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
- 1998
This French comedy-thriller is directed by Patrice Leconte, who was Oscar-nominated for Ridicule (1996). The film reunites Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, almost three decades after they appeared together in Borsalino (1970). Unaware of her father's identity, car thief Alice Tomaso (Vanessa Paradis) is released from prison one month after her mother's death. She plays an audiocassette in which her mother tells her that 20 years earlier she loved two men and thus never knew which was Alice's father. In true Belmondo fashion, Alice steals a sports car and drives toward the south of France to seek out both possible papas, now semi-retired businessmen. Auto dealer Leo Brassac (Belmondo) and successful Julien Vignal (Delon), who flies his own helicopter, dislike each other, but they team up after Alice steals a car with $50 million of Russian Mafia money in the trunk. The Russian syndicate wants Alice to turn over the money, but she can't; it was taken by undercover cop Carella (Eric Defosse), tracking each illegal Russkie move. Fortunately, former Foreign Legionnaire Leo and jewel-thief Julien have both the weapon power and smarts to help Alice thwart all mob machinations. The French equivalent of Heat -- in which Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are seen noshing during a quiet coffeeshop encounter -- contains a scene where famed French icons Delon and Belmondo order burgers at McDonalds. But then the two gear up for action, and composer Alexandre Desplat heightens the nostalgic mood with Claude Bolling's familiar Borsalino refrain. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, (more)
- 1963
- NR
Before Greed in the Sun was released to the States by way of MGM, this French/Italian co-production had made the European rounds under the titles 100,000 Dollars au Soleil and Centomilia Dollare al Sol. As any good linguist can gather, the catalyst for this action melodrama is 100,000 dollars---actually 100,000 dollars worth of guns and ammunition, unknowingly transported to African insurrectionists by truck driver Reginald Kernan. Fellow trucker Jean-Paul Belmondo teams with his girlfriend Andrea Parisy to hijack the shipment. Gert Frobe, head of the trucking company, offers Kernan a large reward for the return of the truck and its contents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura, (more)
This homage to the cinema by venerated movie-maker Agnes Varda, often dubbed the "grandmother" of the French New Wave, features an all-star international cast. The story is based upon the memories and insights of the 100-year old Mr. Simon Cinema. He lives in a magnificent house filled with movie memorabilia. To help him remember the important details of his career he hires Camille, a film student to write down his remembrances and experiences which have involved all areas of movie-making. Camille comes once a day for 101 days. Film clips, photographs and actual visitors highlight his stories. As he continues to spin his yarns, the imagery in the film smoothly morph into other images. Camille, when not recording, is involved in other exploits including a romance with a production assistant, Mica who aspires to becoming a director. She also begins plotting a way to get to Mr. Cinema's fortune by having a friend pose as his long lost heir. Many other characters are peripherally involved including Death, an Italian seeking the rights to his film catalogue, and a memory specialist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 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)
- 2000
Craving a change in lifestyle, jewel thief and eight times-divorced Edouard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) leaves Paris for the Patagonian jungle. One day, while out gathering grubs, he makes the acquaintance of an extraterrestrial little girl (Thylda Bares) who materializes out of nowhere and proceeds to speak to him in perfect French. In short order, ambitious astronomer Dr. Margaux (Arielle Dombasle) -- who has long looked for evidence of extraterrestrial life -- arrives on the scene as part of a top-secret mission, complete with her nasty secret service operative (Patrick Bouchitey). Margaux and Edouard gradually learn that the little girl, called Lulu, is from a small planet populated by child-sized beings who take special pills to ensure eternal life. Lulu, who came to Earth to experience human emotions, left her pills at home and is aging at a rate of ten years every hour. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Arielle Dombasle, (more)
- 1970
- R
Based on a Eugene Saccomano novel entitled The Bandits of Marseilles, this movie was followed by a sequel entitled Borsalino and Co. This movie captures the mood of 1930 Marseilles beautifully with the use of ambience and music. Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo portray two gangsters who kill their way to the top. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (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)
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)
Retired after years of international espionage, Agent 007 is lured back into action to battle the evil spy organization SMERSH in this notoriously incoherent parody of the James Bond films. David Niven portrays the aging Bond, who atypically rejects the advances of a variety of women, and agrees to battle SMERSH's hold on the lavish Casino Royale only after organization head M is murdered. Also mixed up in the affair are several other secret agents, all named James Bond, played by everyone from Peter Sellers and Woody Allen to a chimpanzee. Despite a star-studded cast, a large production budget, and a hit score by Burt Bacharach, the film was universally panned as a muddled, overlong failure, with the occasional amusing sequence lost in the unintelligible surroundings. The participation of several screenwriters and five different directors, including John Huston, only adds to the confusion. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, (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)
- 1969
This film documentary of Paris combines the earliest known photography with modern color. Famous personalities that have lived and worked in the city of lights will be more familiar to Parisian viewers. Jean-Paul Belmondo narrates the feature throughout. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
- 1972
Docteur Popaul, or Scoundrel in White is a black comedy by Claude Chabrol. It tells of the life and proper comeuppance of Dr. Paul Simay (Jean Paul Belmondo), an unusual sort of ladies' man. At his hospital, there is a bet to see who can seduce the most ugly women. Paul is confident he can win, because he already woos ugly women exclusively. He says he gets much better results from them. When he woos and finally marries Christine (Mia Farrow), buck-teeth, leg-braces and all, he eventually discovers that he has more than met his match. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Mia Farrow, (more)
- 1963
