Movie Catch-Up #1: “Capote”

I’ve been a bit lax on film reviewing lately, so before I go up north again and in order to celebrate the new blog I bring you Movie Catch-Up Week, in which I see the movies of the day and post up reviews. First up: “Capote“, in which Philip Seymour Hoffman single-handedly wins the viewer over to an intensely dislikable character.

Minor spoiler warning (I generally try not to, but here it’s necessary) after the break.

Truman Capote’s book “In Cold Blood” is a modern masterpiece; a very well written, compellingly horrific account of the murder of a Kansas farming family in the aftermath of a botched robbery, by a pair of seriously screwed up career criminals. The film “Capote” is set around the writing of the book; from the point where Truman Capote spotted news of the killing in the New York Times to after the execution of the killers.

I like the book a lot – the way in which it manages to crystallise life in Holcomb in the first chapter is quite masterful, and the film does go some way into explaining how Capote managed it (with the aid of Harper Lee of To Kill A Mockingbird fame, his research assistant). Capote read the article, travelled to Holcomb, and generally hung around until people started to talk to him; and then, after the capture of the killers, made the mistake of getting involved with them.

Capote was a master manipulator, somewhat chameleonic, yet fragile; inviegling his way into the lives of the people of Holcomb, yet unsure of his reasons for doing so. He was, as such, an extraordinarily interesting character, possibly more so than the people who he wrote about; if very hard to warm to.

Not something that generally works on the silver screen. Capote must therefore work by bringing us the complete picture: showing us a full, three-dimensional Truman Capote, his successes and his much more major flaws, in order that the viewer can, eventually, find some form of sympathy for him; just like the sympathy he ended up having for the killers. The film would thus collapse completely if it wasn’t for Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote.

He completely absorbs the role, becoming Truman Capote, every tic and jibe and one-upped discussion. It is a masterpiece of acting and definitely deserved the Oscar, and it makes the film – despite ending as it does on a very ‘down’ note. The film is helped by fine cinematography, an excellent script and decent direction, but Hoffman is the reason to see the film and he doesn’t disappoint; his acting allowing us to see why Capote manipulated the way he did, and making the inevitable ending seem all the more affecting.

Basically, think of it as a real life Shakespearian tragedy, and you’re about there. A fine biopic of a flawed character – not something we see Hollywood do well at all.

Tomorrow, probably V for Vendetta: will Alan Moore be avenged, or proved wrong? All signs point to ‘maybe’.