Before he passed today, Alain Delon was known for his sympathy for the National Front, and, before that, Alain Delon was an actor. If his most famous roles are quoted in obituaries published today, Alain Delon usually embodied his greatest role: Alain Delon.
But Alain Delon died on August 18, 2024, and of all his roles, the one we'll talk about today is the one he played in a rare anti-hunting spot directed by Gaspar Noé in 1995. The ROC (Rassemblement des Opposants à la Chasse) had launched an anti-hunting campaign with the agencies Suleyman & Fantin, who entrusted Gedeon with the production of a spot.
When it came to choosing the voice to narrate the text, Gaspar Noé based his suggestion on Alain Delon's tessitura. With no response, he recorded the text in another actor's voice before throwing it all away when Delon finally accepted the role after much prodding. Delon accepted the role graciously, even telling the film's producer Charles Paviot that Gaspar Noé was a great director and that he was looking forward to meeting him. In 1995, Gaspar Noé was still shooting his first feature film, released three and a half years later: Seul contre tous (one of the Butcher's friends, played by Hervé Guéridon, can be recognized in the spot).
As for the spot, it received very little airplay. By cross-referencing a certain amount of information, LTDT was able to find a good-quality version and the date of its first broadcast: on TF1's News on September 21, 1995.