Noted French actor Alain Delon to receive honorary Palme d’Or at 72nd Cannes Film Festival

Noted French actor Alain Delon, who featured in Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival this year, reports Variety.

Following his acceptance, Delon will be among artistes like Jeanne Moreau, Woody Allen, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Manoel de Oliveira, Agnès Varda and Jean-Pierre Léaud to have got this honour.

Representatives of the festival told the publication that that the accolade was essentially to pay a tribute to Delon’s exceptional body of work and his “wonderful presence in the history of film.”

Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ artistic director said Delon was quite hesitant receiving the award “because he thought he should only come to Cannes to celebrate the directors he had been working with.”

Having received the moniker of ‘Spring Samurai’ in Japan, Delon has featured in well over 80 films, collaborating with world-renowned directors including names such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Visconti, Jean-Pierre Melville and Jean-Luc Godard. The actor has also shared screen space with veterans like Romy Schneider, Jean Gabin, Yves Montand and Lino Ventura.

The panel at Cannes also considered his work behind the camera when he was producer on Alain Cavalier’s The Unvanquished, and when he directed crime thrillers The Fighter and For a Cop’s Hide, inspired by Jean-Patrick Manchette’s novel.

Delon has had a long association with Cannes. It dates back during his early years when in 1961, his film, The Joy of Living premiered at the festival.

The 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival will run from 14 to 25 May. The jury will be headed by Oscar-winning Mexican director Alejandro González Inárritu.