Mr. Klein (1976)

A REAL DISCOVERY

A GOOD OCASION TO REMEMBER ME HOW A GREAT FILM DIRECTOR JOSEPH LOSEY WAS. A GREAT FILM. MAYBE DELON'S BEST PERFORMANCE. March 27, 2008

Doppleganger

Mr Klein got a rough ride from the critics, but it's every bit as impressive as I remembered it being. In many ways it's a classic Doppelganger plot, but by placing it in the run-up to Vichy France's deportation of the Jews (ascribed entirely to the French here: while we see their officials silently preparing throughout the film, it's more than a hour before we see a single German uniform, and then only in a cabaret audience). It even makes Klein's mounting obsession with the other Mr Klein (only once fleetingly glanced from behind by a completely disinterested camera) credible as it becomes stronger than his will to survive. Impressive.

The only extras are the US trailer and sleeve notes. January 23, 2008

DOUBLE MR. KLEIN MR. DOUBLE

***** 1976. Directed by Joseph Losey. Three French Academy awards (Best Film, Best Director, Best Production Design) in 1977. In a Kafkaian Paris, Alain Delon meets his destiny during the winter of 1942. Losey gets onto such themes as paranoia and schizophrenia with maestria and Mr. KLEIN deserves to stay in your library. Masterpiece. November 17, 2007

Alain Delon in Mr Klein

This movie creeps up on you, and in a way you find yourself hoping that Mr Klein might survive his self-created nightmare - but wait for the very last look/from (at) Delon in the movie - it says everything! May 7, 2007

A man and his double

Joseph Losey's dark moody drama of a man and his double or his shadow takes place in Paris of 1942 during the Nazi Occupation. Mr. Klein, in excellent performance by Alain Delon (if anybody ever tells you that Delon is nothing but a pretty face, NEVER believe it. Delon is a great actor with amazing screen presence who happened to be one of the most beautiful people ever lived), is a French Catholic antique dealer, successful with his business and adored by the ladies. At first, he does not care much about the occupation and the fate of Jews who had to sell their pricey pieces of Art and personal belongings for a song just to be able to leave France and to save their lives. On the contrary, he only becomes richer but everything changes when he is confused with another Robert Klein, his namesake, a wanted by the authorities' member of the underground resistance and a Jew. In the atmosphere of the total fear, bigotry, hatred, and paranoia, the "presumption of innocence" ceases to exist and Mr. Klein must prove that he is not a Jew or to face the fate of millions whose fault was to belong to the "inferior race". While trying to claim his comfortable life back, Mr. Klein begins looking for the man he never met but who by the bitter irony of fate had played such a significant role in his life. The desire to look him in the eye becomes so overwhelming that it will take Robert to where he may not be able to ever come back.

"Mr. Klein" is a complex, subtle, scary, and nightmarish film made by a very talented director who had to leave his country, the USA, in the beginning of the 50s and who knew a thing or two about paranoia and hatred multiplied by the power and turned into indifferent killing machine. Once you are inside this machine, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here". Losey's film is often described as a blend of Hitchcock's thrillers where the heroes must deal with the mistaken identity and Kafka's nightmares of "The Trial" and I agree with the description. I only want to add that the film brings to mind Edgar Poe's short story "William Wilson" which was adapted to the screen by Luis Malle as a part of the trilogy "Histoires extraordinaires" (1968) and Alain Delon played both William Wilson and the mysterious man, his double, his conscience, his dark and hidden side. "Mr. Klein" also reminds another underrated, rarely seen but very interesting Ingmar Bergman's film "The Serpent's Egg" (1977) as well as Bob Fosse's masterpiece "Cabaret". The themes of the Feast during the Time of Plague, the helplessness and distress of the terrorized members of society that face the merciless and inevitable force of history and would perish without a trace, are similar in all three movies. Despite these similarities, "Mr. Klein" is an outstanding film on its own merits. What saddens me is the fact that is little known, rarely seen and almost never mentioned even among the film buffs.

April 1, 2007

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