This is perfect. I often think about teenage Delon looking at himself in the mirror. Like, what was it like to BE him? It has to be very strange, looking like that.
The more I read about Delon, the more unnerved I get. It's a disturbing thought that someone gets away with some really awful crimes purely because they look angelic. It doesn't say much for us as a species, does it.
I mean, yes, he probably had his gangster bestie kill Markovic after Natalie showed him a sex tape the two made. Maybe that was her way of getting back at a guy who seemed willing to screw anything that moved. She herself was questioned about the murder. She developed a heroin addiction around the same time. The sentimental Delon was, of course, there to make sure she went into treatment. And let the papers know that he'd done so. Markovic was the second Delon 'bodyguard' to die in strange circumstances.
Another bit of Delon roadkill was Nico. He was screwing her while still ostensibly with Romy, and wouldn't acknowledge their child Ari. According to Marianne Faithful, Delon's treatment sent Nico off the rails, she struggled financially. Died an addict at 50. While she was addicted to heroin, she gave Ari to Delon's mother Edith, who had no doubts about his paternity. Marianne called Delon a pig. Edith said he was evil. Ari had a tragic life. He was never acknowledged, he became an addict. and he died alone, confined to a wheelchair. His decomposed body was found later.
Then there's the original sin. Romy. However poetic Delon liked to wax after the fact, reading posthumous love letters on live tv, he left her after 5 years with a bunch of roses and a note "I'm in Mexico with Nathalie. All the best, Alain." Apparently she tried to commit suicide for the second time after this. The first time was allegedly when she found him in bed with a man. Romy was addicted to tranquilizers and died at 43. But he kept her ashes. How sweet.
His commanding officer in Indochine labelled him "a sadist who liked killing and a sexual pervert." I mean, you can analyse his disjointed childhood during wartime, being shuffled between divorced parents with new families, and fostered by an abusive man. The truancy, expulsions, thefts etc. Maybe some degree of sociopathy was inevitable.
But he loved animals, you cry! How bad could he be? Maybe he preferred them because dogs make no demands, they adore unquestioningly, and they're easier to control. He wanted his last dog, Loubo, to be killed after he died so they could go together. Loubo, as I understand it, was not euthanized per request, and is still alive and kicking.
One of the few who survived close contact with Delon. Superficially beautiful he might have been, but there's a helluva lot of ugly to plumb. It's a creepy combination.
Astute and lyrical deconstruction of a complicated legacy.
Thanks very much, Jay--
This is perfect. I often think about teenage Delon looking at himself in the mirror. Like, what was it like to BE him? It has to be very strange, looking like that.
The more I read about Delon, the more unnerved I get. It's a disturbing thought that someone gets away with some really awful crimes purely because they look angelic. It doesn't say much for us as a species, does it.
I mean, yes, he probably had his gangster bestie kill Markovic after Natalie showed him a sex tape the two made. Maybe that was her way of getting back at a guy who seemed willing to screw anything that moved. She herself was questioned about the murder. She developed a heroin addiction around the same time. The sentimental Delon was, of course, there to make sure she went into treatment. And let the papers know that he'd done so. Markovic was the second Delon 'bodyguard' to die in strange circumstances.
Another bit of Delon roadkill was Nico. He was screwing her while still ostensibly with Romy, and wouldn't acknowledge their child Ari. According to Marianne Faithful, Delon's treatment sent Nico off the rails, she struggled financially. Died an addict at 50. While she was addicted to heroin, she gave Ari to Delon's mother Edith, who had no doubts about his paternity. Marianne called Delon a pig. Edith said he was evil. Ari had a tragic life. He was never acknowledged, he became an addict. and he died alone, confined to a wheelchair. His decomposed body was found later.
Then there's the original sin. Romy. However poetic Delon liked to wax after the fact, reading posthumous love letters on live tv, he left her after 5 years with a bunch of roses and a note "I'm in Mexico with Nathalie. All the best, Alain." Apparently she tried to commit suicide for the second time after this. The first time was allegedly when she found him in bed with a man. Romy was addicted to tranquilizers and died at 43. But he kept her ashes. How sweet.
His commanding officer in Indochine labelled him "a sadist who liked killing and a sexual pervert." I mean, you can analyse his disjointed childhood during wartime, being shuffled between divorced parents with new families, and fostered by an abusive man. The truancy, expulsions, thefts etc. Maybe some degree of sociopathy was inevitable.
But he loved animals, you cry! How bad could he be? Maybe he preferred them because dogs make no demands, they adore unquestioningly, and they're easier to control. He wanted his last dog, Loubo, to be killed after he died so they could go together. Loubo, as I understand it, was not euthanized per request, and is still alive and kicking.
One of the few who survived close contact with Delon. Superficially beautiful he might have been, but there's a helluva lot of ugly to plumb. It's a creepy combination.