Monsieur Klein

Paris, January 1942. France is occupied by the Nazis. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical, 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. He is reunited with Jews who once were his clients as they board boxcars for Auschwitz.

The film offers no clear resolution of its contradictory evidence and blind alleys. According to Vincent Canby, the filmmakers "are not as interested in the workings of the plot as in matters of identity and obsession".[4]

• Alain Delon as Mr. Klein
• Jeanne Moreau as Florence
• Francine Bergé as Nicole
• Juliet Berto as Jeanine
• Massimo Girotti as Charles
• Michael Lonsdale as Pierre
• Magali Clément as Lola
• Jean Bouise as The seller
• Suzanne Flon as The concierge
• Michel Aumont as The civil servant at the prefecture
• Roland Bertin as The journal's editor
• Jean Champion as The coroner
• Étienne Chicot as The policeman
• Pierre Vernier as The policeman
• Gérard Jugnot as The photographer
• Hermine Karagheuz as The working girl

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.[5]

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.

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.[6]

The film currently has an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews.[7]

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival[8] 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.[9] Alexandre Trauner won the César Award for Best Production Design,[10] Alain Delon got César Award for Best Actor,[11] and in addition the film was nominated for Césars in three other categories.[12]

• Monsieur Klein at IMDb
• Mr. Klein, an article by Christopher Weedman, at Senses of Cinema.
• What Cornelius Gurlitt Could Have Learned from Monsieur Robert Klein, an article by Karen Loew, at Forward.