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Joseph Losey is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter and Producer American born on 14 january 1909 at La Crosse (USA)

Joseph Losey

Joseph Losey
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Birth name Joseph Losey
Nationality USA
Birth 14 january 1909 at La Crosse (USA)
Death 22 june 1984 (at 75 years) at London (United-kingdom)

Joseph Losey est un réalisateur, producteur et scénariste américain, né le 14 janvier 1909 à La Crosse dans le Wisconsin et mort le 22 juin 1984 (à 75 ans) à Londres.

Biography

Trois éléments déterminent la personnalité, la carrière et l'œuvre de Joseph Losey : son origine familiale, la crise des années 1930 — qui le mène vers le théâtre politique — et le maccarthysme.




Origine familiale
Il est issu d'une famille aisée et très puritaine. Son éducation religieuse l'influence fortement, même s'il ne lui en reste rien. Il est élevé dans un isolement politique total, inconscient des réalités sociales jusqu'au moment où il se trouve confronté à la dépression de 1929.


Crise des années 1930
Il entreprend des études de médecine et fréquente la troupe de théâtre de son université. Nourri de Marx, Trotski et même Staline, il effectue en 1931 un voyage à Moscou, où il rencontre des metteurs en scène de théâtre.

Après des études en Allemagne avec Bertolt Brecht, Losey retourne aux États-Unis, parvenant jusqu'à Hollywood.

Dans les années trente, il met en scène des pièces « engagées » à New York. Il travaille surtout au décor, qui sera toujours un élément capital de sa mise en scène.


Maccarthysme
La carrière de Losey débute sous le signe d'un engagement politique certain et il s'investit aux côtés du Parti communiste américain. Sommé en 1952 de se présenter devant la House Un-American Activities Committee alors qu'il tourne un film en Italie, il choisit de s'exiler en Grande-Bretagne. Son témoignage n'aurait, sauf à considérer une éventuelle captivité, nullement changé son sort.

Même au Royaume-Uni, il est confronté à des difficultés : initialement proposé pour diriger la production de Hammer films de 1956 pour X the Unknown, Losey est évincé du projet car, après quelques jours, la star Dean Jagger refuse de travailler avec un sympathisant communiste présumé.


Consécration
Certains de ses films lui donnent une grande renommée : The Servant, Modesty Blaise, Accident et Cérémonie secrète.

Son film Le Messager (The Go-Between) remporte la Palme d'or au Festival de Cannes de 1971.

Il poursuit avec de grands films comme L'Assassinat de Trotsky, Maison de poupée, Monsieur Klein et Don Giovanni.

Best films

Don Giovanni (1979)
(Director)
The Go-Between (1971)
(Director)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Joseph Losey (36 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

The Trout
The Trout (1982)
, 1h43
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Isabelle Huppert, Daniel Olbrychski, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jeanne Moreau, Jacques Spiesser, Isao Yamagata
Rating59% 2.9522552.9522552.9522552.9522552.952255
Traumatisée depuis son enfance, Frédérique (surnommée la Truite) se venge sur les hommes en les aguichant pour les exploiter, sans jamais se donner à eux. Elle épouse Galuchat, un homosexuel, et cohabite pendant un certain temps au Japon avec le riche affairiste Saint-Genis, rencontré en même temps qu'un couple aisé, les Rambert.
Cinématon
Cinématon (1978)

