CAPOTE (2005)
CAPOTE follows gay author Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) during the six-year period in which he was researching and writing his 1966 true crime novel, “In Cold Blood.”
CAPOTE
2005. USA.
Director: Bennett Miller
Screenplay: Dan Futterman
Based on: “Capote” by Gerald Clarke
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Bruce Greenwood, Mark Pellegrino, Amy Ryan & Chris Cooper
Capote travels to a rural Kansas town in 1959, accompanied by his childhood best friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), who would go on to write the Pulitzer Prize winning novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He is researching a story for The New Yorker about a family who had been murdered by two drifters, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino). Once the two men are apprehended, Capote begins speaking with Perry and realizes that the story would make a very successful novel. As time goes on, Capote begins to have feelings for Perry and identify with the man’s troubled past. He also begins to feel guilty for profiting off of the situation – especially since he’s waiting for the men to be executed so he can have an ending for his novel.
Many mainstream films around this time, and before, had a tendency to keep a character’s queerness ambiguous – or wouldn’t link them romantically on screen with anyone. CAPOTE doesn’t shy away from the author being gay, and though the issues of the time period are acknowledged, Capote doesn’t let outsider judgment affect his confidence. He also has the support of his life partner, author Jack Dunphy (Bruce Greenwood), who Capote was with for 36 years until his death in 1984.
Upon release, CAPOTE was a success at the box-office, earned critical acclaim, and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards - of which Philip Seymour Hoffman took home the “Best Actor” Oscar.
CAPOTE is streaming on Tubi and Criterion (Canada/USA), MGM+ (USA/UK) & Prime (Mexico), for rent/purchase through AppleTV, Amazon and Youtube, and also available on DVD/Blu-ray.
