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Mr. Klein

Mr. Klein

  • Status: Released
  • 23-09-1976
  • Runtime: 123 min
  • Score: 7.237
  • Vote count: 249

Paris, France, 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Robert Klein, a successful art dealer who benefits from the misfortunes of those who are ruthlessly persecuted, discovers by chance that there is another Robert Klein, apparently a Jewish man; someone with whom he could be mistakenly identified, something dangerous in such harsh times.

Alain Delon

Mr. Robert Klein

Jeanne Moreau

Florence Klein

Francine Bergé

Nicole

Juliet Berto

Jeanine

Jean Bouise

Seller

Suzanne Flon

Doorwoman

Massimo Girotti

Charles

Michael Lonsdale

Pierre

Michel Aumont

Jew Affairs Section Official

Roland Bertin

Newspaper Director

Jean Champion

Diener

Etienne Chicot

Policeman

Magali Clément

Lola

Gérard Jugnot

Photographer

Hermine Karagheuz

Young Worker

Jacques Maury

Professor Montandon

Fred Personne

Police Commissioner

Francine Racette

Françoise / Cathy / Isabelle

Isabelle Sadoyan

Examined Woman

Louis Seigner

Mr. Klein's Father

Elisabeth Kaza

Carole Achache

Lucienne Le Marchand

Rosine Rochette

Maurice Vallier

Pierre Vernier

Policeman

François Viaur

Joseph Losey

Un Homme au Vel d'Hiv (uncredited)

Brigitte Ariel

(uncredited)

Marius Balbinot

(uncredited)

Maurice Baquet

Un Musicien (uncredited)

Philippe Brizard

(uncredited)

Jenny Clève

(uncredited)

Raymond Danon

(uncredited)

Christian de Tillière

Le Commissaire-Priseur (uncredited)

Michel Delahaye

(uncredited)

Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu

Extra (uncredited)

Pierre Frag

Le Marchand de Journaux (uncredited)

Mireille Franchino

(uncredited)

David Gabison

Le Groom (uncredited)

Maurice Jany

Le Chauffeur à Ivry-Bataille (uncredited)

Stephane Quatrehomme

Le Fils de Pierre (uncredited)

Jean Topart

La Voix du Speaker (voice) (uncredited)

Danielle Verne

Une Déportée (uncredited)

Dany Kogan

Michelle

Thierry de Brem

CinemaSerf

Alain Delon is near his best as the eponymous, rather odious, art dealer quite happily fleecing the terrified Jewish community of their precious possessions at cut race prices as they make preparations to try and flee the Nazi occupation of Paris. It's when one such victim is leaving his elegant apartment one day that "Klein" notices a Jewish newspaper at his door - with his name on it! He goes to the police to make it clear that he is not the "Robert Klein" on the address, but do they believe him? Do they think that perhaps he is trying to pull the wool over their eyes too? He concludes that the only way he can be certain is to track down the real doppelgänger before he ends up suffering the same dispossession and deportation as those he had thus far all too readily exploited. One can never have enough of Jeanne Moreau and her role as the enigmatic "Florence" is a little undercooked here, but as the rest of this complex thriller builds up steam we see Joseph Losey using Delon, and our own appreciation of just how terrifying it must have been for most during the occupation let alone the Jewish population, as weapons to potently reveal that terror and to ultimately maybe even humanise - as well as, perhaps, ridicule - this most venal and shallow of men. Is he now the hunted? Can he escape with his life? The more he thinks he has swum away from danger, the more the maelstrom seems to embrace him - and that catch 22 scenario is enthralling to watch play out here. It's cleverly photographed with a score that augments our own - and his - sense of increasing peril and frustration and though it's perhaps just a little slow at the start, it turns into a cracker.