When Godard cast Alain Delon as completely opposite twin brothers in Nouvelle Vague, he was definitely on to something essential about Delon the actor. Throughout a career spanning almost 50 years and 80 films, Alain Delon has frequently seemed split in two, his daunting grace and disarming beauty barely masking a dark, raging internal world. Born in Sceaux in 1935, Delon dropped out of school early, working a variety of odd jobs before serving in the French army in Vietnam. After his return he decided to try his luck in the movies, landing within a few years a role as a hit man in Yves Allegret's Quand la femme s'en mêle (1957). His big break came two years later, when René Clément cast him as Tom Ripley in his adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. Over the next few years, Delon would make his mark working with directors such as Visconti (Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard), Antonioni (The Eclipse), Melville (The Samourai, Dirty money) and Losey (Mr. Klein). As he grew older, and the youthful softness of his features began to harden, Delon became increasingly identified as an actor (and later as a producer, writer and director) with the policier, the crime film. With its penchant for emphasizing the treacherousness of appearances and plots that often hinge on betrayals or sudden revelations, the policier provided the perfect vehicle for Delon to continue to explore the duplicitous persona that has always been at the core of his appeal. In almost 50 years, Alain Delon has acted in more than 80 films. With such a rich and on-going portfolio - in 2004 he took part in over 100 theatrical performances and his latest film will be released in 2005 - it is no easy task to outline his spectacular career with just a few 15 movies. This retrospective has included his most representative works with some of the greatest directors such as Antonioni, Melville, Visconti and Joseph Losey. This is an attempt to show Delon's best works as well as the best of French cinema.