Director Jacques Baratier's Sweet and Sour is an independently produced project with a surprising amount of European movie-industry input. Guy Bedos, a Brando wannabe, plays one of several young French cineastes who take to the streets to make improvisational movies. The "cinema verite" quality of the film is somewhat undercut by the presence of major stars: Anna Karina, Simone Signoret, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Monica Vitti, Claude Brasseur, and many others. After several "spontaneous" vignettes -- a street tennis game, a striptease lesson, a West Side Story style gang rumble -- Guy Bedos announces he will go to Hollywood to film the life of Voltaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Bedos, Sophie Daumier, (more)
- 1996
- R
Based on a play by Sacha Guitry this romantic French comedy of manners sparkles and bubbles like freshly uncorked champagne. Set in Paris before the dawn of the Jazz Age and centers on the exploits of sexy, womanizing butler Désiré after he begins working for former actress and current mistress of noted local politico Montignac. For the summer, Désiré and the rest of the staff move the entire household to the seaside town of Deauville. Désiré inadvertently provides his colleagues with much mid-night entertainment with his loudly-voiced dreams of having sexual congress with the comely Odette. Unbeknownst to him, Odette has similarly enacted dreams about him, something Montignac finds more disturbing than funny. Both sides begin looking to a book that explains erotic dreams and the more they learn, the more uncomfortable they become in each other's presence until at last they decide to see if dreams can indeed become reality. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Fanny Ardant, (more)
- 1964
A greedy gold smuggler hires a handsome hero to transport a stolen fortune to a new hideout in this thrilling adventure. The smuggler sends his moll to accompany (and spy on) the hero. The two set out for Beirut to get instructions as to where the gold is located. They travel throughout exotic southeastern Europe and the Middle East seeking further instructions, never realizing that they have had it all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, (more)
- 1979
When the local police inspector was found dead in a prostitute's house, police division commissioner Stan Borowitz (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is sent to investigate the situation. Posing as the prostitute's long-lost brother "Antonio Cerruti," he discovers a mare's nest of police corruption. In fact, in this comedy thriller the whole town is corrupt. If they were closely examined, Stan's methods for pursuing this investigation might embarrass the police. For instance, he drives into a criminal's house in a fancy, expensive race car. In another incident, he callously blows up a casino owned by Musard (Georges Geret), one of the town's crime bosses. On that occasion, he first forces Musard to remove his clothes, and the poor criminal watches his casino explode from across the square while standing naked in a phone booth. Meanwhile, Stan seduces the lovely Edmonde (Marie Laforet). This box-office smash was the first of four wildly successful collaborations between Belmondo and director Georges Lautner. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marie Laforêt, (more)
- 1968
Ho (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a racecar driver who is sponsored by a colorful gangster. When his friend is involved in an accident that leads to his death, Ho leaves the world of auto racing behind. He joins the mob and becomes a getaway driver for thugs who pull off bank robberies. When the mob boss dies, Ho muscles in and tries to take over the gang. Kidnapping a journalist to cover the story firsthand, he has an affair with a famous model. The police are soon on the trail of the aspiring crime boss as a shootout leaves the beautiful model dead. Ho sees the end of his criminal dreams coming to an end as the authorities and newspaper photographers converge to chronicle his capture. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Joanna Shimkus, (more)
- 1985
This French/Canadian "caper" comedy stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as an oh-so-clever bank robber. Disguised as a clown, Belmondo robs a major Montreal bank, taking Guy Marchand and Kim Cattrall as a hostages. We soon learn that both Marchand and Cattral are actually Belmondo's accomplices in his precisely planned holdup. The trick now is for the threesome to get out of Montreal--a feat comparable to Hannibal crossing the Alps. Chock full of surprising plot twists, Hold-Up is based on a novel by Jay Cronley, which also served as the inspiration for the 1990 Bill Murray vehicle Quick Change. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Kim Cattrall, (more)
In 1944, with Paris on the verge of Liberation by the allies, Adolph Hitler ordered that the City of Light be blown up and burned to the ground. General Dietrich Von Choltitz, after much rumination, decided that he didn't want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Paris. His refusal to follow Hitler's orders would make him a pariah in Germany for the rest of his life; nor was his gesture ever rewarded by the Allies. From this very human story in the midst of one of the most inhuman conflicts in history grew the screenplay (by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola) of the all-star, internationally produced Is Paris Burning? Whereas the earlier The Longest Day was able to support a castful of celebrities and brief subplot vignettes, Is Paris Burning? seems more weighted down than weighty. Still, a modern audience will have fun playing "spot the star" throughout the film, especially when those spotted stars include the likes of Gert Frobe (as Choltitz), Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas (as Patton), Glenn Ford (as Bradley), Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Robert Stack, and even Anthony Perkins as a wide-eyed GI. Filmed on a gargantuan scale, Is Paris Burning? was based on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. The film was lensed in black and white, save for the Technicolor finale (in the original road-show prints). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1988
French director Claude Lelouch, of Man and a Woman fame, called the shots on Itineraire D'un Enfant Gate. Jean-Paul Belmondo (who co-produced the film) stars as a powerful international businessman who, in his youth, had been a carnival performer. Once more bitten by wanderlust, Sam Lion (Belmondo) tries to escape his responsibilities by staging his own death. Hiding out in Tanzania, Lion meets Abert Duvivier (Richard Anconina), one of his own employees. Duvivier, informing Lion that the business has gone to hell in a handbasket thanks to the mismanagement of Lion's daughter Victoria (Marie-Sophie Lelouch), begs the executive to return. The literal translation of the film's title is Itinerary of a Spoiled Child. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Richard Anconina, (more)
- 1984
Stephane (Jean-Paul Belmondo) has a predilection for being unfaithful, and when he is caught by his wife with the charming Julie (Sophie Marceau) in his bed, he passes Julie off as his daughter by a former marriage -- someone he had forgotten to mention before. Julie, of course, is not thrilled with the situation, nor is Stephane's wife -- and so the adventure begins in this ribald comedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sophie Marceau, (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)
