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

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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 =

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