he continued his genre work in the 1990s with the romantic comedy Désiré (1996) and his third co-starring turn with Delon in Patrice Leconte's action comedy 1 Chance Sur 2 (1998), Belmondo also branched out creatively as part of the ensemble in Agnès Varda's homage to international cinema Les Cent et une Nuits de Simon Cinema (1995) and as the Jean Valjean figure in Claude Lelouch's 20th century reworking of Les Miserables (1995).
Well-regarded in the French film world as well as by movie audiences throughout his career, Belmondo was elected president of the French actors' union in 1963, and he was awarded the César for his performance in Lelouch's romance Itinéraire d'un Enfant Gaté (1988). He also published his autobiography 30 Years and 25 Films in 1963. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Sois Belle et Tais Toi is more popularly known by its American-release title Be Beautiful but Shut Up. Mylene Demongeot plays a birdbrained young lady who gets mixed up with a gang of juvenile-delinquent smugglers. The crooks use the heroine as their go-between, intending to leave her holding the bag if and when the cops show up. Fortunately, a handsome police inspector (Henri Vidal) catches on to their scheme. One of the screenwriters for Sois Belle et Tais Toi was no less Roger Vadim. When the film was first released, its direction was often erroniously credited to Marc Allegret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henri Vidal, Mylène Demongeot, (more)
- 1958
Un Drole de Dimanche (What a Sunday) stars Danielle Darrieux as Catherine and Bourvil as her ex-husband Jean. By chance, Catherine and Jean are reunited five years after she walked out of his life. In a fit of romantic nostalgia, Jean mentally reconstructs the events that led up to their separation. He then determines to win her back, certain that he'll never, ever make the same mistakes again? or will he? Listed fifth in the cast of Un Drole de Dimanche is a young sprout named Jean Belmondo, who as Jean-Paul Belmondo would burst onto the international film scene in Godard's Breathless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Bourvil, (more)
- 1958
- NR
Les Tricheurs (The Cheats) was director Marcel Carne's first film after a two-year absence from the screen. On the surface, the film is a gallic variation of an American "j.d." film, with young, aimless teenagers being led astray by jazz music rather than Rock 'N' Roll. But there's much more to the story than that: Carne's youthful characters are not so much people as symbols of the postwar relaxation of worldwide manners and mores. In anticipation of the "hippie flicks" of the 1960s, the main characters indulge in a great deal of sex, but abstain from true love and commitment, citing these things as irrelevant in a world full of instant gratification. Of the cast, Pascale Petit stands out as a trendy young girl whose willingness to follow the crowd leads to tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascale Petit, Andréa Parisy, (more)
New Wave director Claude Chabrol employs an aloof perspective in this tale of murder and a dysfunctional family. The paterfamilias Henri Marcoux (Jacques Dacqmine) is having a fling with the neighbor woman Leda (Antonella Lualdi). When she turns up murdered, police suspect the milkman, a friend of the Marcoux's sultry maid Julie. But Laszlo (Jean-Paul Belmondo) the non-conformist Hungarian boyfriend of Henri's daughter Elisabeth (Jeanne Valerie) thinks not. Was the killer Henri's unbalanced son Richard? His wife Therese (Madeleine Robinson) is a regular harridan; is she guilty? Robinson won the "Best Actress" award at the 1959 Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Therese. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Antonella Lualdi, (more)
Love and the Frenchwoman (La Francaise et L'Amour) concentrates on the nature of love by illustrating seven separate aspects of the emotion. In "Childhood," 9-year old Pierre-Jean Vaillard suffers a traumatic experience when he takes his parents' "cabbage patch" theory of conception too literally. In "Adolescence," a little girl (Annie Sinigalla) constructs an elaborate fantasy world on the occasion of her first kiss. "Virginity" is a study in frustration, as betrothed couple Valerie Lagrange and Pierre Michel agonizingly await their wedding-night consummation of their ardor. "Marriage" finds a union ending almost before it begins as a pair of newlyweds (Marie-Jose Nat and Claude Rich) bicker all the way to their honeymoon rendezvous. "Adultery" allows husband Paul Meurisse the opportunity to calmly provide an object lesson to his wife's lover Jean-Paul Belmondo. In "Divorce", a couple (Annie Girardot and Francois Pierer) find that it's impossible to have a "civilized" breakup. And in "A Woman Alone," bigamist Robert Lamoreaux meets his Waterloo in the forms of Martine Carol and Sylvia Montfort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darry Cowl, Sophie Desmarets, (more)
- 1960
In this drama, two lifelong buddies find their friendship tested when one of them hits the road after being accused of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alexandra Stewart, (more)
- 1960
In this drama, an industrialist's wife finds herself bored by her opulent existence. One day, while she waits for her son to finish his music lesson, she hears a woman scream at a nearby bistro. She then sees a man being hauled away from a woman's body. Her curiosity piqued, she becomes a regular at the cafe. There she meets one of her husband's workers. Over drinks, they talk about the murder. As they converse, the worker realizes that the woman herself wants to die, and he abandons her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Didier Haudepin, (more)
