Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed
the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''
Vice and Virtue'', ''
Le Casse'', ''
Les Uns et les Autres
''Les Uns et les Autres'' (English: ''The Ones and the Others'') is a 1981 French film by Claude Lelouch. The film is a musical epic and it is widely considered as the director's best work, along with '' Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman)' ...
'' and ''
Venus Beauty Institute
''Venus Beauty Institute'' (), also known as ''Venus Beauty'', is a 1999 French romantic comedy. The story centers on three employees of a beauty parlor and their search for love and happiness. The film is directed by Tonie Marshall. It stars Nat ...
''. His other roles include
Michèle Mercier
Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. 's husband in the ''
Angélique'' series, a gunfighter in the
Spaghetti Western
The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
''
Cemetery Without Crosses'' (which he also directed and co-wrote), and a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
who falls in love with
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Antoine Doinel#Christine Darbon, Christine in François Truffaut's three films ''Stolen Kisses'' (1968), ''Bed and B ...
and becomes a
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
in ''
Forbidden Priests''.
Cinematic career
Hossein started directing films in 1955 with ''Les Salauds vont en enfer'', from a story by
Frédéric Dard
Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard (29 June 1921, in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère, France – 6 June 2000, in Bonnefontaine, Fribourg, Switzerland)) also known under the pen name San-Antonio, was a French writer. Known as an author of crime fiction and a ...
whose novels and plays went on to furnish Hossein with much of his later film material. Right from the start Hossein established his characteristic trademarks: using a seemingly straightforward
suspense
Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
plot and subverting its conventions (sometimes to the extent of a complete disregard of the traditional demand for a final twist or revelation) in order to concentrate on ritualistic relationships. This is the director's running preoccupation which is always stressed in his films by an extraordinary command of film space and often striking frame compositions where the geometry of human figures and
set design
Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...
is used to accentuate the psychological set-up of the scene. The mechanisms of guilt and the way it destroys relationships is another recurring theme, presumably influenced by Hossein's lifelong interest in the works of
Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...
.
In 1967, he was a member of the jury of the
5th Moscow International Film Festival.
His 1982 film ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...
'' was entered into the
13th Moscow International Film Festival
The 13th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 21 July 1983. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Moroccan-Guinea-Senegalese film ''Amok (1983 film), Amok'' directed by Souheil Ben-Barka, the Nicaraguan-Cuban-Mexican-Costa Rican ...
where it won a Special Prize.
Although Hossein had some modest international successes with films like ''
Toi, le venin'' and ''
The Vampire of Düsseldorf
''The Vampire of Düsseldorf'' () is a 1965 thriller film directed by Robert Hossein. It was joint production between Spain, France and Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Eu ...
'', he was much singled out for scorching criticism by the critics and followers of the
New Wave for the unashamedly melodramatic frameworks of his films. The fact that he was essentially an
auteur
An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...
director with a consistent set of themes and an extraordinary mastery of original and unusual approaches to staging his stories, was never appreciated. He was not averse to trying his hand at widely different genres and was never defeated, making the strikingly different
Spaghetti Western
The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
''
Cemetery Without Crosses'' and the low-budgeted but daringly subversive period drama ''
I Killed Rasputin
''I Killed Rasputin'' () is a 1967 Cinema of Italy, Italo-Cinema of France, Franco biographical film directed by Robert Hossein. Gert Fröbe stars as the main subject, Grigori Rasputin. It is based on the work ''Lost Splendor'' by Felix Yusupov, a ...
''. However, because of the lack of wider success and continuing adverse criticism, Hossein virtually ended his film directing career in 1970, having concentrated on theatre where his achievements were never questioned, and subsequently returning to film directing only twice. With two or three exceptions, his films remain commercially unavailable and very difficult to see.
Personal life
Robert Hossein's grandfather was born in Iran. His father was
André Hossein, a composer of
Iranian Azerbaijani origin,
[Робер Оссейн: «Нашу с Мариной Влади семью погубил русский быт»](_blank)
Shigareva, Yulia (28 August 2013). Argumenty i Fakty
(, commonly abbreviated "АиФ" and translated as ''Arguments and Facts'') is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow and a publishing house in Russia and worldwide. Since 2014, it has been owned by the Government of Moscow.
History and profile
It ...
. and his mother was Anna Mincovschi, a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
comedy actress from
Soroca
Soroca is a city and municipality in northern Moldova, situated on the Dniester River about north of Chișinău. It is the administrative center of the Soroca District.
History
It is known for its well-preserved stronghold, established by t ...
(
Bessarabia
Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
).
[ "Robert Hossein et son fils le rabbin Aaron Eliacheff"]
(10 February 2011) ''Harissa'' He was married three times: first to
Marina Vlady
Marina Vlady (born 10 May 1938) is a French actress.
Biography
Vlady was born in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine to White Russian immigrant parents. Her father was an opera singer and her mother was a dancer. Her sisters, now all deceased, were the a ...
(then Marina Poliakoff; on 23 December 1955, they had two sons, Pierre and Igor), later on 7 June 1962, to Caroline Eliacheff, daughter of Françoise Giroud (they had a son, Nicholas, who became
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
Aaron Eliacheff).
[ She was fifteen at the time and he was 34. In 1973, he dated for a short while Michèle Watrin, before she died the following year in a car accident. In 1976, he married actress Candice Patou, with whom he had a son.
]
Religion
In 1971, Hossein was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. According to an article written by Emannuel Peze, Hossein experienced a conversion to Catholicism in 1971 during a visit to the Marian apparition
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...
at San Damiano in Lombard, Italy.
In 2007, he presented a play entitled ''Do Not Be Afraid'' (''N'ayez pas peur''), about the life of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
. He had a special devotion to Saint Therese of Lisieux.
Death
Hossein died of COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
on 31 December 2020, one day after his 93rd birthday, during the COVID-19 pandemic in France
The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths.
The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. T ...
.
Selected filmography
Honours
* : Commander of the Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
, 2005
Foreign honours
* : Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (2006)
Member of Eurasian Academy (2016).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hossein, Robert
1927 births
2020 deaths
Male actors from Paris
Converts to Roman Catholicism
French male film actors
French people of Azerbaijani descent
French people of Iranian descent
French people of Jewish descent
French Roman Catholics
French film directors
Commanders of the Legion of Honour
Commanders of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco)
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France