Monsieur Klein
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| - | '''''Monsieur Klein''''' (1976) is a [[Mystery film|mystery]] [[drama film]] directed by [[Joseph Losey]], produced by and starring [[Alain Delon]] in the title role. Set in [[Vichy 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. | + | '''''Monsieur Klein''''' (1976) is a [[Mystery film|mystery]] [[drama film]] directed by [[Joseph Losey]], produced by and starring [[Alain Delon]] in the title role. Set in [[Vichy 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. |
| ==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
| - | [[Paris]], January 1942. [[France]] is occupied by the [[NSDAP|Nazis]]. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical and amoral, is a well-to-do art dealer, Roman Catholic and Alsatian by birth, who takes advantage of [[History of the Jews in France|French Jews]] who need to sell artworks to raise cash to leave the country. | + | [[Paris]], January 1942. [[France]] is occupied by the [[NSDAP|Nazis]]. Robert Klein, apparently [[apolitical]] and [[amoral]], is a [[well-to-do]] art dealer, Roman Catholic and Alsatian by birth, who takes advantage of [[History of the Jews in France|French Jews]] who need to sell artworks to raise cash to leave the country. |
| 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. | 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. | ||
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| According to [[Vincent Canby]], the filmmakers "are not as interested in the workings of the plot as in matters of identity and obsession". | According to [[Vincent Canby]], the filmmakers "are not as interested in the workings of the plot as in matters of identity and obsession". | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Jews selling their artwork during WWII]] | ||
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Revision as of 22:16, 13 July 2023
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Monsieur Klein (1976) is a mystery drama film directed by Joseph Losey, produced by and starring Alain Delon in the title role. Set in Vichy 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.
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Plot
Paris, January 1942. France is occupied by the Nazis. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical and amoral, 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.
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. Before he can resolve the situation by either means, he is caught up in the July 1942 roundup of Parisian Jews.
The film offers no clear resolution of its contradictory evidence and blind alleys. It ends as he is reunited with Jews who once were his clients as they board boxcars for Auschwitz.
Cast
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 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".
See also
