Capote (dir. Bennett Miller)
An interesting exploration of writers, and of how far they are prepared to go in pursuit of a story.
This is a quiet but superb film. I’ve always admired Philip Seymour Hoffman as an actor, and he excels here in his portrayal of Truman Capote. We follow Capote and Harper Lee as they follow the story of the murder of a whole family in Kansas, and the subsequent arrest of two men charged with the crime. Capote is drawn to one of the condemned men, Perry Smith, who is unusually articulate and artistic. It isn’t a flattering portrait of Capote: he seems self-obsessed, a deceiver, selfishly getting close to the men for the sake of his book. However, he does seem genuinely affected by them in the end, and you’re left wondering who manipulated who.
I enjoyed the film a lot, but a few minutes in to it Mr. Bsag pointed out that Capote sounds just like Cartman from South Park. For the rest of the film I experienced a kind of auditory version of one of those duck/rabbit visual illusions, and kept expecting Capote to say, “Screw you guys, I’m going home”. I’ve probably ruined it for you now, too, which would be a shame.
