A photo of Marianne Faithful, the Rolling Stones’ muse and Mick Jagger’s partner, under the spell of the French actor in 1967, set the web ablaze.
Since the death of Alain Delon, many photographs have resurfaced to honor the memory of the actor who passed away on Sunday, August 18 at the age of 88. And one photo in particular has caught the attention of Internet users.
Sitting on a blue sofa in a restaurant in Montparnasse in 1967, Alain Delon is photographed alongside singer and actress Marianne Faithfull and Mick Jagger, who were a couple at the time. But as soon as it was published, the photo by Paris Match photographer Patrice Habans caused a stir. It shows the Rolling Stones member’s partner all smiles chatting with the French actor, who is sitting to her left.
At the star of The Swimming Pool and the singer experience a moment of complicity while Mick Jagger, present on the right, appears behind the duo, legs crossed with his head lowered and eyes closed. The singer ofAngie also stands out from the group with his pink look, his mismatched socks and his worn shoes while Alain Delon is dressed in a gray suit and Marianne Faithfull in a blue feather dress. If this photograph has become iconic, it is today diverted into a meme (a phenomenon taken up and declined en masse on the Internet), as you can see below.
Deceptive appearances
But this shot actually captures the meeting between Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull, who are about to film together for The Motorcycle by Jack Cardiff. This romantic-erotic film, released in 1968, tells the story of Rebecca (Marianne Faithfull), who is bored with her husband Raymond. One night, she escapes and leaves on her Harley-Davidson FL, to join her lover (Alain Delon) in Germany.
While the two actors appear all smiles in the photograph, their relationship was actually more complex. At least that’s what the singer suggests. In Song for Nico, song released in 2002, Marianne Faithfull violently pins her partner of The motorcycle. « And will Delon still be a cunt/ And will Delon always be this stupid? “, we can hear. The film, which was to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, cancelled due to the events of May 1968, was not a great success with the press and the public.
