On DVD (released 1971). R-Rated, 114 minutes.
Imagining Jane Fonda as a prostitute isn't hard for me to do. In Klute she portays Bree Daniel, a prostitute trying in vain to get away from 'the life' - she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her work. Given that this movie was released in 1971, she probably had to fit it in between firing on US troops in Vietnam.
Klute is a thriller with a side of pyschoanalysis. The plot centers around the disappearance of a business man and the private investigator's search for him. Bree is at the center of the case because she was beat up by a john 2 years prior and is suspected to have been receiving disturbing letters from him (unbeknownst to his family) over that same period. Fonda does good work portraying the instability and unevenness of her character; her sessions with her therapist were very revealing and well done. She keeps on 'hooking' in order to be in control and guarantee the intimacy; as she grows close to Klute she wants to destroy the relationship simply because she doesn't have control.
Imagining Jane Fonda as a prostitute isn't hard for me to do. In Klute she portays Bree Daniel, a prostitute trying in vain to get away from 'the life' - she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her work. Given that this movie was released in 1971, she probably had to fit it in between firing on US troops in Vietnam.
Klute is a thriller with a side of pyschoanalysis. The plot centers around the disappearance of a business man and the private investigator's search for him. Bree is at the center of the case because she was beat up by a john 2 years prior and is suspected to have been receiving disturbing letters from him (unbeknownst to his family) over that same period. Fonda does good work portraying the instability and unevenness of her character; her sessions with her therapist were very revealing and well done. She keeps on 'hooking' in order to be in control and guarantee the intimacy; as she grows close to Klute she wants to destroy the relationship simply because she doesn't have control.
The interaction of Klute, the country detective and honorable man, and the decadent and foolish Bree is well done. Themes explored include rural/urban life, sexual depravity, female intimacy issues, male susceptibility to sexual manipulation and drug use.
The director, Alan Pakula, makes good use of light and dark to accentuate the mood and give the viewer clues into Bree's state of mind. Throughout much of the picture you can only see parts of the actors faces.
1 comment:
I tend to be successful separating an actor's on-screen business with their off-screen shenanigans (Mel Gibson, George Clooney), but I have the most trouble with Jane Fonda. Her performance here is superb though - tough as nails, sensitive, strong, and alluring - a performance copied from Diane Keaton in Annie Hall to Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas - and everyone in between.
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