Alongside Jean Seberg, a young American student in Paris, Jean-Paul Belmondo, as a hoodlum in love, radiated in Jean-Luc Godard's first feature film, which became the manifesto of the Nouvelle Vague and a cult film. The role made him one of France's leading actors.

Decades later, the film has not aged a bit, and its modernity still speaks to every generation. We remember Belmondo's line to the camera: "If you don't like the sea, if you don't like the mountains, if you don't like the city, fuck off".

The actor would go on to star in another Godard film, "Pierrot le fou", which has gone down in history.

Two years after the success of "Cartouche", a cloak-and-dagger film starring Claudia Cardinale, he returned to Philippe de Broca. This time the destination was Brazil, for a whirlwind, 200-hour film starring the dazzling Françoise Dorléac.

Adrien Dufourquet, a private soldier on leave, has a whirlwind adventure as he flies to the rescue of his whimsical fiancée Agnès and into the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

After Françoise Dorléac, his sister Catherine Deneuve... François Truffaut reunites the two hottest actors of the moment for a love story in sunny Réunion.

After placing a matrimonial advert, Louis Mahé had Julie brought to the island by liner. The beautiful woman was nothing like the one with whom he had corresponded for a long time. But no matter, Paul is totally captivated by the young woman, who turns out to be as mysterious as she is poisonous.

The film was not a hit with the public when it was first released, but over time it became a classic. The dialogue, which has become a cult classic, includes: "When I look at you, it's a pain, you're so beautiful" - "Yesterday, you said it was a joy" - "Yes, it's a joy and a pain".

Jacques Deray's film brings together for the first time on screen the two great male stars of French cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon. The adventures of these two thugs, Capella and Siffredi, who want to become the kingpins of the Marseilles underworld, were a huge hit with audiences.

This success was marred, however, by a public falling-out between the two men over a poster that ended up in court and had a lasting effect on their relationship. Belmondo would not be seen again alongside Delon in the cinema until 28 years later in Patrice Leconte's "Une chance sur deux".

In the 70s and 80s, Bébel enjoyed a succession of commercial successes and stunt films. From "Cerveau" to "L'As des as", via "Peur sur la ville" and "L' Animal", he played in four of the most popular films of the year in France, equalling Fernandel's record and being surpassed only by Louis de Funès. Under the direction of Gérard Oury, he played Jo Cavalier, a former pilot in the First World War who, 20 years later, had become a boxing trainer and had to travel to Nazi Germany for the 1936 Olympic Games. The film was a box-office triumph, selling over 5 million tickets.

Claude Lelouch gave Jean-Paul Belmondo his last major film role, which won him the César for Best Actor. He is Sam Lion, abandoned by his mother when he was still a baby, taken in by a showman and turned into a child of the ball.

Reconverted to business after a fall in the circus, he runs a flourishing cleaning business but decides one fine morning to leave it all behind and travel the world under an assumed name. A year after the failure of "Solitaire", the film was a great success at the cinema, with over 3 million tickets sold.