Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32583 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-03
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Hindi, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bolstered by an Oscar-caliber performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role, Capote ranked highly among the best films of 2005. Written by actor/screenwriter Dan Futterman and based on selected chapters from the biography by Gerald Clarke, this mercilessly perceptive drama shows how Truman Capote brought about his own self-destruction in the course of writing In Cold Blood, the "nonfiction novel" that was immediately acclaimed as a literary milestone. After learning of brutal killings in rural Holcomb, Kansas, in November 1959, Capote gained the confidence of captured killers Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) in an effort to tell their story, but he ultimately sacrificed his soul in the process of writing his greatest book. Hoffman transcends mere mimicry to create an utterly authentic, psychologically tormented portrait of an insincere artist who was not above lying and manipulation to get what he needed. Bennett Miller's intimate direction focuses on the consequences of Capote's literary ambition, tempered by an equally fine performance by Catherine Keener as Harper Lee, Capote's friend and the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who served as Capote's quiet voice of conscience. Spanning the seven-year period between the Kansas murders and the publication of In Cold Blood in 1966, Capote reveals the many faces of a writer who grew too close to his subjects, losing his moral compass as they were fitted with a hangman's noose. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Bennett Miller's CAPOTE is a finely crafted biopic that recounts a historic chapter in American history and, in the process, captures the unravelling of a truly gifted mind. Starring an extraordinary Philip Seymour Hoffman as the legendary Truman Capote, the film concentrates on the seven-year period during which Capote wrote his groundbreaking non-fiction novel, IN COLD BLOOD. One morning in 1959, Capote learned of a horrific family killing in Holcomb, Kansas. With the intention of writing an article for the New Yorker, he travelled to the Midwest with his good friend Nell Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), who was about to publish her own masterwork, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Somehow, the soft-spoken, eccentric writer managed to earn the trust of local authorities most notably, reserved K.B.I. agent Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper). But when the two killers were caught and returned to Kansas to await trial, Capote began to form an intense emotional bond with one of them, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr). The pressure of this connection threatened to push an already fragile Capote into the darkest recesses of himself. His only hope was to finish the book that he was convinced would shock the nation and change the course of writing forever. Hoffman's tender portrayal of the writer is a remarkable achievement. He slips into the skin of Capote flawlessly, allowing viewers to experience Capote's inner turmoil for themselves. Keener and Cooper once again deliver compassionate performances. But it is Miller's overall vision, based on a script by Dan Futterman and beautifully realised by his technical collaborators (especially director of photography Adam Kimmel and production designer Jess Gonchor), that makes CAPOTE an Oscar-worthy production.

Customer Reviews

a captivating character study built on a rather dull story...
Though not a masterpiece, "Capote" is a profound and powerful movie, definitely a subtle and intense look at the complexities of human psyche. Using a linear, simple but vibrant style of storytelling, the movie focuses entirely on character development which makes it a brilliant CHARACTER STUDY made by Hollywood to come along in years.

Sometimes strong performances can carry an otherwise dull movie. This is one occasion where such a crutch is needed. The core of the movie is Philip Seymour Hoffman's impeccable and complicated portrayal of Truman Capote, famous & flamboyant yet controversial & contradictory American novelist. Hoffman's physical transformation, unique aura, effeminate gestures, and his colorful portrayal of on-the-spot mannerisms and amazing impersonation of real Capote is flawless.

The movie is about frustration, obsession for debilitating perfectionism, hidden pursuit of self-interest, duplicity, egocentricity and moral dilemmas of a self-tortured man. It tells how a single event was destined to eternally ruin a brilliant novelist's private as well as professional life, following his intimate but macabre fellowship with Perry Edward Smith, one of the 2 death row criminals convicted of 1959 Halcomb, Kansas murders.

The first 45 minutes is a real snoozer, slow-paced, boring, uninteresting, and unpromising. But as the story progresses, especially when the shady relationship between Capote and Smith begins to develop in an isolated cell, it becomes more and more gripping thereafter.

The most arduous struggle of the movie comes not from deciding to what degree Perry is guilty or not, but rather to what degree Truman is. Here is the the pivotal question: Is Truman really empathetic, emotional and humane person sincerely trying to help Perry alleviate his ordeal and save his dignity after the execution ; or is he just a pretender, an abusive viper and a pathological & opportunistic liar trying to cheat and manipulate Perry to get vital information about the real motives behind the killings in order to find a groovy ending to his most famous non-fiction novel, his literary masterpiece "In Cold Blood". The decision is yours...

Capote: "Perry and I grew up in the same house, and one day he went out the back door and I went out the front."
This brutally honest portrait of author Truman Capote, with its stunning photography (by Adam Kimmel) and Academy Award-winning acting, has been one of the most "decorated" films of 1995. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Oscar-winner as Best Actor, becomes Capote in this film--small, effete, and vulnerable, but also selfish, petulant, weak, and sometimes cruel. Catherine Keener, as Harper Lee, Capote's childhood friend, offers a stunning contrast to Hoffman's Capote. Tall, honest, and committed to keeping Capote focused, she grounds the film, while serving as Capote's research assistant during his investigation of the cold-blooded killings of four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959.

At the opening of the film, the clean, flat plains and unadorned farmhouse belonging to the victims form a visual contrast with Capote's frantic life in New York. A naive teenager's discovery of the murders, the savagery of the murders, and effects of the murders on the townspeople continue the contrasts between the harsh realities of local life and the esoteric lifestyle of Capote. When Perry Smith (sensitively played by Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Richard Eugene Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) are arrested, and Capote makes contact with Smith, the viewer suddenly sees Capote and Smith as similar--both lonely, sad, a bit shy, and sometimes frightened. As Perry Smith begins to confide in Capote, the similarities of their backgrounds and dysfunctional families become even more obvious.

Exceptionally opportunistic, Capote is also deeply affected by Smith, feeding him when his hunger strike leaves him close to death, but also borrowing Smith's personal journals for his research because "I don't want the world to see you as a monster." Sometimes abandoning Smith and Hickock for months at a time, Capote comes and goes in their lives, leaving Smith desperate at times, and causing Jack Dunphy, Capote's lover, to accuse Capote of using Smith. As the six years pass between the crime and the publication of In Cold Blood, Capote himself deteriorates from alcohol and drugs as inexorably as Smith and Hickock have done while awaiting execution.

The interactions between Hoffman, as Capote, and Collins, as Smith, lead to poignant scenes of great emotion--Capote dissembling when Smith wants to know the name of the book he is writing, Capote refusing to pay a visit to Smith until just before his execution, and Capote crying "I did everything I could," when clearly he did not. Intensely acted, sensitively directly, stunningly photographed, and hauntingly human, this memorable film takes a close, personal look at Capote and the man he fears may be his alter ego. Mary Whipple

Captivating you inside Capote's mind
I bought this film because of the rumoured fabulous acting by Philip Seymour Hoffman and I was not disappointed. In this seemingly quiet movie with little action and faded looking scenes, Hoffman gives a more than brilliant performance of Truman Capote.

For me, the attraction of Capote is not in the skin, not the outside but the inside of his mind, of his heart. The complicated emotions and motives that clash with every word he says to all the different people he said them to. Is he being sincere or is he being deceitful? Did he really care for the murderers? Or did he care more about his book? This movie inspires all these questions and more.