ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

MOST BIOGRAPHICAL FILMS make the mistake of trying to cover too much territory. ‘Capote’ focuses on just six years in the life of author Truman Capote. The period covers the writing of ‘In Cold Blood’, the masterpiece that cemented his reputation but also sowed the seeds of his subsequent decline and fall.

It is a spellbinding portrait of a tortured artist at a crossroads in his life, with a brilliant performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman that has earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

The film begins in 1959 with a murder case that shocked America. Four members of the same family were found murdered at their farm in Kansas. Two suspects were arrested in Las Vegas.

Capote decided that the case would be the perfect subject for a book. He hoped to pioneer a new genre in which non-fiction would be written with all the skill and literary flair of a novel.

Riding the burgeoning celebrity that stemmed from the success of ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’, he charmed his way into the lives of everyone central to the case, drawing dangerously close to suspect Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr).

A sombre, beautifully observed drama, Capote doesn’t glorify or condemn its subject. Hoffman captures all the fey mannerisms and idiosyncratic speech patterns of Capote, but he also emphasises the humanity of a man who could be selfish and self-destructive whilst also seemingly incredibly vulnerable.

Fellow Oscar nominee Catherine Keener also contributes a memorable performance as Capote’s loyal friend Harper Lee, the author of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’.

The result is a film of such power and fascination that it makes you see Truman Capote in a different way and leaves you eager to read his writing with fresh eyes. Highly recommended.

General release, selected cinemas
Director: Bennett Miller
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr, Chris Cooper, Bob Balaban
Screenwriter: Dan Futterman, based on the book by Gerald Clarke
Certificate: 15
Running time: 114 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2005

© Allan Hunter, 2006