Monsieur Klein

Monsieur Klein
Directed by	Joseph Losey
Produced by	Alain Delon
Written by	Franco Solinas Fernando Morandi
Starring	Alain Delon Jeanne Moreau Francine Bergé Juliet Berto Jean Bouise Suzanne Flon
Music by	Egisto Macchi Pierre Porte
Cinematography	Gerry Fisher
Release date(s)	27 October 1976 (France)
Running time	123 min
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	$3,500,000

Monsieur Klein (Mr. Klein) is a 1976 French film directed by Joseph Losey, with Alain Delon starring in the title role.

Synopsis

It is 1942, the war is in full swing and France is occupied by the Nazis. To Robert Klein, however, these events are of little concern. As an art dealer, he makes a nice profit off the situation of the Jews, who are selling their possessions in a hurry to leave the country. He holds no political affinities and chooses to remain indifferent. All this changes when one day, a Jewish newspaper is accidentally delivered to his address, and Klein discovers there is another Robert Klein residing in Paris, a Jew sought by the police. When the other Klein cannot be found, authorities grow suspicious and the art dealer is forced to offer proof of his French heritage. Before long he is entangled in a quest to track down his elusive namesake and find out what happened.

Cast

• Alain Delon - Mr. Klein
• Jeanne Moreau - Florence
• Francine Bergé - Nicole (as Francine Berge)
• Juliet Berto - Jeanine
• Jean Bouise - Le vendeur
• Suzanne Flon - La concierge
• Massimo Girotti - Charles
• Michael Lonsdale - Pierre (as Michel Lonsdale)
• Michel Aumont - Le fonctionnaire de la préfecture
• Roland Bertin - L'administrateur du journal
• Jean Champion - Le gardien de la morgue
• Etienne Chicot - Un policier
• Magali Clément - Lola (as Magali Clement)
• Gérard Jugnot - Le photographe
• Hermine Karagheuz - La jeune ouvrière

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.

The relationship of the film with the works of the writer Franz Kafka has often been noted, for example: The Metamorphosis, telling of the brutal and sudden transformation of a man into a cockroach; 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.^[1]

Awards

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival^[2] 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. Alexandre Trauner won the César Award for Best Production Design, and in addition the film was nominated for Césars in four other categories.^[3]

References

1. ^ This section was originally a translation of the corresponding section in the French Wikipedia [1].
2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Monsieur Klein". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2111/year/1976.html. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
3. ^ "Awards for Monsieur Klein". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074916/awards. Retrieved 2006-06-16. 

External links

• Monsieur Klein at the Internet Movie Database
• Mr. Klein, an article by Christopher Weedman, at Senses of Cinema.

Preceded by Le vieux fusil

César Award for Best Film 1977

Succeeded by Providence