Director: Bennett Miller
Screenwriter: Dan Futterman
Stars: Phillip Seymour Hoffmann, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper
Two great american artists:
Truman Capote was one of his times most important writers, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the most gifted actors of our time. Seeing as these two incredible individuals have a lot of visual similarities, it is only fitting that Hoffman got to portray the famous American writer in Bennet Miller's "Capote" from 2005; a portrayal for which he won an Oscar, a golden globe, a Screen Actor's Guild Award, a BAFTA, and pretty much everything else there is to win.
Truman Capote was one of his times most important writers, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the most gifted actors of our time. Seeing as these two incredible individuals have a lot of visual similarities, it is only fitting that Hoffman got to portray the famous American writer in Bennet Miller's "Capote" from 2005; a portrayal for which he won an Oscar, a golden globe, a Screen Actor's Guild Award, a BAFTA, and pretty much everything else there is to win.
A new perspective on murder:
Whereas most biopics tend to focus on a large portion of an individual's life, often times even several decades, "Capote" only spans over the couple of years during which Truman Capote did his research for his most famous Novel, "In Cold Blood". The book is based on the brutal murders of an Arkansas family that took place during the late 1940's, but instead of focusing on the actual killings, this film tells the story of how Capote developed a close relationship with one of the murderers during his writing process. This is a very bold approach in my opinion, because as we all know, the easiest thing would have been to tell a story about the brutality of the murderers and the following police investigation that led up to their capture. In this film however, we do not even witness the murderers flee or being captured, but instead get to witness how Capote went about depicting the events in his book. That ladies and gentlemen, is cool.
Whereas most biopics tend to focus on a large portion of an individual's life, often times even several decades, "Capote" only spans over the couple of years during which Truman Capote did his research for his most famous Novel, "In Cold Blood". The book is based on the brutal murders of an Arkansas family that took place during the late 1940's, but instead of focusing on the actual killings, this film tells the story of how Capote developed a close relationship with one of the murderers during his writing process. This is a very bold approach in my opinion, because as we all know, the easiest thing would have been to tell a story about the brutality of the murderers and the following police investigation that led up to their capture. In this film however, we do not even witness the murderers flee or being captured, but instead get to witness how Capote went about depicting the events in his book. That ladies and gentlemen, is cool.
The main dude:
One of the many impressive things about this movie is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Truman Capote, especially considering just how gay the famous writer was. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but he had a very distinctive, high pitch way of talking, as well as a very feminine and flamboyant way of carrying himself. I have not seen footage of the real life Capote, so whether or not Hoffmann got the impression right is not for me decide, but he certainly got the gay mannerisms down to a tee.
One of the many impressive things about this movie is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Truman Capote, especially considering just how gay the famous writer was. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but he had a very distinctive, high pitch way of talking, as well as a very feminine and flamboyant way of carrying himself. I have not seen footage of the real life Capote, so whether or not Hoffmann got the impression right is not for me decide, but he certainly got the gay mannerisms down to a tee.
Being the main character from whose perspective all the events in the film are seen from, the experiences and personal journey of Truman Capote is the main storyline in this movie. The actual events that take place are not as important as the ways in which Capote reacts to and deals with them, and as such, it is very unfortunate that the film tended to slip a little during these important scenes. Sure, the "Oh, he's an asshole!"-moments and the "Dude, he's really suffering right now..."-incidents are really convincing and individually strong, but it feels as if the things he goes through do not carry over to the following scenes. Things just kind of happen, Hoffman reacts in a striking way, but then in the next scene, he seems to have either forgotten about the event or disregarded it completely. It is entirely possible that this was done entirely on purpose in order to show how indecisive, bipolar, manipulative and egoistical Capote was, but to me, it just seemed a bit inconsistent and random at times.
The supporting dudes and dude'esses:
Even though they come second in line, Hoffman's conversations with the different supporting characters are all very well done and executed almost perfectly as well. Catherine Keener plays Nelle Harper Lee, another famous writer, who wrote How to Kill a Mockingbird at the same time as Capote did his research for In Cold Blood, and being a big fan of her novel and especially the following movie adaption, I found it very rewarding to watch all the small intertextual references to ”Mockingbird” during this movie. Bruce Greenwood, Mark Pellegrino and Chris Cooper were all very good as well, but the biggest surprise to me was how good Clifton Collins was at portraying the killer that Hoffman’s character develops the strongest emotional connection with. Their conversations were very heartfelt and emotionally convincing, and I found myself making this face during many of their shared scenes, simply because of how riveting both these actors' performances were.
Even though they come second in line, Hoffman's conversations with the different supporting characters are all very well done and executed almost perfectly as well. Catherine Keener plays Nelle Harper Lee, another famous writer, who wrote How to Kill a Mockingbird at the same time as Capote did his research for In Cold Blood, and being a big fan of her novel and especially the following movie adaption, I found it very rewarding to watch all the small intertextual references to ”Mockingbird” during this movie. Bruce Greenwood, Mark Pellegrino and Chris Cooper were all very good as well, but the biggest surprise to me was how good Clifton Collins was at portraying the killer that Hoffman’s character develops the strongest emotional connection with. Their conversations were very heartfelt and emotionally convincing, and I found myself making this face during many of their shared scenes, simply because of how riveting both these actors' performances were.
In conclusion:
All in all, Capote is a very good film with a lot of truly impressive character moments and emotional weight. It is a talking movie in every sense of the word however, so if you decide to watch it in hopes of getting to see the actual Clutter family murders and the ins and outs of the following police investigation, you are going to be in for one hell of a disappointment. The thematical elements are very well handled however, the acting is incredible across the board, the stand out being Philip Seymour Hoffman, and if you go into Capote with curiosity and an open mind, I am almost certain that you are going to enjoy it just as much as I did.
All in all, Capote is a very good film with a lot of truly impressive character moments and emotional weight. It is a talking movie in every sense of the word however, so if you decide to watch it in hopes of getting to see the actual Clutter family murders and the ins and outs of the following police investigation, you are going to be in for one hell of a disappointment. The thematical elements are very well handled however, the acting is incredible across the board, the stand out being Philip Seymour Hoffman, and if you go into Capote with curiosity and an open mind, I am almost certain that you are going to enjoy it just as much as I did.
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