Robert Hossein

Robert Hossein

Biography: 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Hossein, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: December 30, 1927

Deathday: December 31, 2020

Popularity:

4.78

Known For

Rififi
Rififi

1955-04-13

The Professional
The Professional

1981-10-21

Trivial
Trivial

2007-05-23

Prêtres interdits
Prêtres interdits

1973-11-22

Love Is Better Than Life
Love Is Better Than Life

2022-01-19

Versatile Lovers
Versatile Lovers

1970-05-06

Cemetery Without Crosses
Cemetery Without Crosses

1969-01-25

Angelique and the King
Angelique and the King

1966-01-31

The Burglars
The Burglars

1971-10-27

Venus Beauty Institute
Venus Beauty Institute

1999-02-03

The Wax Mask
The Wax Mask

1997-04-04

Bolero: Dance of Life
Bolero: Dance of Life

1981-05-27

Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment

1956-12-04

Angelique and the Sultan
Angelique and the Sultan

1968-03-13

Untamable Angelique
Untamable Angelique

1967-01-01

Angelique
Angelique

1964-12-08

Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde

2011-10-25

The Vampire of Dusseldorf
The Vampire of Dusseldorf

1965-04-07

Love on a Pillow
Love on a Pillow

1962-09-05

Children of Chaos
Children of Chaos

1989-11-22

Long March
Long March

1966-05-31

Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables
Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables

2021-01-15

Forgive Our Trespasses
Forgive Our Trespasses

1956-08-01

Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens
Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens

2022-11-03

San Antonio
San Antonio

2004-07-21

Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman
Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman

1973-02-22

God's Thunder
God's Thunder

1965-09-08

A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later

1986-05-13

Blonde in a White Car
Blonde in a White Car

1959-03-27

Sextette
Sextette

1948-09-17

The Devil Who Limped
The Devil Who Limped

1948-07-11

In the Eyes of Memory
In the Eyes of Memory

1948-11-24

Les Miserables
Les Miserables

1995-03-22

Maya
Maya

1949-12-09

Paris Pick-Up
Paris Pick-Up

1962-05-04

Hitch-Hike
Hitch-Hike

1962-03-16

The Game of Truth
The Game of Truth

1961-11-26

Death of a Killer
Death of a Killer

1964-04-01

Marked Eyes
Marked Eyes

1964-09-02

The Battle of El Alamein
The Battle of El Alamein

1969-01-01

A Little Virtuous
A Little Virtuous

1968-02-21

Scandalous Crimes
Scandalous Crimes

1999-02-26

The Phoney
The Phoney

1975-10-14

The Protector
The Protector

1974-06-05

Stranger in the House
Stranger in the House

1992-10-03

Marco the Magnificent
Marco the Magnificent

1965-08-06

Highway Pick-Up
Highway Pick-Up

1963-11-13

Belmondo, itinéraire...
Belmondo, itinéraire...

2011-05-18

Tender Moment
Tender Moment

1968-12-20

Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence
Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence

2014-08-01

Time of the Wolves
Time of the Wolves

1970-01-21

Riff Raff Girls
Riff Raff Girls

1959-05-20

The Taste of Violence
The Taste of Violence

1961-08-10

OSS 117 Murder for Sale
OSS 117 Murder for Sale

1968-07-27

The Wicked Go to Hell
The Wicked Go to Hell

1955-12-07

The Verdict
The Verdict

1959-10-02

Enough Rope
Enough Rope

1963-01-11

Mademoiselle de Maupin
Mademoiselle de Maupin

1966-01-13

Madame
Madame

1961-12-21

A Murder Is a Murder
A Murder Is a Murder

1972-08-23

A Police Officer Without Importance
A Police Officer Without Importance

1973-04-12

The Dirty Game
The Dirty Game

1965-06-23

The Road to Shame
The Road to Shame

1959-04-30

The Conspirators
The Conspirators

1969-10-24

Desert Assault
Desert Assault

1969-07-30

Falling Point
Falling Point

1970-09-11

Double Agents
Double Agents

1959-09-09

La Musica
La Musica

1967-03-03

The Scarlet Lady
The Scarlet Lady

1969-05-14

The Wretches
The Wretches

1960-05-08

The Other Truth
The Other Truth

1966-04-19

Vice and Virtue
Vice and Virtue

1963-03-01

I Killed Rasputin
I Killed Rasputin

1967-05-03

A Man and His Dog
A Man and His Dog

2009-01-14

Misdeal
Misdeal

1969-04-30

Young Girls Beware
Young Girls Beware

1957-07-04

Levy & Goliath
Levy & Goliath

1987-01-27

Le Caviar rouge
Le Caviar rouge

1986-01-08

Surprise Party
Surprise Party

1983-04-20

Brigade Anti Gangs
Brigade Anti Gangs

1966-08-18

Life Love Death
Life Love Death

1969-01-29

Why Paris?
Why Paris?

1964-06-24

Le commissaire mène l’enquête
Le commissaire mène l’enquête

1965-07-28

Hellé
Hellé

1972-05-02

Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie
Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie

2008-09-21

Crime Thief
Crime Thief

1969-05-22

OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok
OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok

1964-06-12

Lamiel
Lamiel

1967-08-30

Une femme nommée Marie
Une femme nommée Marie

2011-08-13

Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern

2006-04-23

The Menace
The Menace

1961-03-01

Of Flesh and Blood
Of Flesh and Blood

1963-07-08

Judge Roy Bean
Judge Roy Bean

1971-03-03

L'Affaire
L'Affaire

1994-04-13

Le tour d'écrou
Le tour d'écrou

1974-02-25

Stars Meet in Moscow
Stars Meet in Moscow

1959-08-30

Crime Thief
Crime Thief

1969-05-22

Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju
Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju

2009-05-05

Take Me As I Am
Take Me As I Am

1960-01-29

Antigone
Antigone

2003-05-05

Démons de midi
Démons de midi

1979-11-28

The Lion's Share
The Lion's Share

1971-09-08

Provisional Liberty
Provisional Liberty

1958-05-16

La croisade des enfants
La croisade des enfants

1988-04-07

Belmondo by Belmondo
Belmondo by Belmondo

2016-05-05

The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia

1967-05-20

Le Fruit de l'espoir
Le Fruit de l'espoir

2020-02-05

No Sun in Venice
No Sun in Venice

1957-05-31

Aznavour by Charles
Aznavour by Charles

2019-10-02

The Big Pardon
The Big Pardon

1982-01-27

Quai des blondes
Quai des blondes

1954-04-07

Série noire
Série noire

1955-03-04