Movie Reviews ~ KLUTE 1971
KLUTE
Jane Fonda won the first of two Academy Awards® for what many consider her best performance in Klute (1971), playing Bree, a complicated New York City call girl whose life is in danger, and who becomes involved with a cop investigating the case. When she made the film, Fonda's life and finances were in disarray. Her marriage to French director Roger Vadim was on the rocks. She had taken time off from making films to get involved in anti-Vietnam war activities and other left-wing causes, and had poured most of her own money into them. Fonda may have agreed to star in Klute for the money, but something in her responded to Bree's vulnerability, and she made something remarkable of the role.
Working on her character from the outside in, Fonda collaborated with costume designer Ann Roth to perfect Bree's look. Much of it was based on Fonda's own style: the midi skirts, high boots, chunky jewelry, tight sweaters worn without a bra, and the leather-trimmed trench coat all became iconic looks that were copied by '70s fashionistas. So was the shag haircut, created by a hairdresser in New York's Lower East Side.
For Bree's inner self, the Method-trained Fonda researched her part by talking to New York call girls. That research helped shape her burgeoning feminism as she learned about the violence prostitutes often endured from their pimps and johns. She also seemed to dig deep into her own psyche for the scenes of Bree talking with her psychiatrist, played by fellow Actors Studio member Vivian Nathan. Their scenes together were improvised, and are among the most riveting in the film. But Fonda's insecurity sometimes got the best of her, and she told director Alan J. Pakula that she was wrong for the role and that he should replace her with Faye Dunaway. Pakula was patient, and Fonda later expressed her gratitude to him for helping her to trust her instincts.
The atmosphere on the Klute set didn't help Fonda's nerves. Many crew members did not share her outspoken antiwar opinions and support of the Black Panthers, and were openly hostile. On one occasion, when she had made negative remarks about the Nixon administration, Fonda arrived on set to find that the crew had hung a large American flag. Her costar Donald Sutherland shared her views, however, and the two began an affair. After the film wrapped, he joined her touring in an anti-Vietnam war stage show called F.T.A. (which stood for "F**k the Army," or euphemistically, "Free the Army") and appeared with her in a documentary about the F.T.A. tour.
For Klute, the reviews were mixed. The New Yorker's Pauline Kael had kind words: "Reminiscent of the good detective mysteries of the 40s -- it has the lurking figures, the withheld information, the standard gimmick of getting the heroine to go off alone so she can be menaced." Roger Greenspun of the New York Times found it less effective. "The actual intentions of Klute are not all that easy to spot, though I think they have more to do with its intellectual aspirations than with its thriller plot." But Fonda's performance received nearly unanimous raves. Jay Cocks of Time magazine wrote that she "makes all the right choices, from the mechanics of her walk and her voice inflection to the penetration of the girl's raging psyche. It is a rare performance." According to Richard Schickel in Life magazine, "Jane Fonda has emerged as the finest actress of her generation with a mercurial, subtly shaded, altogether fascinating performance." Kael agreed. "Her performance is very pure, unadorned by 'acting'...she has somehow gotten onto a plane of acting at which even her closest closeup never reveals a false note...There isn't another young dramatic actress in American films who can touch her."
Many observers believed that Fonda's radical activism had cost her an Oscar for 1969's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Maggie Smith won for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). During the 1971 awards season, Fonda was showered with nominations for Klute. She won a Golden Globe and sent a Vietnam veteran to pick up the award in her place, a move that earned her criticism for politicizing the event. Fonda recalled in her memoir, My Life So Farthat as the Oscars approached, she struggled with how she should accept the award if she won, trying to decide whether she should reference the controversy over her political views. She asked her father what he thought. "'Tell 'em there's a lot to say, but tonight isn't the time,' was his recommendation -- and the moment I heard it I knew he was right." Her acceptance speech was brief and to the point, almost verbatim what Henry Fonda had suggested, with an added, simple "Thank you" at the end.
