Klute is a story about many things, though the most of it is certainly not the character of John Klute. He feels fairly aloof to the main struggle of the protagonist. Jane Fonda brings a wobbly confidence to her portrayal of soft hearted and unassuming prostitute Bree Daniels. Moments of extreme exposure; like unexpected sex scenes, her opening up to her therapist, and her nudity in her first appearance of the film are contrasted with her generally being closed off to others, and especially herself. You get the sense that she might not know why she does what she does consciously, and that the purpose of the story is for her to figure that out. She does discuss her feelings, but that is merely her interpretation. The level of fakery she has when trying to act a certain way to people and her relatable struggles make for a very compelling character. It speaks volumes to see things like her running to her friends and other comforts, with the screen covered in colorful lights, as if trying to run to safety. Later, she’ll sit in an uncomfortable silence, with pondering or a misplaced sense of control on her face.
At the time, you would expect a sex worker to be depicted poorly, but Bree is given lots of humanity in her relatable struggles and likable demeanor, while also showing an ability to figure people out in such a way that she can get ahead. Bree’s paranoia seems to serve the purpose of humanizing her and to say that men who treat her badly are to blame for why people like her have such a hard life. That being said, another interpretation the film might be claiming is that doing this profession is the problem. Elements like the stress the plot puts on Bree and prostitution promoting “junkies” and violence could make you think the movie is anti-sex work. Her manipulative tactics could be seen as communicating, “This is why the job is bad, prostitutes lie to you!”
The inciting incident, Klute investigating a disappearance, largely takes a backseat to Bree’s story. It gives the impression that there’s supposed to be some parallel between Bree, who we ultimately learn a lot about, often literally because of confessions to her therapist, and Klute, who we learn very little about. Such a parallel doesn’t come naturally to the mind, with you having to dig into the film to pull out meaning, possibly so much where we’re taking large leaps to “figure out” the point. What may be being suggested if you take the anti-sex work interpretation is that such a lifestyle will lead to these sorts of troubles with law enforcement and those that find it embarrassing to be with a prostitute. Taking a view that the message is pro-sex work is at least acceptable as it’s how some survive, finding a parallel gets tricky.
The worlds of Klute and Bree are often filmed in darkness, as if they share feelings of insecurity and exclusion. Bree of course knows that others will be with her and either feel ashamed or hope others don’t find out about her. However, it is possible Bree wants to be known. She says she likes her job, as it gives her a sense of control and that she’s the “best actress in the world”. Based on that profession, it’d be for the best if she was well known to the point that people wanted her above others. She is shown at one point finding comfort in the arms of her pimp, as if striving for affection from someone that indirectly gives her money and even more affection. Klute on the other hand has a practiced neutrality, showing little emotion as that’s his job. He is sometimes shown to be incompetent, which might weigh on him or suggest he was once worse before mostly becoming stoic. How he feels about himself is not much said. The connection the two leads have in the pro-sex work interpretation is that one has a very official and legal job and the other is ignored or sometimes harmed by the law. The story is partially about both those extremes coming together and bonding.
Why does this story have to be a murder mystery? The movie noticeably changes gears when it gets into a scene of just detective work that doesn’t relate to Bree. The point seems to be to elaborate on Bree’s paranoia. She apparently often fears being watched. That’s all well and good, but Klute drives the mystery scenes, leaving Bree to feel pushed to the side. Ideally the inciting incident and plot movers could relate more to the main character, like if for whatever reason she was driven to be more actively involved or we only saw scenes from her perspective or that she was in. Arguably those scenes serve to characterize Klute, whose role does prove important, but he could still be shown in ways that also relate to Bree. He is someone that can be determined to get his way, another way he mirrors Bree. His lack of personality brings out many of Bree’s personality traits. Her desire to best him, someone apparently dignified and all business, tells us a lot about Bree, her need to feel important and desired.
SPOILERS
Bree thinking tracking down her old friend Arlyn Page is impossible, only for her and Klute to essentially partake in the same scene multiple times of them talking to people about her is fairly ridiculous, especially when they find her and are very disrespectful for no reason. More scenes of Bree with that old friend may have added a new layer to the story, but it’s understandable such a thing may not have been important. Talking about her more with her therapist would have done a lot to make Arlyn feel like she’s adding something to the story of Bree, not just of the mystery. Considering Klute’s colder demeanor, this demonstrates a way where Bree is becoming more like Klute.