Directed by Gérard Courant
Genres Documentary
Actors Fernando Arrabal, Raphaël Bassan, Yann Beauvais, Roberto Benigni, Juliet Berto, Sandrine Bonnaire
Roles N°76
Rating60% 3.032883.032883.032883.032883.03288
Cinématon est une série cinématographique de portraits filmés montrant une personnalité des arts, de la culture ou du spectacle, en un seul gros plan fixe et muet de 3 minutes et demie, dans lesquels elle est libre de faire ce qu'elle veut.
How Yukong Moved the Mountains, 12h43
Directed by Joris Ivens, Marceline Loridan-Ivens
Origin France
Genres Documentary
Themes Politique, Political films
Actors Joseph Losey
Roles English-language commentary (voice)
Rating78% 3.9031453.9031453.9031453.9031453.903145
Comment Yukong déplaça les montagnes est composé de douze films réalisés dans différentes régions de Chine. Le film complet dure 12 heures, c'est un important témoignage historique sur la Chine pendant la Révolution Culturelle.
Mr. Klein
Mr. Klein (1976)
, 2h3
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Historical, Crime
Themes Films about religion, L'usurpation d'identité, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism, Escroquerie, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France, La condition juive en France sous l'Occupation allemande
Actors Alain Delon, Michael Lonsdale, Jeanne Moreau, Juliet Berto, Francine Bergé, Jean Bouise
Roles Un Homme au Vel d'Hiv (uncredited)
Rating74% 3.7459753.7459753.7459753.7459753.745975
Paris, January 1942. France is occupied by the Nazis. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical, is a well-to-do art dealer, Roman Catholic and Alsatian by birth, who takes advantage of French Jews 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 Paris, a Jew sought by the police, has had his 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 that 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 heritage. While waiting for the documentation to arrive, he struggles to track down his namesake and learn his motivation. Before he can resolve the situation by either means, he is caught up in the July 1942 roundup of Parisian Jews. He is reunited with Jews who once were his clients as they board boxcars for Germany.
Eva
Eva (1962)
, 1h44
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, BDSM in films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films
Actors Jeanne Moreau, Stanley Baker, Virna Lisi, Lisa Gastoni, James Villiers, Riccardo Garrone
Roles Patron at Harry's Bar (uncredited)
Rating63% 3.1967353.1967353.1967353.1967353.196735
A raw Welsh novelist in Venice is humiliated by a money-loving Frenchwoman who erotically ensnares him.
Finger of Guilt
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller
Actors Richard Basehart, Mary Murphy, Constance Cummings, Roger Livesey, Faith Brook, Mervyn Johns
Roles Director (uncredited)
Rating61% 3.096783.096783.096783.096783.09678
Reggie Wilson, a film cutter, has lost his Hollywood career due to an affair with his boss's wife. He has moved to England and made good, marrying the daughter of a studio head and working on new film Eclipse. His new life is threatened when he starts to receive demanding letters from a woman who claims to have had a brief affair with him, and who knows intimate details about his life - but whom he cannot remember at all.

