Monsieur Klein

{{Infobox film

| name = Monsieur Klein

| image = Monsieur Klein film.jpg

| caption = U.S. theatrical release poster

| director = Joseph Losey

| producer = Alain Delon

| writer = Franco Solinas
Fernando Morandi
Costa-Gavras {{small|(uncredited)}}

| starring = Alain Delon
Jeanne Moreau
Michael Lonsdale
Francine Bergé
Juliet Berto
Massimo Girotti
Suzanne Flon

| music = Egisto Macchi
Pierre Porte

| cinematography = Gerry Fisher

| editing = Marie Castro-Vasquez
Henri Lanoë
Michèle Neny

| studio = {{ubl|

Lira Films
Adel Productions
Nova Films
Mondial Televisione Film

}}

| distributor = {{ubl|

Fox-Lira (France)
Titanus (Italy)

}}

| released = {{film date|1976|5|22|Cannes|1976|9|23|Italy|1976|10|27|France|df=y}}

| runtime = 123 minutes

| country = France
Italy

| language = French

| budget = $3,500,000

| gross = $193,028[http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=fr&u=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-alain-delon-c22669761/52&usg=ALkJrhjaxDsutHnwNpj6-CLsBp3zfA04gg Box office information for film] at Box Office Story{{cite web |title=Monsieur Klien (2019)|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl0755201/weekend/ |website=Box Office Mojo |publisher=IMDb |access-date=March 15, 2020}}

}}

Monsieur Klein ({{langx|en|"Mr. Klein"}}) is a 1976 mystery drama film directed by Joseph Losey, produced by and starring Alain Delon in the title role.{{Cite web|title=Mr. Klein (1976)|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b09990a|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426131338/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b09990a|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 26, 2017|access-date=2021-10-28|website=BFI|language=en}} Set in occupied France, the Kafkaesque narrative follows an apparently Gentile Parisian art dealer who is seemingly mistaken for a Jewish man of the same name and targeted in the Holocaust, unable to prove his identity.[https://www.criterion.com/films/28112-mr-klein Mr. Klein (1976)|The Criterion Collection]

The film is a French and Italian co-production, and premiered at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. It received widespread acclaim from critics{{cite web|title=Mr. Klein (1976)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_klein|access-date=August 9, 2020|website=Rotten Tomatoes}} and won three César Awards; Best Film, Best Director (Joseph Losey), and Best Production Design (Alexandre Trauner). Alain Delon was nominated for Best Actor.

Plot

Paris, January 1942. France is occupied by the Germans. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical and amoral,[https://www.criterionchannel.com/mr-klein The Criterion Channel] is a well-to-do art dealer, Roman Catholic and Alsatian by birth, who takes advantage of French Jews who need to sell artworks to raise cash to leave the country.[https://bampfa.org/event/mr-klein BAMPFA]

One day, the local Jewish newspaper, addressed to him, is delivered to his home. He learns that another Robert Klein who has been living in Paris, a Jew sought by police, has had his own mail forwarded to him in an apparent attempt to destroy his social reputation and make him a target of official anti-Semitism. He reports this to the police, who remain suspicious he may be reporting this scheme to disguise his own true identity.

His own investigations lead him in contradictory directions, to Klein who lives in a slum while having an affair with his concierge and to Klein who visits a palatial country estate where he has seduced an apparently Jewish married woman.

When the art dealer cannot locate the other Klein, authorities require him to offer proof of his French non-Jewish ancestry. While waiting for the documentation to arrive, he struggles to track down his namesake and learn his motivation, even breaking off an opportunity to flee the country in order to investigate further. Before he can resolve the situation by either means, he is caught up in the July 1942 roundup of Parisian Jews. As he is hustled into a dark tunnel, his lawyer arrives with complete proof of his non-Jewish ancestry. Klein blankly ignores the lawyer's pleas and continues into the tunnel.

The film offers no clear resolution of its contradictory evidence and dead ends. It ends as he is reunited with Jews who once were his clients as they board boxcars for Auschwitz.