A criminal on the run finds going home after a decade is harder than he expects in this drama from French filmmaker Claude Sautet. Gangster Abel Davos (Lino Ventura) is wanted for murder in France, and has been living underground in Italy for ten years. Since then, Abel has married Therese (Simone France) and fathered two sons, and he's decided it's time to come home. Abel has planed an elaborate scheme in which he'll steal a fortune to finance his journey and head home with Therese and the boys, but little goes as planned, and he arrives in Paris without his wife and running from the law with two kids in tow. An underworld boss who owes Abel some favors helps him put together a plan to travel across France in an ambulance to avoid suspicion, and recruits a headstrong young gangster, Eric (Jean-Paul Belmondo), to serve as Abel's driver and right-hand-man. En route, Abel tries to settle some old score with criminal associates who betrayed him. Based on a novel by Jose Giovanni, Classe Tous Risques was the first feature film from Sautet, who previously had worked as an assistant director for some of France's most prestigious filmmakers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (more)
- 1960
The original Italian is La Viaccia (the name of the family farm which motivates the plot). The death of a wealthy patriarch in 1885 sets off an interfamily power struggle. Son Ferdinando buys out his other relatives in order to gain full control over the dead man's property. But Ferdinando's country-bumpkin nephew Amerigo holds out. Amerigo's stance is weakened when he heads for the city and meets prostitute Bianca. To support her in the manner in which she is accustomed, Amerigo steals from his uncle. Disgraced in the eyes of his family, Amerigo decides to stay near his beloved Bianca by becoming a bouncer in her brothel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
The first feature film directed by Jean-Luc Godard and one of the seminal films of the French New Wave, Breathless is story of the love between Michel Poiccard, a small-time hood wanted for killing a cop, and Patricia Franchini, an American who sells the International Herald Tribune along the boulevards of Paris. Their relationship develops as Michel hides out from a dragnet. Breathless uses the famous techniques of the French New Wave: location shooting, improvised dialogue, and a loose narrative form. In addition Godard uses his characteristic jump cuts, deliberate "mismatches" between shots, and references to the history of cinema, art, and music. Much of the film's vigor comes from collisions between popular and high culture: Godard shows us pinups and portraits of women by Picasso and Renoir, and the soundtrack includes both Mozart's clarinet concerto and snippets of French pop radio. When Breathless was first released, audiences and critics responded to the burst of energy it gave the French cinema; it won numerous international awards and became an unexpected box-office sensation. ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, (more)
Normally, an actor or actress in a foreign-language film was not the ideal candidate for an Academy Award, inasmuch as his or her English-language "performance" was often dubbed in by an anonymous third party. Such was not the case of Sophia Loren in Two Women (La Ciociara), who did her own English dubbing. Adapted by director Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini from the novel by Alberto Moravia, Two Women is the semi-neorealist account of widow Cesira (Loren) and her teenaged daughter, Rosetta (Eleanora Brown), as they struggle to survive in war-ravaged Italy. A conventional romantic triangle between mother, daughter, and Michele (Jean-Paul Belmondo), is barely under way when the war rears its ugly head once more. Seeking shelter in a bombed-out church, Cesira and Rosetta are attacked and raped -- a horrifying sequence, capped by a freeze-frame close-up of Rosetta, her face a taut mask of terror (this image was enough to prompt a virulent "anti-smut" editorial in The Saturday Evening Post). Once they've recovered from this appalling experience, mother and daughter are offered a ride back to Rome by friendly truck driver Florindo (Renato Salvatori). Though Cesira had hoped to keep her daughter from compromising herself as a means of survival, she is crushed to discover that Rosetta has given herself to the truck driver in exchange for a pair of stockings. When Cesira and Rosetta finally reconcile, it is a grievous occasion, mourning the death of their mutual love, Michele. A last-minute replacement for Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren brought hitherto untapped depths of emotion to her performance in Two Women; she later stated that she was utilizing "sensory recall," dredging up memories of her own wartime experiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Eleanora Brown, (more)
- 1961
Jean-Paul Belmondo portrays Leon Morin, an altruistic priest who believes that any sin can be expunged by a good dose of faith. Emmanuelle Riva plays a wayward woman who long ago decided that the easiest way was the best. Belmondo makes it his mission to steer Riva onto the right path. Given the censorial climate of 1961, it isn't surprising that the picture was shorn of 22 minutes for its American release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva, (more)
- 1961
In this French drama, a woman preparing to take her vows to become a nun must write a letter describing her past indiscretions. She goes to a priest to confess that she had killed her former lover when she discovered that he had been sleeping with her mother. Her enraged mother gave her two options: she could become a nun, or go to prison. She chose the former, but when the convent refuses to take her, everything falls apart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Roberto La Rocca (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is an ex-gangster whose friend Xavier (Pierre Vaneck) has been unjustly thrown in prison. Indeed, local gang leader Villanova is the one who framed Xavier. La Rocca confronts the mobster and kills him. Later, while helping his mistress (Beatrice Altariba) to fight off an American gang of racketeers, Roberto is caught by the police and is put in the same prison with Xavier. Then the two volunteer to clear land mines left from the last war, hoping to receive a pardon and to buy a quiet farm. The same novel by José Giovanni was later filmed by the author himself as La Scoumoune, again starring Belmondo. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Pierre Vaneck, (more)
