Robert Hossein was a French film actor of Parsi origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute. His most recent roles include starring as Michèle Mercier's husband in the Angélique series and as a Catholic priest who falls in love with Claude Jade and becomes a communist in Prêtres interdits (Forbidden Priests) in 1973.
Hossein started directing films in 1956 with Les salauds vont en enfer from a story by Frédéric Dard 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 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 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 Dostoyevski.
Although Hossein had some modest international successes with films like Toi, le venin and Le vampire de Dusseldorf, 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 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 Une corde, un Colt and the low-budgeted but daringly subversive period drama J'ai tué Raspoutine. 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.
He is the son of André Hossein a Zoroastrian French composer of Azerbaijani-Tajik descent, and a Jewish comedy actress from Kiev. He was married three times: first to Marina Vlady (he has two sons with her, Pierre and Igor), later to Caroline Eliacheff (with whom he has a son, Nicholas). He is currently married to actress Candice Patou, with whom he has one son, Julien.
According to an article written by Emannuel Peze, Hossein experienced a conversion to Catholicism in 1971 during a visit to the Marian apparition at San Damiano in Lombardo Italy.
2022 | Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens as Self |
2022 | L'amour c’est mieux que la vie as Robert Prat |
2021 | Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables as Lui-même |
2020 | Le Fruit de l'espoir as Le grand-père d'Angeli |
2019 | Le Regard de Charles as Self - Actor (archive footage) |
2016 | Belmondo par Belmondo as Self |
2014 | Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence as Self |
2011 | Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde as Self |
2011 | Une femme nommée Marie as Voce narrante |
2011 | Belmondo, itinéraire... as Self |
2009 | Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju as Self |
2009 | Un homme et son chien as Un homme a la soupe populaire |
2008 | Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie as Self |
2007 | Hotel Riviera as Antoine Bérangère |
2006 | Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern as Self |
2004 | San Antonio as Le ministre de l'intérieur / The Minister |
2003 | Antigone as Créon |
1999 | Gialloparma as Judge Bocchi |
1999 | Vénus beauté (institut) as L'aviateur |
1997 | M.D.C. - Maschera di cera as Boris Volkoff |
1995 | Les Misérables as Le maître de cérémonie |
1994 | L'Affaire as Paul Haslans |
1992 | L'Inconnu dans la maison as Narrator (voice) |
1989 | Les Enfants du désordre as Robert |
1988 | La croisade des enfants as Philippe-Auguste |
1987 | Lévy et Goliath as Goliath customer (uncredited) |
1986 | Un homme et une femme, 20 ans déjà as Robert Hossein |
1986 | Le Caviar rouge as Alex |
1983 | Surprise Party as André Auerbach |
1982 | Le Grand Pardon as Manuel Carreras |
1981 | Profesyonel as Commissaire Rosen |
1981 | Les uns et les autres as Simon Meyer / Robert Prat |
1979 | Démons de midi as Metteur en scène de théâtre |
1975 | Le Faux-cul as Kaminsky |
1974 | Le Protecteur as Arnaud |
1974 | Le tour d'écrou as Peter Quint |
1973 | Prêtres interdits as Jean Rastaud |
1973 | Un officier de police sans importance as Pierre Fresse |
1973 | Don Juan ou si Don Juan était une femme... as Louis Prévost |
1972 | Un meurtre est un meurtre as Jean Carouse |
1972 | Hellé |
1971 | Le Casse as Ralph |
1971 | La part des lions as Maurice Ménard |
1971 | Le juge as Black Bird |
1970 | Point de Chute as Le Caïd |
1970 | Les belles au bois dormantes as Serge Belaïeff |
1970 | Le Temps des loups as Dillinger |
1969 | Nell'anno del Signore as Leonida Montanari |
1969 | La battaglia del deserto as Capitaine Curd Heinz (Rudi en Français) |
1969 | Le Voleur de crimes as Christian |
1969 | Le Voleur de crimes as Tian |
1969 | La Femme écarlate as Julien |
1969 | Maldonne as Martin von Klaus |
1969 | La vie, l'amour, la mort as Man in the movie |
1969 | Bir İp, Bir Tabanca as Manuel |
1969 | La battaglia di El Alamein as Erwin Rommel |
1968 | La Leçon particulière as Enrico Fontana |
1968 | Niente rose per OSS 117 as Dr. Saadi |
1968 | Anjelik Çöl Melikesi as Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator" |
1968 | La Petite Vertu as Louis Brady |
1967 | Lamiel as Roger Valber |
1967 | L'homme qui trahit la mafia as Maître Bianchini |
1967 | J'ai tué Raspoutine as Serge Sukhotin |
1967 | La Musica as Him |
1967 | Indomptable Angélique as Joffrey de Peyrac, 'Le Rescator' |
1966 | Brigade antigangs as Le commissaire principal Le Goff |
1966 | La Longue Marche as Carnot |
1966 | La Seconde Vérité as Pierre Montaud, the Advocate |
1966 | Angélique et le Roy as Jeoffrey de Peyrac |
1966 | Madamigella di Maupin as Captain Alcibiade |
1965 | Le Tonnerre de Dieu as Marcel |
1965 | La Fabuleuse Aventure de Marco Polo as Prince Nayam |
1965 | Le commissaire mène l’enquête as The lover (segment "Pour qui sonne le ...") |
1965 | The Dirty Game as Dupont |
1965 | Le Vampire de Düsseldorf as Peter Kuerten |
1964 | Angélique, marquise des anges as Jeoffrey de Peyrac |
1964 | Les Yeux Cernés as Franz |
1964 | Pourquoi Paris ? |
1964 | Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117 as Dr. Sinn |
1964 | La Mort d'un tueur as Pierre Massa |
1963 | Chair de poule as Daniel Boisset |
1963 | Les grands chemins as Samuel |
1963 | Le Vice et la Vertu as SS Oberst Erik Schörndorf |
1963 | Le Meurtrier as Inspektor Corby |
1962 | Le Repos du guerrier as Renaud Sarti |
1962 | Le Monte-charge as Robert Herbin |
1962 | Les Petits Matins as Edouard, le fou |
1961 | Madame Sans-Gêne as Le sergent François-Joseph Lefebvre |
1961 | Le Jeu de la vérité as L'inspecteur de police |
1961 | Le Goût de la violence as Perez |
1961 | La Menace as Savary |
1960 | Les Scélérats as Jess Rooland |
1960 | Les canailles as Ed Dawson |
1959 | La Sentence as Georges Lagrange |
1959 | La Nuit des espions as Lui |
1959 | Звёзды встречаются в Москве |
1959 | Du rififi chez les femmes as Marcel Point-Bleu |
1959 | Des femmes disparaissent as Pierre Rossi |
1959 | Toi... le venin as Pierre Menda |
1958 | V proudech |
1957 | Méfiez-vous fillettes as Raven |
1957 | Sait-on jamais... as Sforzi |
1956 | Crime et châtiment as René Brunel |
1956 | Pardonnez nos offenses as (uncredited) |
1955 | Les salauds vont en enfer as Fred |
1955 | Rififi as Rémi Grutter |
1955 | Série noire as Jo |
1954 | Quai des blondes as Chemise Rose |
1949 | Maya as Un témoin du meurtre qui n'a rien vu (uncredited) |
1948 | Aux yeux du souvenir as A student from the Simon course |
1948 | Les souvenirs ne sont pas à vendre |
1948 | Le Diable boiteux as Guest in white (uncredited) |
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