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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... |
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