somebody please explain the ending?
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jbowring — 20 years ago(June 03, 2005 06:31 AM)
I think Bree brought her (former) pimp into her apartment to piss off Sutherland's character. Then she lashed out with the scissors to further push him away - she was afraid of her feelings for him, yes. But the presence of the pimp was (to me) so obviously deliberate - she knew how Sutherland felt about him. She was trying to stick it to him, to conceal her real feelings for him. Just watched this for the first time last night! Terrific! Another question about the ending - we hear the voice over of her conversation with her analyst, but we're seeing her leave with the detective. I'm not so convinced she is being honest with her analyst: I think she leaves with Sutherland despite herself.
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alix_one — 20 years ago(June 03, 2005 08:56 AM)
I think that Bree THINKS that she is being honest at the moment when she talks to her analyst. Brees main problem is that she cannot make up her mind whether to lead a normal life "back in Cabbageville" or to keep on tricking.
So we see her leave with Klute but she knows herself well enough to admit that something stronger than her might drag her back into her old life.
On the other hand I am not quite convinced that Bree really leaves New York in order to live with John. After all that happened she aurely wants to get out of the city but does she really join him?
In the final scene in Brees appartement they dont look like a couple in love looking forward to spend time together. Bree seems to be impatient and kind of harsh, Johns looks are awkward and uneasy.
What do you think about that, jbowring? Id be glad to know your opinion. -
alix_one — 20 years ago(June 08, 2005 09:07 AM)
Thank you, rduke! I try to do my very best
By the way, I have often tried to figure out what Bree would do with her life. I mean, if she really left to start a relationship with Klute, what was she supposed to do all day long in rural Pennsylvania? Or what could be her future if she returned to NYC?
I have to admit that I dont see her as a loving wife or even as an actress. As a matter of fact, I cant think of anything she could really fill her empty life with. Does anyone of you have any idea? -
coldwind9 — 20 years ago(December 17, 2005 05:43 AM)
She leaves with Klute. They get married six months later. They have kids. Dabble with vegetarianism. Go to soccer practice, band rehearsal, and dance recitals. Buy Honda Civics, then Accords. She runs for City Council, is involved in PTO, joins a book club with her friends to unwind once a month. Writes for the local paper while she works on her novel. Takes cooking classes.
Just like the rest of us did. -
kathryn49 — 17 years ago(March 07, 2009 09:42 PM)
coldwind:
De to the Pressing. But I don't think so on the Hondas, Klute strikes me as a GM man, after all he was spotted in that god-awful wagon before the club scene.
"I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!" -The African Queen -
coldwind9 — 16 years ago(March 09, 2010 05:03 PM)
Kathryn
Depressing? That's a rich full life! Note the great dinner party in the beginninggotta be better than hanging out with all that horrible disco music blasting. As for GM, it was '71 you may have a point. -
jbowring — 20 years ago(June 13, 2005 09:09 AM)
I think I should view it again, that's what I think! hee. I hear what you're saying - I think Bree is unclear about what she really wants. She has some disturbing realizations, like witnessing what's become of her former friend, the woman with her partner who are waiting for their dealer in the slummy apaprtment. The look on her face when she leaves is not ambiguous at all, in that scene. I also think in the final scene, either after she's taken the phone call or while the phone is still ringing, she shrugs in a way that almost says "Well, what are you gonna do/what can I do? This is my life / was my life." Almost a "well, there you go" gesture. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this, but that's what I love about film - trying to get to the kernel of it. What do you think?
J. -
fiftyfootqueenie — 19 years ago(October 13, 2006 08:08 AM)
I like your version Cookie. Leaving behind a life like that doesn't mean you have to embrace its diametric opposite e.g - the bourgeoise suburban horror. Bree was a blood bohemian, a born outsider. As she says of the Life More Ordinary - 'I'd go mad.'
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lumberton_2000 — 19 years ago(April 06, 2006 10:22 AM)
"things were different in
the early 70's and this film proves it. "
Well, I'm certainly glad we've established that once and for all. Deep thoughts.
Does anyone really think she went off with Klute and lived happily ever after in "Cabbageville"? I understand the desire to feel some hope, but I find it very unlikely. Even if she quit hooking, she'd never be able to live in a place like that. And if she did, she'd have lived out the rest of her days in a valium haze, which is not much different from being a junkie.
Can you imagine Klute introducing her to the folks? Neither can I. -
thos-7 — 19 years ago(September 09, 2006 09:12 AM)
cool movie. i think they start driving west and just keep going, forget pennsylvania, all the way to san fransisco. she turns klute on to pot somewhere around iowa, and they end up following around the grateful dead for a few years. then she becomes a counselor to help out druggies and hookers and other types she can identify with in inner city SF.
anyone heard of the so called "klute syndrome"? supposed to be based on this film, but i can't find much about it. -
mizhu — 15 years ago(May 28, 2010 04:15 PM)
I saw Klute twice when it was first released, and both times, the audience had the same feeling at the end.
Bree left with Klute, but could never live her life in Cabbageville and would return to New York City for the faster life, even if she didn't go back to turning tricks.
Yes everyone thought she loved Klute too, but even that wasn't enough to keep her away from something closer to her former lifestyle. -
Danusha_Goska — 15 years ago(September 26, 2010 06:16 PM)
Two things:
1.) this is a movie. The movie wants us to believe that Bree and Klute DO leave together and that their love and tenderness toward each other IS enough to make their life work.
There are so many clues to this: the music playing at the end is the same mellow music that plays in their tender, sharing, loving, shopping for produce scene together.
He makes her come. She hasn't come with any other man, ever.
She tells her shrink that he has made everything in her life new.
So, in movie-world, yes, Klute and Bree make it.
2.) This film is a reflection of real life. Fonda's performance is so lifelike it's spooky. She plays Bree not just as a whore that's the least of her problems. She plays Bree as someone with a personality disorder. It's all there the massively self destructive behavior, to the point of hooking when she evidently doesn't have to - this is a smart, young, well educated, attractive woman.
Her personality is unstable. she careens from identity to identity.
She shuts people out rather than forming stable bonds.
She's a failed actress. that in itself is an entire head trip.
So, the Bree the film very convincingly depicts is NOT capable of a stable relationship.
so, the ending is a bit yellow brick road.
I really want Bree to overdose and for John to get together with a woman who deserves him.
Can you imagine life with Bree? It would get old very, very fast. No matter how much nipple she shows in her braless look and tight shirts.