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Producer: Alan J. Pakula
Screenplay: Andy K. Lewis and Dave Lewis
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Editor: Carl Lerner
Costume Design: Ann Roth
Art Direction: George Jenkins
Music: Michael Small
Principal Cast: Jane Fonda (Bree Daniel), Donald Sutherland (John Klute), Charles Cioffi (Peter Cable), Roy Scheider (Frank Ligourin), Dorothy Tristan (Arlyn Page), Rita Gam (Trina), Nathan George (Trask), Vivian Nathan (Psychiatrist), Morris Strassberg (Mr. Goldfarb)
114 minutes
by Margarita Landazuri
"Jane Fonda's motor runs a little fast. As an actress, she has a special kind of smartness that takes the form of speed; she's always a little ahead of everybody, and this quicker beat--this quicker responsiveness--makes her more exciting to watch. This quality works to great advantage in her full-scale, definitive portrait of a call girl in Klute. It's a good, big role for her, and she disappears into Bree, the call girl, so totally that her performance is very pure--unadorned by "acting." As with her defiantly self-destructive Gloria in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, she never stands outside Bree, she gives herself over to the role, and yet she isn't lost in it--she's fully in control, and her means are extraordinarily economical. She has somehow got to a plane of acting at which even the closest closeup never reveals a false thought and, seen on the movie streets a block away, she's Bree, not Jane Fonda, walking toward us.
"The center of the movie is the study of the temperament and the drives of this intelligent, tough high-bracket call girl who wants to quit.... Though there have been countless movie prostitutes, this is perhaps the first major attempt to transform modern clinical understanding into human understanding and dramatic meaning. The conception may owe some debt to the Anna Karina whore in My Life to Live, but Bree is a much more ambivalent character. She's maternal and provocative with her customers, confident and contemptuously cool; she's a different girl alone--huddled in bed in her disorderly room. The suspense plot involves the ways in which prostitutes attract the forces that destroy them. Bree's knowledge that as a prostitute she has nowhere to go but down and her mixed-up efforts to escape make her one of the strongest feminine characters to reach the screen. It's hard to remember that this is the same actress who was the wide-eyed, bare-bottomed Barbarella and the anxious blond bride in Period of Adjustment and the brittle, skittish girl in the broad-brimmed hat of The Chapman Report; I wish Jane Fonda could divide herself in two, so we could have new movies with that naughty-innocent comedienne as well as with this brilliant, no-nonsense dramatic actress. Her Gloria invited comparison with Bette Davis in her great days, but the character of Gloria lacked softer tones, shading, variety. Her Bree transcends the comparison; there isn't another young dramatic actress in American films who can touch her...."
Pauline Kael
The New Yorker, July 3, 1971
Deeper Into Movies, p. 280-81
Working on her character from the outside in, Fonda collaborated with costume designer Ann Roth to perfect Bree's look. Much of it was based on Fonda's own style: the midi skirts, high boots, chunky jewelry, tight sweaters worn without a bra, and the leather-trimmed trench coat all became iconic looks that were copied by '70s fashionistas. So was the shag haircut, created by a hairdresser in New York's Lower East Side.
For Bree's inner self, the Method-trained Fonda researched her part by talking to New York call girls. That research helped shape her burgeoning feminism as she learned about the violence prostitutes often endured from their pimps and johns. She also seemed to dig deep into her own psyche for the scenes of Bree talking with her psychiatrist, played by fellow Actors Studio member Vivian Nathan. Their scenes together were improvised, and are among the most riveting in the film. But Fonda's insecurity sometimes got the best of her, and she told director Alan J. Pakula that she was wrong for the role and that he should replace her with Faye Dunaway. Pakula was patient, and Fonda later expressed her gratitude to him for helping her to trust her instincts.
The atmosphere on the Klute set didn't help Fonda's nerves. Many crew members did not share her outspoken antiwar opinions and support of the Black Panthers, and were openly hostile. On one occasion, when she had made negative remarks about the Nixon administration, Fonda arrived on set to find that the crew had hung a large American flag. Her costar Donald Sutherland shared her views, however, and the two began an affair. After the film wrapped, he joined her touring in an anti-Vietnam war stage show called F.T.A. (which stood for "F**k the Army," or euphemistically, "Free the Army") and appeared with her in a documentary about the F.T.A. tour.
