The Cannes Film Festival is a platform for celebrating film. But in 2019, it was the prelude to a moment that felt more akin to mourning. Alain Delon, the legendary French actor, made an emotional appearance to announce that he was retiring. “But why do I stop? I stop because I don’t think I have anything left to offer,” he said, speaking always as if he were aware of the grand, almost mythological persona he cultivated. Delon has always been a complex yet simple figure, the kind of beautiful man who seems irresistibly handsome in a world that always seems to need beautiful people. And even when he seemed more vulnerable in the sunset of his days, he still looked like trouble—a bad boy in an elegant suit, synonymous with the kind of glorious life that could only happen in France or on a film set.

While Europe held its breath, Delon seized the film world, breaking out internationally with the lauded ‘The Leopard,’ which placed him squarely at the top of the French film industry. What is the face of a legend? It is as much a question of the public’s image as it is the image that the legend beams back to the public. My image of Delon is dented despite his smile. The love stories often told in the film industry mirrored the ones off-screen. And that’s where Delon’s life takes a sharp turn. His love life, or the ones co-staring or in partnership with him, have always been part of his marketing strategy.

Hollywood and Parisian charm aside, Alain Delon’s story is simple: It is the story of a disrupted childhood, followed by the tale of a photogenic young man who almost didn’t make it into the world of the silver screen and was, with some controversy, finally accepted. It is the story of a life lived in public, full of episodes that have entertained and shocked. It is a life that has now moved into the tearful goodbye stage, with fans left to mull over Delon’s next chapter—and whether there will be one when all is said and done.