Cast

{{castlist|

Alain Delon as Robert Klein
Jeanne Moreau as Florence
Michael Lonsdale as Pierre
Francine Bergé as Nicole
Juliet Berto as Jeanine
Massimo Girotti as Charles
Magali Clément as Lola
Louis Seigner as Robert's father
Francine Racette as Isabelle / Françoise / Cathy
Jean Bouise as The seller
Suzanne Flon as The concierge
Michel Aumont as The civil servant
Roland Bertin as The editor
Jean Champion as The coroner
Étienne Chicot as 1st policeman
Pierre Vernier as 2nd policeman
Gérard Jugnot as The photographer
Isabelle Sadoyan as The consultation woman
Hermine Karagheuz as The working girl

}}

Symbolism and allusions

Although Losey integrates historical elements (such as the infamous Vel' d'Hiv Roundup) into the film, it is more than a reconstruction of the life and status of the Jews under the Vichy regime.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-joseph-loseys-mr-klein|title=DVD of the Week: Joseph Losey's "Mr. Klein"|magazine=The New Yorker}}

The relationship of the film with the works of the writer Franz Kafka has often been noted,[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/the-hour-of-reckoning-descends-in-mr-klein The Hour of Reckoning Descends in "Mr. Klein"|The New Yorker][https://filmforum.org/film/joseph-loseys-mr-klein Film Fourm] for example: The Metamorphosis, telling of the brutal and sudden transformation of a man into an insect; The Castle, which describes a search for one's own identity by way of getting to know "the other"; The Trial, which sees an accused man become an outlaw of society.

According to Vincent Canby, the filmmakers "are not as interested in the workings of the plot as in matters of identity and obsession".{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|date=November 7, 1977|title=Cool, Elegant 'Mr. Klein' is a Metaphorical Movie|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/11/07/75313276.pdf|access-date=May 12, 2019}}

Reception

The film has an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times who saw the film at the 68th Street Playhouse in 1977, had criticized the role of Alain Delon as Mr. Klein, saying that [he] is neither interesting nor mysterious enough to hold a film together.{{cite news|date=November 7, 1977|author=Canby, Vincent|author-link=Vincent Canby|title=Cool, Elegant 'Mr. Klein' Is a Metaphorical Movie|newspaper=The New York Times|page=44}}

=Awards and nominations=

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival{{cite web|url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/mr-klein|title=Festival de Cannes: Monsieur Klein|access-date=March 12, 2019|work=festival-cannes.com}} but lost to Taxi Driver. However, Monsieur Klein did win the César Award for Best Film while Losey won the César Award for Best Director.{{cite book|author1=Reimer, Robert Charles |author2=Reimer, Carol J. |title=Historical Dictionary of Holocaust Cinema|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2012|page=xx|isbn=978-0810867567}} Alexandre Trauner won the César Award for Best Production Design,{{cite book|author=Rémi Fournier Lanzoni|title=French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2015|orig-year=2002|page=257|isbn=978-1501303098}} Alain Delon was nominated for the César Award for Best Actor,{{cite news|url=https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/alain-delon-gentleman-style/|title=Alain Delon – Gentleman of Style|date=July 20, 2015|newspaper=Gentleman's Gazette}} and in addition the film was nominated for Césars in three other categories.

class="wikitable"

!Award

!Category

!Nominee

!Result

Cannes Film Festival

|Palme d'Or

| rowspan="3" |Joseph Losey

|{{nom}}

rowspan="7" |César Award

|{{won}}

|{{won}}

|{{nom}}

|{{nom}}

|Henri Lanoë

|{{nom}}

Best Production Design

|Alexandre Trauner

|{{won}}

Best Editing

|Jean Labussière

|{{nom}}

Restoration

A restored version was released by Rialto Pictures in 2019.{{Cite magazine|last=Lane|first=Anthony|date=September 9, 2019|title=The Secret Sharer: 'Mr. Klein'|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/the-hour-of-reckoning-descends-in-mr-klein|magazine=The New Yorker|volume=94|issue=26|pages=84–85}}

References

External links

{{IMDb title|0074916}}
[http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2010/cteq/mr-klein/ Mr. Klein], an article by Christopher Weedman, at [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/ Senses of Cinema].
[http://forward.com/culture/188731/what-cornelius-gurlitt-could-have-learned-from-mon/ What Cornelius Gurlitt Could Have Learned from Monsieur Robert Klein], an article by Karen Loew, at [http://forward.com/ Forward].