Klute is Alan Pakula’s most fully realized film and one of the highlights of American cinema of the 1970s.
While folding as a thriller, it is essentially a portrait of brooding urban paranoia, centering on the lifestyle of a upscale prostitute who wishes to become an actress, torn by crisis and confusion of sexual identity.
With the assistance of great team and crew, Pakula created an atmosphere of visual claustrophobia, even in the movie’s outdoor scenes.
The film offered Jane Fonda the best role of her career, which deservedly earned her the first of two Best Actress Oscars (the other being the1978 post-war melodrama, Ciming Home, directed by Hal Ashby in 1978.
Oscar Nominations: 2
Actress: Jane Fonda
Story and Screenplay (Original): Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis
Oscar Awards: 1
Actress
Oscar Context
In 1971, Jane Fonda won her first Best Actress Oscar in a contest that included:
Julie Christie in “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” Glenda Jackson in “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” Vanessa Redgrave in “Mary, Queen of Scots, and Janet Suzman in “Nicholas and Alexandra.”
The Screenplay Oscar went to vet writer Paddy Chayefsky for “The Hospital.”
See our full review of Klute.
