Paris (AFP)
He will forever remain the "Magnificent": France will pay a national tribute on Thursday to Jean-Paul Belmondo, cinema legend whose death on Monday at the age of 88 arouses immense emotion, at the height of his popularity.
This tribute ceremony, both solemn and popular, will begin at 4.30 p.m. in the courtyard of the Invalides with a eulogy for President Macron.
The actor's family will be present, gathered around the coffin of the "patriarch", politicians, sportsmen and admirers.
Nearly 1,000 people from the public will be able to attend the tribute, equipped with their health pass.
For those who will not be able to enter, giant screens will be installed in the courtyard of the Invalides.
And the French will be able to follow the special editions on television channels.
The doors of the Invalides will then open to all those who want to meditate in front of the coffin, from 7:30 p.m.
An exceptional device that had already been implemented after the death of Jacques Chirac in 2019, allowing thousands of people to say goodbye to the former president.
The funeral of Jean-Paul Belmondo will take place on Friday morning in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church in the privacy of the family, according to the instructions of his son, Paul Belmondo.
The actor leaves behind a clan who remained close until the end.
He had four children from two unions: Patricia (deceased in 1993), Florence (61), Paul (58) and the youngest, Stella (18).
French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and Italian actress Laura Antonelli arrive for the screening of the film "Stavinsky" directed by Alain Resnais at the 27th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, May 13, 1974 Ralph Gatti AFP
Figurehead of the New Wave ("A bout de souffle", "Pierrot le fou"), before becoming box office champion in comedies and action films, he enchanted generations of French people over the years. some 80 films, cinephiles or amateurs of spectacular stunts.
- "Someone from the family" -
"A national treasure", praised the head of state earlier this week.
"He was the one who won hands down the palm of the public."
Jean-Paul Belmondo is "a friend, someone from the family", summed up to AFPTV Laurent Bourdon, author of "Definitively Belmondo".
The actor had disappeared from the big screen for nearly 15 years, after a stroke which had left him after-effects, but he was still popular with the public thanks to the reruns of his films, and the celebrity press which regularly gave his new.
Wednesday evening, nearly 4.2 million viewers watched "Le Professionnel" on France 2. Same success Monday evening, where more than six and a half million people watched one of his films offered by the channels.
In this archive photo taken in May 1974, Jean-Paul Belmondo, one of the biggest stars of the French screen and a symbol of New Wave cinema, smiles during the Cannes Film Festival - AFP / Archives
Bébel's death marks the end of an era of triumphant French cinema, electrified both by the audacity of the New Wave and by stars attracting millions of fans in theaters to their names.
Belmondo was the last of the actors of the "band of the Conservatory", of the rebellious students of the Conservatory of the 1950s who have disappeared in turn over the past four years: Jean Rochefort, Claude Rich, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Guy Bedos.
"We will all have to go to the Invalides because it is there that we will think even more strongly of him", declared the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Frémaux.
"He buried all his friends, that saddened him a lot (...) but then he left to join them".
burs-adm / may-fmp / mlb
© 2021 AFP