Anyone else blown away by this film?
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Animal_Hospital — 20 years ago(June 04, 2005 03:17 PM)
Such a highly stylized film, yet so realistic and gritty. Pakula is unjustly overlooked as one of the quintessential directors of the 70s. He is the epitome of what made films good in that era - good writing and thorough work with actors, and, above all, seriousness about careful storytelling and creating the atmosphere. Visually, he is here as exciting as Kubrick, but not as shallow and more humane.
Although, All President's Men is my favourite.
I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. Possibly with dynamite. -
michael1951 — 20 years ago(April 05, 2005 02:58 PM)
I think this is Jane's most over-rated film and her most over-rated performance. As a "mystery-thriller,"
The Morning After
has a much better story; and as a "down and out" character Alex Sternbergen is incomparable. (Of course, in
The Morning After
Jane also had the advantage of Jeff Bridges as a co-star, though I admit that Donald Sutherland did put on some amusing skits when he joined Jane in
F.T.A.
).
Glenda Jackson deserved the Oscar for
Sunday Bloody Sunday
, except that she'd won the year before, so the Academy finally gave Jane an Oscar as a consolation prize for losing out to Maggie Smith two years earlier.
They Shoot Horses
is an incomparably better film than
Klute
, and Gloria is an incomparably better performance than Bree Daniel. Jane just had the misfortune that year of being in the running against one of the greatest performances in film history, Maggie Smith as Jean Brodie.
Jane should have had an Oscar nomination for
Cat Ballou
and should have beaten Julie Andrews that year for the Golden Globe. Had she not been up against Maggie Smith, the Oscar would rightly have been hers for
They Shoot Horses
.
Nothing against Diane Keaton, but Jane probably deserved an Oscar for
Julia
(though probably not against Vanessa Redgrave if Vanessa had also been Best-Actress nominated, as she should have been). I don't begrudge Jane her Oscar for
Coming Home
, though I don't consider it one of her greatest performances (but that's just judging Jane against herself). She
absolutely
should have had an Oscar for
On Golden Pond
, and her failure to win for
The Morning After
is one of the great lapses in Academy voting. She also should have had at least a nomination for
Agnes of God
, and either she or Anne Bancroft should have won for that movie.
So obviously I'm no Jane Fonda basher. Quite the contrary. As an actor, I place her in fact second only to Laurence Olivier. I just fail to see what everyone else seems to see in
Klute
. -
chconnol — 20 years ago(May 18, 2005 11:53 AM)
"Klute" GREAT film. Love watching it every single time.
Just one note: technically speaking, Fonda's character is Bree Daniel. That's the way it's listed in the credits AND in Fonda's autobiography, even SHE calls the character Bree Daniel.
Here's the thing: check out the final scene when she answers the phone on the floor. She clearly identifies herself as Bree Daniels. Weird. -
johnrobie — 20 years ago(July 17, 2005 11:57 PM)
I watched this wonderful film last night and, as with most great film sfrom the 70's (The French Connection, All the President's Men, Taxi Driver, Three Days of the Condor, Jaws) it just shows how poor so many modern movies are; Klute was a film for adults and the filmmakers assumed that their audience was intelligent and sophisticated.
Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland are both so superb, so naturalistic in their performances; they look and feel like real people, not movie stars. I was watching the filmas I finished off some work late last night and I had to just put down my things and watch it. The mood of the film just grips you; the long takes and superb cinematography of Gordon Willis (probably the most important cameraman of the 70's), the brilliant direction of Alan J. Paukla (who also made the equally superb Parallax View and the masterful All the President's Men); the whole film is superb.
I dunno, something has been lost in cinema in the last few decades. Everything now is so obviously commercial and crass. And usually about superheroes. As much as I love Spiderman 1 & 2 (And I do!), films like The Wedding Crashers and popcorn fluff like Stealth, I can't help but look at movies from the 70's like Klute and conclude that, sadly, films today are dumber. -
danastarbuck — 20 years ago(July 20, 2005 06:06 AM)
Hear,hear, nickh72.
I also watched this film the other night and I totally agree that they don't make films like this anymore.
Films generally before Jaws in 1976 treated the audience as adults and paced the films slowly so you really 'got' the atmosphere.
The creepy 'Parallax View' (when is this ever going to come out on DVD?!)is another case in point. A classic film, which slowly ties you in with the main character and never lets you off the hook.
After Jaws, it was big blockbusters with 'when is the next helicopter going to explode' moments to keep the punters happy.
Who is the current Gordon Willis of cinematography? -
jenjen21 — 20 years ago(July 18, 2005 04:52 AM)
I thought it was great. I agree with the original poster on everything they said. The use of darkness was used a lot in the film and added to the atmosphere and the performances were great.
"I'm the nicest goddamn dame that ever lived" - Bette Davis -
ohxmyxitzxkee — 20 years ago(July 22, 2005 04:58 PM)
i agree. this film definitely blew me away. i rented the film just to see why jane fonda won her oscar for and i found out. i was stunned by how the film turned out and jane's performance. this is surely one of jane's best performances. i loved the screenplay in the film. they were sexual but it worked for me. some quotes from the film is absolutely rememorable. jane fonda shines. i don't think i would've liked this film if jane fonda wasn't in it.
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ldparasito — 20 years ago(August 16, 2005 07:15 AM)
Watched it last night for the 1st time. What a great film it is. The relationship between Klute and Bree is the heart of the movie and it fascinated me. She is so interesting, helpless, sexy, lovely, neuroticI've seen a lot of films in my life but only a few make me FEEL something. This film is one of them.
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slabones — 19 years ago(April 14, 2006 04:04 PM)
Incredible movie!!
