Klute

 

I was in my 20s when I saw Klute. It was probably run late at night on channel 4 and I remember then thinking it was a class act.
I revisited it today at The Storyhouse and I was even more impressed with this new noir 1971 thriller which broke the mould by concentrating on the characterisation of its main female protagonist rather than the reveal of who was the serial killer.
Jane Fonda excels as the call girl Bree Daniels, a bright, intelligent woman who clearly understands her motivations in life. Through some revealing monologues with her pragmatic psychiatrist we see Bree take control of her call girl life where mysogyny and sexism controls her acting life. This existence is suddenly complicated by the appearance  of a strong, and passive private detective ( a doe eyed Donald Sutherland) who is investigating the disappearance of one of Bree’s supposid tricks and Bree has to confront proper and normal emotional attachment as they embark on a tentative and somewhat complicated relationship.

Director Alan J Pakula concentrates the camera on Fonda at almost every turn and she replays his trust with a nuanced and devastating intelligent performance. 
She’s a revelation, she really is and although the movie is essentially a character study of a woman in the sex industry , the film works very well as a creepy, serial killer thriller, but this objective is incidental to the main narrative .
If you haven’t seen it, please give it a go.


I’ll leave you all with this hilarious drag performance of let it go from Frozen
It has nothing to do with Klute 
But it did make me titter 



42 comments:

  1. I have not seen it for many years but I remember thinking that it was very good.

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  2. It took me a while to figure out what the spray can guy was doing! So funny!
    I just watched Jane Fonda in Grace and Frankie the other night - still going strong in her 80s. I will have to look for Klute as I don't remember ever seeing it back in the day...
    Thanks, John! xx

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  3. I was too young to see it and it scared me. My parents sometimes did that. They took me to movies that were too complex or racy for a little girl. This one stood out. Perhaps I'll see it again and overwrite to bad memories.

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  4. Even the five year old appreciated the man with the spray cans, 'because you can't really spray from your hands can you Nanny'.
    Very funny on so many levels.

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  5. If I remember correctly, "Klute" established Jane Fonda as a serious and respected actress. Before that, she'd been pretty much cast as just eye candy.

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    1. I guess you are right, she was also looked on as a red commie

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  6. I'm too much of a wimp for creepy serial killer thrillers!

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  7. I have not seen this movie for ages but I loved reading about your insight into it. You really know how to get the most from a good movie.

    The video is hilarious! Love it!

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    1. Movies are my friends and my support

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  8. Was that scented air freshener-the lady eaten too many beans perhaps x

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  9. Klute is not on Netflix and not available on Prime. I can't remember if I've seen it or not.

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  10. You have to refrain from blinking or you might miss it, but Warhol Superstar Candy Darling has a cameo in Klute.

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    1. So has silvester Stallone and Veronica Hamel

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  11. Yorkshire Liz9:07 pm

    Klute is terrific and wonderful and still terrifing when she js being stalked by the killer, still a sensitive portrayal of damaged goods. An all time great. As is another of hers,comedy western Cat Ballou. Have always liked Donald Sutherland. Don't Look Now for example, and Citizen X especially. You do to and see some great movies!

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    1. Her scene where she just cries in front of the killer is a pivitol scene in cinema

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  12. I would rather watch paint dry, or mushrooms grow.

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    1. A stupid comment it’s a quality film

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    2. A fatuous response from a shallow critic. When you say 'quality', do you mean good, bad or indifferent?

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    3. Yorkshire Liz7:40 am

      You mean you can't tell for yourself or just won't tell? You say a lot about what you are if your level of excitement comes down to paint and mushrooms. And if you think John and his opinions are shallow, what are you doing here in the first place?

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    4. Oh mind your own business and get back to what you know about.

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    5. John is quite capable of defending himself- so long as he can be bothered. He doesn't need sycophants like you to argue with old friends like me.

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    6. Pink lady9:47 pm

      There is no harm in being a polisher of apples

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    7. Or smoothing a juicy plum

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  13. I was in my 20's and saw it at a theater where you could sit and watch a movie twice if you wanted to in Amsterdam as it happens strange I remember the location for the most part I never do, but the movie stayed with me for quite a while.

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  14. Barbara Anne11:57 pm

    I remember Klute and it's tense moments as I was about 20 when I saw it soon after its release. If you want another creepy old movie, I suggest "Play Misty for Me". Yikes!
    The video was a hoot. :)

    Hugs!

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  15. A good stage performance transports viewers like nothing else. Enjoy.

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  16. Never seen Klute...I can't do any type of thriller, I have a far too vivid an imagination for anything that will wind me up! Loved the frozen spoof... just about my style.

    Jo in Auckland

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  17. What I remember most is her crying in the elevator.

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    1. It was in an office not an elevator dave

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  18. I've also not seen it since its 1971 release. The sole thing I can recall is when Fonda, having sex with a 'client' and her putting on orgasmic-sounding moans for 'authenticity', unseen by him she sneaks a glance at her watch. I'd say that fifty years on it's high time for a re-visit, a more discerning one.

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    1. I think it was with Sutherlands character, which was so sad?

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    2. He was wasn’t he ?

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  19. An awful lot of excellent movies came out in the 1970s. The Showroom in Sheff is running a 70s series of movies. Five Easy Pieces is one and that hit us over the head when it came out originally.

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  20. Anonymous10:07 am

    Oh Donald Sutherland - wonderful and still as charismatic now he's older. His voice is mesmerising, he's done lots of voice overs, I'd even watch the adverts with his voice.

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  21. Thinking of Jane Fonda, what did you think of "On Golden Pond"?

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    1. It felt worthy and obviously so personal
      But I’m not a lover of the movie David

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  22. Yes, Klute is fantastic. It's the first movie that really let Jane Fonda show her acting chops.

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