Director

Steaming
Steaming (1985)
, 1h36
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy-drama
Actors Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, Diana Dors, Brenda Bruce, Felicity Dean
Rating58% 2.9018552.9018552.9018552.9018552.901855
Les conversations intimes et les problèmes quotidiens d'un groupe de femmes fréquentant régulièrement un bain turc dans un quartier populaire de Londres.
The Trout
The Trout (1982)
, 1h43
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Isabelle Huppert, Daniel Olbrychski, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jeanne Moreau, Jacques Spiesser, Isao Yamagata
Rating59% 2.9522552.9522552.9522552.9522552.952255
Traumatisée depuis son enfance, Frédérique (surnommée la Truite) se venge sur les hommes en les aguichant pour les exploiter, sans jamais se donner à eux. Elle épouse Galuchat, un homosexuel, et cohabite pendant un certain temps au Japon avec le riche affairiste Saint-Genis, rencontré en même temps qu'un couple aisé, les Rambert.
Don Giovanni, 3h4
Directed by Joseph Losey
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films based on plays, Films based on operas
Actors Ruggero Raimondi, Lorin Maazel
Rating75% 3.787423.787423.787423.787423.78742
After an unsuccessful attempt to seduce Donna Anna (soprano Edda Moser), Don Giovanni (baritone Ruggero Raimondi) kills her father Il Commendatore (bass John Macurdy). The next morning, Giovanni meets Donna Elvira (soprano Kiri Te Kanawa), a woman he previously seduced and abandoned. Later, Giovanni happens upon the preparations for a peasant wedding and tries to seduce the bride-to-be Zerlina (mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza), but his ambition is frustrated by Donna Elvira.
Roads to the South, 1h37
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama
Actors Yves Montand, Miou-Miou, Laurent Malet, José Luis Gómez, Jean Bouise, Didier Sauvegrain
Rating56% 2.803882.803882.803882.803882.80388
Nous sommes en 1975, à la fin du franquisme et Jean Larrea, ex-révolutionnaire espagnol, est devenu scénariste mais un conflit de génération l'oppose à son fils.
Mr. Klein
Mr. Klein (1976)
, 2h3
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Historical, Crime
Themes Films about religion, L'usurpation d'identité, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism, Escroquerie, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France, La condition juive en France sous l'Occupation allemande
Actors Alain Delon, Michael Lonsdale, Jeanne Moreau, Juliet Berto, Francine Bergé, Jean Bouise
Rating74% 3.7459753.7459753.7459753.7459753.745975
Paris, January 1942. France is occupied by the Nazis. Robert Klein, apparently apolitical, is a well-to-do art dealer, Roman Catholic and Alsatian by birth, who takes advantage of French Jews 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 Paris, a Jew sought by the police, has had his 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 that 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 heritage. While waiting for the documentation to arrive, he struggles to track down his namesake and learn his motivation. Before he can resolve the situation by either means, he is caught up in the July 1942 roundup of Parisian Jews. He is reunited with Jews who once were his clients as they board boxcars for Germany.
The Romantic Englishwoman, 1h56
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
Themes Films about writers, Films about sexuality
Actors Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, Helmut Berger, Michael Lonsdale, Béatrice Romand, Kate Nelligan
Rating60% 3.044983.044983.044983.044983.04498
Elizabeth Fielding, femme d'un riche écrivain anglais, rencontre, Thomas, un jeune homme aux activités louches, lors d'un séjour thermal à Baden-Baden. Celui-ci la suit jusqu'en Angleterre et réussit à se faire inviter par Lewis, le mari d'Elizabeth. Ce dernier soupçonne celle-ci d'être l'amante de Thomas. Elizabeth imagine, à son tour, une liaison entre Lewis, son conjoint, et Catherine. Elizabeth fugue et part avec Thomas vers la Côte d'Azur. Avec la complicité du jeune amant, Lewis Fielding récupère son épouse.
Galileo
Galileo (1975)
, 2h25
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Chaim Topol, Edward Fox, Georgia Brown, John Gielgud, Tom Conti, Margaret Leighton
Rating65% 3.2906753.2906753.2906753.2906753.290675
The film closely follows the "American" version of Brecht's play Galileo. In 1609 Galileo is a mathematics professor in Padua, Italy. While his salary is inadequate, he possesses the freedom to pursue controversial scientific studies under the protection of the Venetian republic. Part of his work involves the use of a telescope, a relatively new scientific instrument brought from the Netherlands. Using the telescope, Galileo seeks to test the theories put forth by Nicolaus Copernicus that place the sun – and not the Earth – at the center of universe. As his research progress, Galileo accepts a more prestigious academic position in Florence, Italy. But his new position does not come with the government protection he enjoyed in Venice, and his friends in the higher echelons of the Roman Catholic Church refuse to come to his aid when he is summoned before the Inquisition.
A Doll's House, 1h46
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin France
Genres Drama
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Jane Fonda, Edward Fox, Trevor Howard, Delphine Seyrig, David Warner, Anna Wing
Rating59% 2.9991952.9991952.9991952.9991952.999195
The main character of this film is Nora Helmer, a simple woman married to a working man, the straight but authoritarian Torvald. Years before, they married out of love. Now, between Nora's desire for freedom and Torvald's strictness, serious sexual friction is threatening their relationship, including actions from their past which could lead to tragedy.
The Assassination of Trotsky, 1h43
Directed by Joseph Losey
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Historical
Themes Assassinat, Politique, Political films
Actors Richard Burton, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Valentina Cortese, Jean Desailly, Enrico Maria Salerno
Rating56% 2.84732.84732.84732.84732.8473
Exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, Leon Trotsky travels from Turkey to France to Norway, before arriving in Mexico in January 1937. The film begins in Mexico City in 1940, during a May Day celebration. Trotsky has not escaped the attention of the Soviet ruler of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, who sends out an assassin named Frank Jacson. The killer decides to infiltrate Trotsky's house by befriending one of the young communists in Trotsky's circle.