#1123: LOSEY, Joseph: Mr. Klein (1976)

-
LOSEY, Joseph (France)
Mr. Klein [1976]
Spine #1123
Blu-ray


One of the crowning achievements of blacklisted Hollywood director Joseph Losey’s European exile, the spellbinding modernist mystery Mr. Klein puts a chilling twist on the wrong-man thriller. Alain Delon delivers a standout performance as Robert Klein, a decadent art dealer in Paris during World War II who makes a tidy profit buying up paintings from his desperate Jewish clients. As Klein searches for a Jewish man with the same name for whom he has been mistaken, he finds himself plunged into a Kafkaesque nightmare in which his identity seems to dissolve and the forces of history to close in on him. Met with considerable controversy on its release for its portrayal of the real-life wrongdoings of the Vichy government, this haunting, disturbingly beautiful film shivers with existential dread as it traces a society’s descent into fascistic fear and inhumanity.

123 minutes
Color
Monaural
in French
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2022


Director/Writers

Written by Franco Solinas.
Cowritten by Fernando Morandi.
Joseph Losey was 67 when he directed Mr. Klein.

The Film

a

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau.

Commentary

None.

Interviews 1

With critic Michel Ciment and author Henri Lanoë.

Interviews 2

From 1976 with director Losey and actor Delon.

Story of a Day

A 1986 documentary on the real-life Vél d’Hiv Roundup, a central historical element of Mr. Klein.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Criterion Collection By Spine #

-
The Complete Criterion Collection By Spine # 0000A: No spine #: Ingmar Bergman's Cinema (BERGMAN, Ingmar) [1946-2003] {Sweden} Crisis [1946] A Ship To India [1947] Port Of Call [1948] Thirst [1949] To Joy [1950] Summer Interlude [1951] Waiting Women [1952] Sawdust And Tinsel [1953]  [ 89 ] Summer With Monika [1953] A Lesson In Love [1954] Dreams [1955] Smiles Of A Summer Night [1955] The Seventh Seal [1957] Wild Strawberries [1957]  [ 93 ] Brink Of Life [1958] The Magician [1958] The Devil's Eye [1960] The Virgin Spring [1960] Through A Glass Darkly [1961] The Silence [1963] Winter Light [1963] All These Women [1964] Persona [1966]  [ 94 ] Hour Of The Wolf [1968] Shame [1968] The Passion Of Anna [1969] The Rite [1969] Fårö Document [1970] The Touch [1971] Cries And Whispers [1972] Scenes From A Marriage [1973] The Magic Flute [1975] The Serpent's Egg [1977] Autumn Sonata [1978] Fårö Document 1979 [1979] From The Life Of The Marionette...
Read more

#331: OZU, Yasujiro: Late Spring (1949)

-
Image
OZU, Yasujiro (Japan) Late Spring [1949] Spine #331 DVD One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu's family portraits, Late Spring (Banshun) tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever — almost alone justifying Ozu's inclusion in the pantheon of cinema's greatest directors. 108 minutes Black & White Monaural in Japanese 1:33:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2006 Director/Writers Based on the novel Chichi to musume (Father and Daughter) by Kazuo Hirotsu . Script by Kogo Noda and  Yasujiro Ozu . Ozu was 46 when he directed Late Spring . Other Ozu films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 42: Walk Cheerfully (1930) Eclipse Series 42: That Night's Wife (1930) Eclipse Series 10: Tokyo Chorus (1931) Eclipse Series 10: I Was Born, But . . . (1932) Ec...
Read more

#589: KIEŚLOWSKI, Krzysztof: Three Colors: White (1994)

-
Image
THREE COLORS {Spine #587} KIEŚLOWSKI, Krzysztof (France) Three Colors: White [1994] Spine #589 Blu-ray The most plalyful and also the grittiest of Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors films follows the adventures of Karol Karol, a Polish immigrant living in France. The hapless hairdresser opts to leave Paris for his native Warsaw when his wife sues him for divorce (her reason: their marriage was never consummated) and then frames him for arson after setting her own salon ablaze. White , which goes on to chronicle Karol Karol's elaborate revenge plot, manages to be both a ticklish dark comedy about the economic inequalities of Eastern and Western Europe and a sublime reverie on twisted love. 91 minutes Color 2.0 Surround in French and Polish 1:85:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2011 Director/Writers Screenplay by Krzysztof Piesiewicz and  Krzysztof Kieślowski . Kie ś lowski was 52 when he directed  White . ** K ie ś lowski ’s earliest films were docu...
Read more