At the end, the character of Peter Cable, who recruited Klute to investigate the whole situation in the first place, turns out to be the killer. This character is rather bizarre. In the beginning, the case of the missing man is fruitless, and thus Cable is good to go. There is no reason for him to want to keep the case going. One interpretation is that he wants to have a stronger case for there being “no evidence” of the incident by getting a detective to say as much, with Klute only getting the information in part from his romance with Bree driving him. That may be true, but in practice this is merely a contrivance so you expect the culprit less. Would anything change for the worse if the wife of the victim hired Klute instead?
In the finale, Cable finds Bree and just tells her his whole character, as well as the point of the character. This is extremely on the nose, introducing a litany of questions. Why would he be telling her all this information about who he killed and why? While it makes sense he doesn’t think it will matter as he’s going to kill her, there is little to suggest why he would share these supposed deep insecurities. While Bree’s conversations with her therapist are written as if she has a lack of confidence in herself or what she’s believing, Cable merely says everything straight. He hates feeling like this and he blames her and he will just directly tell her that. Why not have more subtlety on the matter instead of explaining it to the audience? It’s also obvious that the scene will end with him trying to kill her, so much of this is time wasting. Instead of showing a recording of him killing Arlyn, why not have him say that he did it to shave off the time? The ultimate murder attempt of Bree is unbelievably silly, with extremely quick cuts that force us to the end. We had previously seen Klute struggling to find Bree, but now he’s right there. Cable falls out the window, as if the film needs the most overly dramatic method possible of ending him. Why would we even have the scene of Klute arguing with someone over the phone to get info on Bree, couldn’t that have been replaced with something like him quickly finding a clue of her whereabouts? Despite how slow the movie is, this is all ungodly sudden.
Another one of the weaker scenes of the film is when Klute attacks Bree’s pimp. This would only serve to distance him from Bree and he hasn’t been shown to be this much of a hothead. This is in turn not resolved, though Bree does lose trust in Klute. Another weak moment is Bree’s discussion about feeling love to her therapist. It is written and performed so clunkily. It admittedly would be difficult to essentially describe love, but Bree’s proclamations about finding love so foreign and not knowing how she could feel this way lack the vulnerability you’d expect her to have about saying this, with her lines almost emotionless. It also doesn’t match the nature of the romance we’ve seen, which is questionable. While it is underdeveloped, that probably is for the best. If you look at their entanglement as not real, but just Bree trying to get to someone that is “hard to get”, it makes sense that she might feel for him, as he’s a challenge for her. If we take the romance as trying to be a real relationship, barely anything even happens to show why they like each other. Essentially no reason is given for Klute to want to sleep with Bree. There’s also not much of a clear sign of its fakeness, which gives the impression this might not be the authorial intention.
In the last scene of the movie, Bree is unwilling to start a real relationship with Klute or possibly even make significant changes to her life, showcasing that while he did push her in the direction of change in her life, she really has a long way to go. However, the idea that Klute and Bree dating is what is changing her perspective in life asks for us to see more of their romance, especially because in practice he isn’t behaving differently than anyone else that just wants things from her. What makes him different is that he needs something from her without seeming to open up to it. Sure, he will have sex with her, but he won’t act like she will satisfy him or is getting anything from it. What would Bree see in him if not a challenge? Thus, why would she discuss him like he’s there for her, remaining when she’s been a mess, when we haven’t seen him be there for her outside of trying to get his job done? Even them in bed together seems to be more about him doing it for the sake of getting her to give more support in the case. This is the biggest fault with the film, it needs to pick if Klute is aloof and uncaring, only caring about work or if he’s emotionally invested, someone who will fight a pimp he thinks is bad for Bree or try to form a real connection that could make for a long term relationship. Klute still has importance due to exposing her to a type of man and a situation that is asking her to reflect on what she is doing with her life, as opposed to him being special and the person who will bring Bree a better life or escape from her trauma. Thus, it makes sense the solution she sees is to just move away, a simple solution that does create a big change, but leaves many other things alone. The seeds are still planted for more, like the new people she will meet, wherein various interactions will leave impressions on her that will shape her over time, which can give her healing and clarity.
OVERVIEW
If this movie was the same, except the lead role was done poorly, the movie would not be good. However, Jane Fonda really delivers a compelling performance as a woman broken and unsure of how to fix herself or if it’s worth it to do so. The story is really about her journey. Thus, it makes sense this movie is called Klute, because his purpose is to facilitate the start of her journey and her change. No one else had as strong of an effect on her in these events. While the writing of the title character is mixed and a bit inconsistent, it is solid enough to communicate the point of the story, about a call girl lost in the world.
ON THE CORNER AND OFF THE WALL
Shamefully, after watching this movie I wrote down Donald Sutherland’s name in my notes as Donald Pleasence. I feel vindicated due to my friend calling him Kiefer Sutherland.
The Filme Diary 