I read another post about movies from 1970-1975,
being a golden age of movies. It is so true. We
just don't get these kind of gritty, dark, sometimes
hopeless kind of films anymore. Look at the variety
and quality of some of my favorites from 1971.
In no particular order:
Klute
A Clockwork Orange
Harold & Maude
The Last Picture Show
Dirty Harry
Willy Wonka
The French Connection
Straw Dogs
Banannas
Omega Man
Vanishing Point
Carnal Knowledge
Get Carter
Andromeda Strain
The list is far from exhaustive, and that is just one year.
More than a few classics in that list. Great year
Hey! You can't fight in herethis is the war room!! -
joekiddlouischama — 19 years ago(July 13, 2006 10:44 AM)
Look at the variety
and quality of some of my favorites from 1971.
In no particular order:
Klute
A Clockwork Orange
Harold & Maude
The Last Picture Show
Dirty Harry
Willy Wonka
The French Connection
Straw Dogs
Banannas
Omega Man
Vanishing Point
Carnal Knowledge
Get Carter
Andromeda Strain
The list is far from exhaustive, and that is just one year.
More than a few classics in that list. Great year
Others:
The Beguiled
(Don Siegel, 1971)
Play Misty for Me
(Clint Eastwood, 1971)
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
(Melvin Van Peebles, 1971)
Shaft
(Gordon Parks, 1971)
Diamonds Are Forever
(Guy Hamilton, 1971) -
J_Malice — 19 years ago(April 16, 2006 02:25 AM)
I was. The way I found out about it was the documentary movie "Terror In The Aisles". I came here to look it up back in 2001 so I could see if it was the correct movie and yes, Sutherland, Fonda, it's the one. Couldn't find it in any video stores, so I guess it was just pure luck that it came on my digital cable system a few times. I looked at the TV guide and it said "Klute"; I nearly did a backflip because I was so interested in seeing it. I wasn't disappointed at all. Jane Fonda was so satisfyingly sexy as Bree and Sutherland had a way about him as he always does. I can't say anything good about this movie that hasn't already been said. Klute rules!!!
I've killed three people, but yet I don't consider myself a terrible man -
murray_johnc — 19 years ago(July 15, 2006 01:17 PM)
Yes, I was blown away when I first watched this movie in London Gngland. A true landmark film of the genre - head and shoulders above most of the early '70s fare. One thing puzzled me howeever, and you might be able to shed light on it. For such an excellant tight scipt, there shouldn't be any loose ends or creative cop outs in the plot, so here's my question. In the final 10 minutes, how was John Cable able to find Bree Daniels at Goldfarb's Garment Factory? Unless I was inattentive I don't recall any shot of John Cable following her there or finding a clue in Bree's address book, etc. Also, Klute only manages to get a forwarding number by pretending to be a policemen, so how did he trace it to the garment factory? Did reverse directories exist in 1971? Please leave a comment if you have time.
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L0GAN5 — 19 years ago(July 15, 2006 01:41 PM)
Klute is actually a policeman - just one that's out of his jurisdiction. As for Cable finding Bree, there are quite a few long range "tracking shots" of her throughtout the film so I think the inference is that Cable simply follows her to Goldfarbs.
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jspivack-2 — 19 years ago(November 28, 2006 11:29 AM)
murray johnc,
Yes, absolutely. Reverse directories such as the "Haynes Criss+Cross " and similar directories from other publishers have been around for many decades in the US, going back at least to the 1940's to my knowledge. These directories were available on a subscription basis, updated quarterly, and were used by debt collection agencies, direct marketers, police departments, and private investigators (like me). Many public libraries also had reverse directories available in the reference section. You could look up listings by name (last name first, of course), address (which would show all listed telephone numbers/names at a given address [useful for apartments]), and by telephone number. Detectives often referred to the reverse directories as "blue books" because of the blue pages on which they were printed, and even used "blue-book" as a verb, as in, "hey dispatch, can you blue-book a number for me"? These directories were published on a citywide basis, just like conventional phone books; but as a subscriber, you could call the publisher during normal business hours, and have them look up a number or address for you in a different city. Another interesting aspect of reverse directories is that because they obtained their data from the phone companies, non-published and unlisted numbers did not appear.
A similar product available during those halcyon days long before the Internet was the "city directory", which DID contain most non-published and unlisted telephone numbers, along with a virtual goldmine of information, including names all adult members (and sometimes even children) in the household, plus the occupation and employer of employed adults in the household. How did they get all this sensitive information? They asked for it! City Directory publishers sent armies of canvassers door to door, who either charmed or cajoled most people into willingly giving up all this very personal information, even those people who had actually paid an extra fee to the telephone company to have their number non-published or unlisted!
As to your main question, it's been a long time since I've seen "Klute", but I would speculate that after he got the forwarding number, he called a little known number available to phone company technicians (and wily investigators/detectives) called a "CNA" line. If you had the number, you would simply call it up, impersonate a telco employee, and ask the operator at the other end for a CNA (Customer Name and Address) for the number in question, e.g., "Hi, this is Jim Bob at frames. I need a CNA on 212-555-XXXX". You might occassionally be asked for an employee number (always a 5 digit number back in those days), and you could usually make one up and still get the information. The trick is that the operator didn't actually have a way of verifying your bona fides, she (always "she" back then) wanted to see if you would come back with it immediately or choke on your reply. The great thing about CNA lines is that they were always up to date.
In another classic movie of the era, "Three Days of the Condor", Robert Redford's character played the dialed number portion of a tape from a wiretap back to a semi-automated system to first decode the DTMF (touch tones) digits dialed, and then spoke to an operator to obtain the CNA. This system was operated not by the telephone company, but by "THE Company", the CIA.