Director Jean-Luc Godard's deceptively blithe tribute to the musical comedy features Anna Karina as an exotic dancer who decides that it is time for her to have a child. When her lover refuses to commit to the decision, she turns her romantic attentions to his best friend. This being a Godard film, the straightforward story serves as a framework for improvisation and stylistic experimentation, allowing for odd interludes and unexpected images. Rather than the sometimes alienating, dense intellectualism of later Godard works, Une femme est une femme offers aesthetic pleasure through luxurious visuals and a charming musical score by Michel Legrand. Against this bright backdrop, Karina proves particularly fetching, capturing the film's frolicsome mood in an unforced manner. While not one of Godard's most groundbreaking or influential films, Une femme est une femme is one of his most appealing and pleasurable efforts. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (more)
- 1961
Four different vignettes are featured in this routine anthology of love stories supposedly based on historical truths. In the first tale, King Louis XIV has just acquired a new mistress, but a dashing swashbuckler by the name of Lauzan (Jean-Paul Belmondo) tricks him out of this new conquest. The second story, a melodrama, is set in the 19th century and involves an older woman (Simone Signoret) in conflict with a lover who wants to leave her. The third segment is set in the Middle Ages, when the winsome daughter (Brigitte Bardot) of a lowly barber is the target of the local Prince's affections. She is also the target of some others who charge her with witchcraft. In the last story which takes place in the 19th century, two French actresses do battle over a coveted role and an equally coveted Baron. Other top names in French cinema complete the cast: Alain Delon, Jean-Claude Brialy, and Annie Girardot. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Simone Signoret, (more)
- 1962
A venerable banker from Paris leaves for America when he discovers there will be an investigation into his questionable business deals. Accompanied by his faithful protégé Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo), the pair travels to New York by plane and eventually to New Orleans by car. Michel plans to make off with the boss's money, but feelings of loyalty for the old man prevent him from carrying out his planned heist. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Vanel, (more)
Jean-Paul Belmondo romps his way through the role of 18th century French bandit chief Cartouche. At first robbing from everyone in sight (he has to -- he's head man of a Parisian crime syndicate) Cartouche is rechanneled into becoming a Gallic Robin Hood by beauteous gypsy Venus (Claudia Cardinale). In Highwayman fashion, Venus eventually sacrifices her own life to save Cartouche from harm. He vows to continue his activities to avenge her death, but still manages to have a riproaring good time doing so. Hilarious without being condescending, Cartouche was reissued under the completely inappropriate title Swords of Blood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
- 1962
In this uneven but still engaging documentary-style drama by director François Reichenbach, a young African boxer makes his way to Paris to try his hand at surviving and maybe even succeeding in a boxing career. The camera deftly captures his moods and his encounters with a wide variety of Parisians as he rents a room, meets an interesting young woman, consults a fortune teller, and most of all, starts his training that will lead up to his first important fight. Basic humanity and insight into a black man's attempt to find stature in a white-dominated world nuance the story with depth and feeling. This film was awarded the Prix Louis-Delluc in 1961. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Latent forces for a strong individualism are pitted against the need to honor deeply held commitments in this effective comedy by Henri Verneuil. Jean Gabin and Jean-Paul Belmondo star as Albert and Gabriel, respectively. Albert is an inn owner who vowed never to drink again if he and his wife survived the war. They did, and the reformed alcoholic keeps his vow. But times have changed and soon after the war, Albert comes in contact with Gabriel, a young man prone to heavy bouts with the bottle. Gabriel is conflicted over visiting his young daughter in a nearby school and in a moment of nostalgia, Albert takes off with him on one major binge -- and havoc results. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (more)
- 1963
A pretty woman approaching middle age rents out rooms to borders in a small Italian town. Margherita (Gina Lollobrigida) rents to an aging sailor, who reflects on his pleasurable life experiences, and a handsome younger man (Jean Paul Belmondo). The film seems to have been rushed to be entered at the Venice Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
In this lightweight French comedy a pair of sharpers, Cathy (Jeanne Moreau) and her ex-husband Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) attempt to bilk a miserly millionaire out of his fortune during his visit to the French Riviera. Unfortunately for them, he is just as crafty as they are. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (more)
