A mixture of biography and historical drama, “Capote” focuses on one of the pivotal events in Truman Capote’s life; the research and writing of his novel In Cold Blood and the impact that it had on his art but, more importantly, on his life. When a farm family is murdered in a seemingly random act of violence in the state of Kansas Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman who deservedly picked up an Academy Award for his performance) convinces his publisher to send him to uncover what exactly happened. Taking along Harper Lee (played by Catherine Keener, Lee was the author of To Kill a Mockingbird) as his research assistant Capote finds people and a culture that won’t embrace him making his investigation difficult. Eventually Capote strikes up a friendship with FBI agent Alvin Dewey in charge of catching the killers (Academy Award winner Chris Cooper). Once the killers Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.)are caught Capote tries to find anyway possible to interview them for his story. He finds himself increasing drawn to Perry Smith a young, artistic individual who reminds Capote of a mirror image of himself. As Capote remarks, “it’s like we’re te same person…except I ran out the front door and he ran out the back door”. Increasingly Capote loses his objectivity and also risks alienating his friends as he is drawn increasingly into the orbit of the sensitive, intelligent Perry. Riveting with powerful performances intelligently written (by actor/writer Dan Futterman) and directed (by Bennett Miller) “Capote” won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s a complex portrait of one of America’s major writers at a turning point in his career.

Image & Sound:

An extremely nice transfer from Sony, “Capote” has stunning detail and perfectly captures the colors of the film. I was really surprised though at the dirt and specks evident in this transfer. It’s something I might have expected from a film 10 years old but nothing as recent or new as this film. It’s most noticeable in the shots of the flat farm land of Kansas where the horizon seems to stretch forever. The 5.1 mix makes minimal use of the format the music and dialogue dominating the film. Still there is some nice use of the surround channels for sound effects and background noise. ---

The two most prominent and important special features are the two commentary tracks. The first features director Miller and actor Hoffman. It’s a fairly low key affair with the duo focusing on the shooting of the film and performances. Hoffman doesn’t dwell too much on the technical aspects of his performance preferring to discuss the craft of acting of his co-stars. Miller does the honors again with director of photography Adam Kimmel. Miller and Kimmel focus on the visual aspect of the story and how it compliments both the performances and the story as well as providing interesting behind-the-scenes information. ***

”Truman Capote: Answered Prayers” uses interviews with Miller, Hoffman and Capote biographer Gerald Clarke (who wrote the book the film is based on) to portray the complex individual at the center of the story. It’s an interesting thumb nail sketch of a complex, talented individual who peaked very early in his career. We also get a short documentary divided into two parts on the making of the film. “Making Capote: Concept to Screen” focuses on the pre-production of the film and the development of the screenplay. “Making Capote: Defining a Style” the second half of the documentary focuses on the look of the film. We also get the usual assortment of Sony previews but, strangely, not the original theatrical trailer for “Capote”. ---

Final Words: