''Monsieur Klein'' () is a 1976

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American film and theatre director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Hollywood ...

, produced by and starring

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; 8 November 1935 – 18 August 2024) was a French actor, film producer, screenwriter, singer, and businessman. Acknowledged as a cultural and cinematic leading man of the 20th century, Delon emerged as one of ...

in the title role. Set in occupied France, the

Kafkaesque Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

narrative follows an apparently

Gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...

Parisian art dealer who is seemingly mistaken for a Jewish man of the same name and targeted in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, unable to prove his identity. The film is a French and Italian co-production, and premiered at the

1976 Cannes Film Festival The 29th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 28 May 1976. American author Tennessee Williams served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

. It received widespread acclaim from critics and won three

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

; Best Film,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

(Joseph Losey), and Best Production Design (

Alexandre Trauner Alexandre Trauner (born Sándor Trau; 3 August 1906 in Budapest, Hungary – 5 December 1993 in Omonville-la-Petite, France) was a Hungarian film production designer. After studying painting at Hungarian Royal Drawing School, he left the c ...

). Alain Delon was nominated for Best Actor.

Plot

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, January 1942.

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

is occupied by the Germans. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical and amoral, is a well-to-do art dealer, Roman Catholic and Alsatian by birth, who takes advantage of

French Jews The history of the Jews in France deals with Jews and Jewish communities in France since at least the Early Middle Ages. France was a centre of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, but Persecution of Jews, persecution increased over time, includ ...

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

, 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, even breaking off an opportunity to flee the country in order to investigate further. Before he can resolve the situation by either means, he is caught up in the July 1942 roundup of Parisian Jews. As he is hustled into a dark tunnel, his lawyer arrives with complete proof of his non-Jewish ancestry. Klein blankly ignores the lawyer's pleas and continues into the tunnel. The film offers no clear resolution of its contradictory evidence and dead ends. It ends as he is reunited with Jews who once were his clients as they board boxcars for

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

Cast

Symbolism and allusions

Although Losey integrates historical elements (such as the infamous

Vel' d'Hiv Roundup The Vel' d'Hiv' Roundup ( ; from , an abbreviation of ) was a mass arrest of Jews in Paris on 16–17 July 1942 by Vichy French police at the behest of the German occupational authorities. Occurring during World War II, Jews arrested during ...

) into the film, it is more than a reconstruction of the life and status of the Jews under the Vichy regime. The relationship of the film with the works of the writer

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

has often been noted, for example: ''

The Metamorphosis ''The Metamorphosis'' (), also translated as ''The Transformation'', is a novella by Franz Kafka published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''The Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes to find himself inex ...

'', 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 ''The Trial'' () is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, wi ...

'', which sees an accused man become an outlaw of society. According to

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

, the filmmakers "are not as interested in the workings of the plot as in matters of identity and obsession".

Reception

The film has an approval rating of 100% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 16 reviews.

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' who saw the film at the 68th Street Playhouse in 1977, had criticized the role of

as Mr. Klein, saying that eis neither interesting nor mysterious enough to hold a film together.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

but lost to ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...

''. However, ''Monsieur Klein'' did win the

César Award for Best Film The winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film ( French: ). Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also * Lumière Award for Best Film * Louis Delluc Prize for Best Film * French Syndicate of Cinema ...

while Losey won the

César Award for Best Director The César Award for Best Director () is an award presented annually by the Académie des Lumières since 1976. It was presented as the César du meilleur réalisateur from 1976 to 2015. History Superlatives Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s ...

won the César Award for Best Production Design,

was nominated for the

César Award for Best Actor This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actor (). History Superlatives Winners 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins and nominations The following individuals received two or more Best ...

, and in addition the film was nominated for Césars in three other categories.

Restoration

A restored version was released by Rialto Pictures in 2019.

References

External links

*
''Mr. Klein''
an article by Christopher Weedman, a
''Senses of Cinema''

''What Cornelius Gurlitt Could Have Learned from Monsieur Robert Klein''
an article by Karen Loew, a
''Forward''
{{Authority control 1976 films Best Film César Award winners César Award winners Films about identity theft Films directed by Joseph Losey Films produced by Alain Delon Films whose director won the Best Director César Award Holocaust films The Holocaust in France French mystery drama films French historical drama films French psychological drama films Italian mystery drama films Italian historical drama films Italian psychological drama films French World War II films Italian World War II films 1970s French-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s French films Films scored by Egisto Macchi