Jean-Paul Belmondo has passed at age 88. No strenuous sorrows as he persevered for nearly nine decades, and lived a much fuller and more colorful life than the norm.
Belmondo’s career was launched by his starring role in Jean-Luc Godard‘s Breathless (’60). How good is that 61-year-old film, really? I would say more “fleetingly iconic” than great. The adoration that Belmondo’s character, Michel, felt for the tough-guy manner of Humphrey Bogart — that’s what sticks in the mind. Particularly his Bogartian facial expressions as he lies dying on a street in Paris. Right before he’s shot, Michel says “I’m tired…I want to sleep.” An odd sentiment at such a young age — a natural or not unexpected thing to say at age 88.
