Capote (2005)

Director:

Bennett Miller

Writers (WGA):

Dan Futterman (screenplay)
Gerald Clarke (book)

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Truman Capote (Hoffman), during his research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family, the writer develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers.

Plot Keywords:

Kansas | Writer | Truman Capote | Murder | Execution

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 44 wins & 43 nominations

Cast

Allie Mickelson	...	Laura Kinney
Kelci Stephenson	...	Nancy Clutter
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Truman Capote
Craig Archibald	...	Christopher
Bronwen Coleman	...	Barbara
Kate Shindle	...	Rose
David Wilson Barnes	...	Grayson
Michael J. Burg	...	Williams (as Michael J. Berg)
Catherine Keener	...	Nelle Harper Lee
Kwesi Ameyaw	...	Porter
Andrew Farago	...	Car Rental Agent
Ken Krotowich	...	Courthouse Guard
Chris Cooper	...	Alvin Dewey
R.D. Reid	...	Roy Church
Rob McLaughlin	...	Harold Nye (as Robert Mclaughlin)

Also Known As:

Капоте (Russia) [ru]
Capote (Brazil) [pt]
Capote (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Capote (Poland) [pl]
Capote (Germany) [de]
Truman Capote (Spain) [es]
Truman Capote (Greece) [el]
Truman Capote (France) [fr]
Truman Capote - A sangue freddo (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent images and brief strong language.

Runtime:

114 min | Canada:110 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:M | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Netherlands:16 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:R (certificate #41953) | France:U | Sweden:11 | Iceland:16 | Hungary:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

A-Line Pictures

Trivia:

Shot in 36 days.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In a scene Capote complains that he has been on the In Cold Blood case for four years. In the next scene he is invited to a party celebrating the movie version of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). But four years after the murders would have been late 1963, and four years after he met the murderers in January 1960 would have been at least 1964.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Laura Kinney: Hello? Nancy?

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2006 Glitter Awards (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

My Man Is Gone

In cold blood

Director Bennet Miller's "Capote" is a film that shows great intelligence in the way it captured the essence of Truman Capote, a man who achieved fame and notoriety with most of the fiction he wrote. This film concentrates in the period of his life in which he got obsessed by a notorious murder case of the fifties about the murder of a family in Kansas.

Dan Futterman has written the screen play based on the book by Gerald Clarke. The film is an account about the writing of the novel "In Cold Blood" that showed how the two young men who committed the heinous crime are caught, processed and hanged for their actions.

If you haven't watched the film, perhaps you would like to stop here.

When the film opens we get a vision of a lonely house in the distance. This being the Midwest, we are given a flat expanse devoid of elevations anywhere. The camera takes us to that lonely house as a young woman comes calling for her friend that lives in there. Not getting any response, she goes in to a room upstairs where she discovers her friend has been killed. The colors are dark, as is the tone of the film.

Truman Capote, who had been connected to the New Yorker magazine, sees the article in the N.Y. Times and gets interested. This case that shocked the country, at the time, shows a promise for the writer. The next time we meet him, he is in the small town in Kansas accompanied by his good friend and steadying influence, Nell Harper Lee, a writer.

By becoming friendly with the sheriff's wife, Mr. Capote gets a privilege by having access to the two murderers. Truman is clearly deeply affected by his relationship with Perry Smith, a handsome dark man who shows a lot of intensity. By gaining their trust, Capote is able to put together his best selling book "In Cold Blood", which will revolutionize American letters in the way the two criminals are portrayed.

Truman Capote, while pursuing the completion of his book, doesn't come clean to Perry Smith. In fact, when questioned about things he has learned, Capote gives evasive answers because he is not prepared to share with his main subject things that clearly should have been clarified from the start.

Watching the brilliant take of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote on the screen, brought to mind another great actor, Meryl Streep, who like Mr. Hoffman is a chameleon in the interpretation of a character. Mr. Hoffman is perfect as the writer because he has captured every mannerism and the speech inflection of Truman Capote. Catherine Keener is perfect as Nelle, the true friend and companion. Bruce Greenwood plays Truman Capote's companion Jack Dunphy. Chris Cooper is totally wasted as Sheriff Dewey.

Adam Kimmel excellent cinematography contributes to the atmosphere the director gave the film because of the use of muted colors in what appear to be the bleak winter of the Midwest.