Caine took menace and ruthlessness, then built an amazing persona within the decaying backdrop of the north east. It is a phenomenal film that stands the test of time.
Notice the subtle gleam of sexual arousal in Ruth's eyes when Vucovich says "You're working for me now"... she knows what that means, and is already imagining having sex with him.
I LOVE this film.....however.....I can't ignore the MASSIVE plot hole in regards to the killing of the postman/hitman in her apartment and then just leaving to go confront Higgins. That corpse and its implications are never revisited, and to paraphrase Seinfeld, "That's a pretty big matzo rotting there".
I disagree. A more public shooting was easily covered up 9:35 by an agency already accustomed to "clean-up" when the mailman was successful early in the movie. More mailmen will come there or wherever unless they do something.
@arcanondrum6543 But the mailman wasn't from the agency...he was from Atwood. Condor would have to go to the notify the agency, which he did, through Higgins, and ask them to deal with it...and after his interactions with Higgins that looks like a closed door. It might even be in the company's best interest to not get involved. In fact, aside from Condor and Kathy, no one else even knows about it, except maybe Jourbet. And if he is convinced he can't be tracked through the dean mailman...hes gonna stay as far away as possible. She left for Vermont or whatever with a dead body in her apartment, seemingly not even concerned...what's she gonna do when she gets home? I mean, it's her response that's most puzzling....did she just assume it would be taken care of?
Kirk Douglas wrote... "This is the town where Cliff Robertson exposed David Begelman as a forger and a thief, with the net result that Begelman got a standing ovation at a Hollywood restaurant, while Robertson was blacklisted for four years. On the bad days, you think of what Tallulah Bankhead said: "Who do I have to fuck to get out of this business?""
Perhaps Higgins speaks reality...we just want it and don't really want to know how once the shit really hits the fan. It's great to have the noble cause during relative peace and prosperity (as shoppers are busy xmas shopping) but someone needs to be prepared for the worst. The Salvation Army is a poor substitute for national defense. Perhaps the media has been used to erode and weaken the nation. Perception is reality and much trust, belief in foundational ideals have been lost over the last century. The moral dilemma of what "should be" vs what is.
The authorial intention of the script exonerates Julian of any foul play-- but the moral ambiguity throughout, demonstrates that it's essentially irrelevant to Julian's character development, either way.
I liked the commentary. My major was PS, go ahead and 😂 My minor was linguistics😮. One Professor, my last mentor and very conservative (I am not)told me two things that I have never forgot:1. Your minor will become more interesting than your major .2.The only ethos of a state is the survival of the state.
I'm 76 years old and lived through the shit that OPEC put America through during the 70's. Cliff Robertson is exactly right. Thank God Trump had us energy independent for 4 years.
In The Movie Version, if it were up to me, he'd get acquitted for killing Leon James, The Bank would see the "transactions" that they did. Also wouldn't they have known the Car License Plate Number.
My brother told me that *"Klute"* is a political thriller, the first part of "The Paranoid Trilogy" with *"The Parallax View"* and *"All The President's Men,"* all three directed by Alan J Pakula.
and now The New York Times is an organ the corrupt swamp if it made today it would go unreported as Russian "Misinformation" by Anthony"wink and nod"Blinken as the company guy at the Times
Did this guy even watch it? He didnt "lose his temper" he pretended to act weird to escape Marcy. He wasn't this awkward guy who couldn't get laid...he just couldn't get laid THAT night. Obviously all of the women are throwing themselves at him.
Sounds like some interesting themes apparently in the book it was about drug trafficking instead of oil and even mentioned some of the MK ultra LSD testing the CIA was involved in but although that's true it seemed too far fetched for the film. I'm not sure about the term "paranoia" either that seems to imply an irrational fear like a "phobia" really he had a traumatic experience and is hypervigilant as a response I don't know why the woman would be inclined to be more trusting of society after meeting him either I would think it would add for her desire for isolation knowing things are worse than she even suspected also as you mentioned media has become so diluted with misinformation lack of clarity even when truth does surface it doesn't have the same effect anymore either so theoretically if the story is published or not some will doubt it and his credibility too likely. It does remind me of 1984 in the sense the ministry of truth was destroying and rewriting history constantly. I think that remark about scarcity at the end probably realistic also desperate people do desperate things and many are willing to look the other way and be willfully ignorant of the corruption too until of course it's them or people close to them being murdered.
A timeless classic, I even have the soundtrack on Vinyl! And the message of our institutions being corrupted from within is now more than ever reality as a corrupt Billionaire who attempted a Coup is AGAIN being allowed to run for President with the full backing of the Judicial and Legislative branches of a thoroughly compromised right wing party.
Now we know there are a dozen CIAs - they took Nixon out and operate 90% of media. But when I was early 20s had no idea what was going on? They no longer own the narrative and are being diminished daily. Follow the $$$$
Overall, brilliant, very pleasurable as a film buff to see you dig in. The one quibble I would have is with the Cliff Roberts and character and your categorization of him. To me what’s happening in the movie is there’s corruption peripheral to him that he’s not directly aware of. He’s not aware of anything. He’s somewhat inept or bureaucratic. He’s not the head of all the corruption or all the damage occurring even if that’s an element of his job.
the Deep State has existed for decades and seems more lethal than the "secret CIA " within the CIA portrayed in CONDOR film, with remarkable similarities , the Deep State is known but cont to thrive. scary stuff.
