Jean-Paul Belmondo, The Magnificent

This book tells us the story of a passion. The one that seized a 17-year-old young man for theater and comedy. Adversity will be strong, obstacles will be numerous, but as a skilled boxer, Jean-Paul Belmondo will overthrow them with the passion for which he is known. He will leave the Conservatoire where he will have made unwavering friendships, and will devote himself to cinema. He arrives in front of the cameras when cinema is being hit hard by the New Wave. Jean-Paul Belmondo will splash his presence on the essential films of Jean-Luc Godard , including Pierrot le fou .

From then on, he will be everywhere, because he is good at everything. Auteur cinema, dark series, swashbuckling film, popular comedy... Parents loved Jean Gabin , their children and grandchildren are attached to Belmondo who delights them by constantly changing costumes, sometimes a cop, sometimes a thug, a dark lover or a funny Guignolo. But always Magnificent.

And the public that adores him will make Bébel one of the kings of the French box office. And even more so when the poster for Borsalino brings together the two greatest wild animals that French cinema has ever released. Despite everything, retaining a fondness for the theater, Belmondo will return to the stage at the end of the nineties. Here again, in the role of Cyrano, he will triumph. In a book richly illustrated with sometimes unpublished photos, the life and filmography of this Animal like no other will parade under the fine pen of Sophie Delassein , who, through his talent and the strength of his indestructible passion, will have conquered the heart of an entire country.