If there was one dude in cinema that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to say inspires you, it would have to be Alain Delon. Up till recently, I had no idea that The Talented Mr. Ripley, which starred Matt Damon was a remake of Plein Soleil, with Delon in the lead role. Clearly, Damon isn’t a patch on the Frenchman du jour, whose sauve attitude and charisma on screen make you believe he really is who he is playing.
Directed by Rene Clement, Plein Soleil is about Delon being sent to bring back an errant son of a rich man. He tries his best so that he can claim a sizeable reward but after a while realises this will never come to pass. Instead, he opted to take over the identity of his newfound friend by murdering him and imitating him till the point that he becomes him. The pic above shows him practicing in front of the mirror, quite poignant and symbolic in many ways.
The dude is steezy as shit as well, rocking his gear like only he knows how. If anything, Plein Soleil is worth watching simply to learn from the master.
Just watched Walk Hard, which I must admit is quite enjoyable, even if the humor tends towards the crass at times. Ultimately, it will manage to strike a chord with any music fan I’m sure. My favourite bit in the film has to be the part when Cox, played by John C. Reilly, goes through a lot of emotional trauma following the death of his mother and channeling that anger, hate and confusion into a punk version of his hit single, Walk Hard, replete with Ois at the end.
That’s the man jumping in the air right there.
Its quite the ride really, taking Cox from the rock’n'roll era through to 60s psychedelia, 70s camp before he returns to the stage for one final time in the present era. He takes on various shades of different personas through the ages, from Buddy Holly and Elvis through to a Dylan phase, a Beatles phase, a Tom Jones era, a Bowie era all the while exuding a distinct Johnny Cash-ness. Its like a Cliff Notes review of pop music history in a movie that makes you laugh. A lighthearted, if insensitive version of Walk The Line if you will.
