Credits
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Summary
Paris, 1942. Robert Klein is a successful art dealer, profiteering from the French
government’s treatment of its Jewish citizens. To escape deportation to Germany,
Jews are forced to sell their treasures to unscrupulous people like Klein.
Then, one day, Klein receives a Jewish pamphlet addressed to him. He decides to
look into this and discovers that there is another Mr Klein who has set out to confuse
their identities to cover his own anti-Nazi activities. Klein is determined to discover
what his namesake is up to, to the point of assuming his identity. In doing so,
he risks being arrested in place of the Jew he is pursuing…
Review
Monsieur Klein is an unusual variation on the theme of the police-gangster thriller
which was very much in vogue in France in the early 1970s. What marks this
film out as a cut above the rest is partly the film’s historical backdrop (the Nazi occupation
of France) but mainly Joseph Losey’s masterful and intelligent direction of the film.
All too often what French thrillers from this period lack is a real sense of menace. By setting a thriller in one of the most terrible and unfair periods in recent French history, Monsieur Klein achieves a genuinely feeling of danger. At a time when covert activities were rife and no-one knew for sure which side his neighbour was on, the only person you could be sure of was yourself. This kind of one man versus the world scenario is perfect material for Alain Delon, who has already established himself as the ideal actor for such a role in films such as Melville’s Le Samouraï. Delon has an air of dogged determination and self-destructive egoism that is just so perfectly right for this part, which probably stands as one of his best screen roles. (Delon himself admitted that the part of Klein was his favourite role.) The film itself is made in classic film noir style, but with an intensely cold feel arising from the photography. Sets are lit dimly virtually throughout, and a heavy dark grey is the dominant colour. The mysterious unknown Mr Klein seems to lurk, unseen, in the shadows, tantalisingly close, and it is perhaps this which gives the film its almost Hitchcockian feel of intrigue. Not surprisingly, for such a film that was as honest about France’s ill-treatment of Jews during World War Two, the film had a luke-warm reception in France when it was released. However, it won two Césars (best film and best director) and is now widely regarded as one of the few truly inspired French films of the 1970s. © James Travers 2000 Write a review for this film... User Comments
As is mentioned at the beginning of the film, there is more than one
Robert Klein, and the Klein characterized by Alain Delon is at first an
indignant, unscrupulous non-Jew art merchant who wants to know the
identity of the Jew with his name that the police are looking
for. Slowly, Klein (Delon) is fascinated by the plot in which he
was involuntarily involved. We will see, for instance, that in
one scene, he carries under his raincoat the portrait he bought cheaply
from a Jew that needed money. He also confuses his own image in the
mirror with the figure of the fugitive. The camera pans slowly over the
scenery, incessantly searching, and the spectator is obliged, like
Klein, to take part in the chase as persecutor and persecuted. In
an atmosphere of nightmare, the film strikes the nape of our neck like
the drops of water used to torture a prisoner. Admirable work
from director Joseph Losey and a sober performance by Alain Delon.
Adam Gai (Israel) How do you rate this film? |
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