El pasado me condena

Despite the rough-edges reputation of Pakula, he always manages to give us some beautifully shot, almost fragile images. Like Fonda pondering an envelope full of money and a blank invoice while surrounded by clothing-store dummies; or Sutherland choosing apricots by feel; or even Roy Scheider's silent acknowledgement that he is being used. And Fonda's artless performance is so unbelieveable, I couldn't believe it was her.

Terrifically acted - everyone takes just the right tone. My only quibble about the movie is how the mystery is solved. It's much too abrupt given the meandering pace of the rest of the movie. But the plot means nothing in this surprisingly delicate character study.

This is without a doubt the most intensely atmospheric film I've ever seen, and certainly the best, tied perhaps only with Chinatown. Pakula's eye shows us the true grit and grime of the city that never sleeps. Klute was packaged as a suspense thriller, but it is so much more than that. It is also a character study (either of Bree herself, or the city itself). It is a love story. It is a study of urban stereotypes. And did I mention the music? The eerie scrapes, nervous marimba and fearsome humming will really creep you out, but the warm trumpets and delicate strings on the flipside are warm and enveloping. Anyway, back to the film. The slow scenes are equally crucial as the action scenes; the gorgeous sequence of Bree and John Klute shopping for oranges in the city market at night is a powerful statement that love can exist between opposites. Fonda's brilliantly improvised therapy scenes are explosive as they are heartrending. No actress, living or dead, can touch her. As the beautiful and confused Bree she is both vulnerable and in charge. The unraveling of her psyche is fascinating to watch, as is John Klute's repulsion and fascination with "the city folk". The final confrontation will disturb and haunt you for days. Bottom line, essential. No film will take you into its world quite like this one. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

"Klute" was a mixture of lone cop and private eye: a police officer who was hired privately to investigate somebody's disappearance… The trail led him deep into the world of New York call-girls, pimps and drug addicts… It was all shown, the vice, the degradation, but with intelligent compassion and honest humanity instead of the leer that so often sits on the face of the Seventies…

Although barely more talkative than "Dirty Harry," "Klute" emerged as a whole human being rather than as a robot programmed to shoot and hit…And as a high class hooker Bree Daniel, Jane Fonda achieved a characterization that has never been surpassed in all the abundant literature of tarts with hearts…

"Klute" was a modern, as honest and unflinching as any fanatic for realism could ask; yet it was never curious about sexuality, never needlessly violent, never brutal… And for complete, entertaining suspense, it was up there with the great ones: an enormous tribute to the producer-director Alan J. Pakula

Donald Sutherland plays John Klute, a small town private investigator, whose search for a missing man leads him to a high-priced New York City call-girl named Bree Daniels, played by Jane Fonda. Bree keeps thinking she hears noises and has the feeling someone is following her. This story element combined with spooky music conveys an air of mystery, a sense that an unseen character lurks in the background.

It's an interesting premise. But the story is thin, and the film's payoff at the end is disappointing. The weak story transfers responsibility of entertainment to the two lead characters: Klute and Bree. And with Sutherland's character so reticent and stoic, "Klute" turns out to be mostly a character study of the call-girl, and therefore a cinematic vehicle for Fonda.

Although I'm not convinced she deserved an academy award for her performance, she does do a fine job. But there just isn't that much else to this film. It is very, very slow. Scenes are long and drawn out. Stylistically, "Klute" reminds me of "The Conversation" (1974). The film also is vaguely similar in style to some of Dario Argento's "giallos", minus the horror element, and minus Argento's fantastic cinematography.

Most viewers like this film because of Fonda's performance. And that's certainly a valid criterion. Far fewer people recommend the film for its story or plot. If you are a Jane Fonda fan, "Klute" will be a real treat. If you are looking for a chilling mystery with lots of plot twists, you might want to look elsewhere.

The question Klute ultimately asks is can a high priced call girl from Manhattan find happiness with a small town private detective from Tuscarora, Pennsylvania? Of course it asks more than that and probes the human psyche quite a bit.

Though the title role of John Klute the detective is played by Donald Sutherland, the central character is Jane Fonda the call girl. Which begs the question why the film wasn't called Bree. It was her performance as Bree Daniels that got Jane her first Academy Award for Best Actress. That and sympathy from Hollywood for being an avowed member in good standing on Richard Nixon's enemies list.

Despite Nixon and his trashing of the Constitution, I never liked the idea of Jane Fonda broadcasting from Hanoi while our soldiers were fighting in Vietnam. That was taking anti-war protest way too far. But forgetting the politics she gives quite a performance as the psychologically deep and troubled call girl who has a stalker on her hands.

Sutherland as Klute is hired to trace the disappearance of business executive Robert Milli from the main corporate employer in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania. Apparently Milli was leading a double life, on business trips he'd hire call girls and had a tendency to get rough while frolicking. There's a note found threatening one of them and of course it's Jane Fonda.

Fonda is an aspiring actress and model who does this to pay the bills. It's given her quite a cynical attitude on life. It takes a while, but Sutherland kind of grows on her and when he solves the disappearance, he proves to be her benefactor.

Other performance to note are Roy Scheider as her pimp, Rita Gam as the brothel madam and Charles Cioffi the CEO of the company who hires Sutherland to find the missing Milli. Still it's Fonda who dominates the proceedings.

I'm still hoping that Peter Fonda gets a role that will land him an Oscar so we have a father-daughter-son parlay of Oscar winners in one family. Klute as a film has stood the test of time and hasn't aged a bit. It could easily be done today with those awful Seventies fashions replaced by today's.