Of Men and Gods, Orson Welles, 007 ... The Great Roles of Michael Lonsdale

Whether he played the senior father of a monastery in

or a polymorphous pervert in

, he was simplicity itself.

An actor who knew how to impose his rigor gently.

Michael Lonsdale, who has just left us at the age of 89, belonged to this line of actors that the most demanding filmmakers and also the most iconoclastic - we think of Orson Welles or Jean-Pierre Mocky - liked to direct.

To read also: Death of Michael Lonsdale, the most mystical actor, at 89 years old

Because this man, immense in the literal as well as in the figurative sense, will have a formidable career in cinema.

In addition to the 60 or so plays he performed, he has appeared more than 150 times on the big screen.

Even in the most secondary roles, the most distracted spectators could not forget his presence.

Often the directors entrusted him with the roles of doctors, commissioners, big bourgeois, and of course a man of the Church.

The facetious Jean-Pierre Mocky, who had a unique talent for seducing the most talented acrobats, made it turn seven times.

It is not a coincidence.

To read also: "You have to win your inner peace": the last interview with Michael Lonsdale at

The character of the Cistercian monk Brother Luc, tailored to his measure, in

by Xavier Beauvois, earned him in 2010 the César for best supporting role.

A supporting role for such a huge actor ... This award could have made you smile.

But Michael Lonsdale welcomed, as it should be, this paltry trophy with the fatalism of a man protected by his faith.

From

Orson Welles'

to

, including

,

and

by Jean-Pierre Mocky,

, presents below in pictures, a small anthology of the immense career on the big screen by Michael Lonsdale.

The Trial

La Grande Lessive

Hibernatus

Moonraker

Le Nom de la rose

Men and Gods