For Klute, the reviews were mixed. The New Yorker's Pauline Kael had kind words: "Reminiscent of the good detective mysteries of the 40s -- it has the lurking figures, the withheld information, the standard gimmick of getting the heroine to go off alone so she can be menaced." Roger Greenspun of the New York Times found it less effective. "The actual intentions of Klute are not all that easy to spot, though I think they have more to do with its intellectual aspirations than with its thriller plot." But Fonda's performance received nearly unanimous raves. Jay Cocks of Time magazine wrote that she "makes all the right choices, from the mechanics of her walk and her voice inflection to the penetration of the girl's raging psyche. It is a rare performance." According to Richard Schickel in Life magazine, "Jane Fonda has emerged as the finest actress of her generation with a mercurial, subtly shaded, altogether fascinating performance." Kael agreed. "Her performance is very pure, unadorned by 'acting'...she has somehow gotten onto a plane of acting at which even her closest closeup never reveals a false note...There isn't another young dramatic actress in American films who can touch her."
Many observers believed that Fonda's radical activism had cost her an Oscar for 1969's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Maggie Smith won for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). During the 1971 awards season, Fonda was showered with nominations for Klute. She won a Golden Globe and sent a Vietnam veteran to pick up the award in her place, a move that earned her criticism for politicizing the event. Fonda recalled in her memoir, My Life So Farthat as the Oscars approached, she struggled with how she should accept the award if she won, trying to decide whether she should reference the controversy over her political views. She asked her father what he thought. "'Tell 'em there's a lot to say, but tonight isn't the time,' was his recommendation -- and the moment I heard it I knew he was right." Her acceptance speech was brief and to the point, almost verbatim what Henry Fonda had suggested, with an added, simple "Thank you" at the end.
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Producer: Alan J. Pakula
Screenplay: Andy K. Lewis and Dave Lewis
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Editor: Carl Lerner
Costume Design: Ann Roth
Art Direction: George Jenkins
Music: Michael Small
Principal Cast: Jane Fonda (Bree Daniel), Donald Sutherland (John Klute), Charles Cioffi (Peter Cable), Roy Scheider (Frank Ligourin), Dorothy Tristan (Arlyn Page), Rita Gam (Trina), Nathan George (Trask), Vivian Nathan (Psychiatrist), Morris Strassberg (Mr. Goldfarb)
114 minutes
by Margarita Landazuri
Pauline Kael
"The center of the movie is the study of the temperament and the drives of this intelligent, tough high-bracket call girl who wants to quit.... Though there have been countless movie prostitutes, this is perhaps the first major attempt to transform modern clinical understanding into human understanding and dramatic meaning. The conception may owe some debt to the Anna Karina whore in My Life to Live, but Bree is a much more ambivalent character. She's maternal and provocative with her customers, confident and contemptuously cool; she's a different girl alone--huddled in bed in her disorderly room. The suspense plot involves the ways in which prostitutes attract the forces that destroy them. Bree's knowledge that as a prostitute she has nowhere to go but down and her mixed-up efforts to escape make her one of the strongest feminine characters to reach the screen. It's hard to remember that this is the same actress who was the wide-eyed, bare-bottomed Barbarella and the anxious blond bride in Period of Adjustment and the brittle, skittish girl in the broad-brimmed hat of The Chapman Report; I wish Jane Fonda could divide herself in two, so we could have new movies with that naughty-innocent comedienne as well as with this brilliant, no-nonsense dramatic actress. Her Gloria invited comparison with Bette Davis in her great days, but the character of Gloria lacked softer tones, shading, variety. Her Bree transcends the comparison; there isn't another young dramatic actress in American films who can touch her...."
Pauline Kael
The New Yorker, July 3, 1971
Deeper Into Movies, p. 280-81
About Me
- INTERSECTIONS
- A collection of writings and quotes about masterful, classic, and enchanting female film performances.
...from 1928 to 1992...
Preface
Links to Performances
JANE FONDA IN “KLUTE” (1971)
Standard
By Scott Ross
Movies (and men) often locate women within an unfortunate bifurcation: Madonna or Whore. Klute‘s Bree Daniels is perhaps the ultimate hooker role — sharp, intelligent, cool, and, however frightened she is by the unknown stalker who may or may not be threatening her life, in control.
Jane Fonda’s acting is so spontaneous it almost seems to be observed by a documentary camera, but you’re never in doubt that she knows exactly what she’s doing. And it’s as powerful now as it was when Klute was new.
Fonda’s performance is one of the finest, of any kind, ever committed to film. No, I’ll go further: It is, bar none, the single greatest movie performance by an American actor in the past 45 years.
Text copyright 2013 by Scott Ross
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