IMPRESSIONS OF "CAPOTE"

I usually hate bio-pics. Hate the feeling of spending $10 and 2 hours in order to have the ultimate assessment: “Wow, that was a reasonable if not entirely persuasive impersonation of the actual (and much more compelling) human being. Nice.” Also, you always get distracted by the acrid whiff of Oscar ambition associated with stupid human trick of adopting a famous person’s speech and mannerisms. But this one was really quite good; A compassionate but devastating portrait of monstrous narcissism. The cinematography was spare and stunning; particularly the shots of the rural Kansas landscape. Beyond the tics and mannerisms, Phillip Seymour Hoffman did a good job of portraying a psyche trapped in the cycles of relentless egotism and self-pity. And the supporting performances were uniformly excellent —particularly the Sheriff (Chris Cooper), Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) and the murderer Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.). There is a striking moment when, after repeatedly misleading Smith about his efforts to find him an appeal’s lawyer, Truman, shamed into an execution day visit, sobs to the condemned man: “I did everything I could. I swear. I did everything I could.” While at face value this is a galling untruth, you get the feeling that the tears are in recognition of the sense it which it was the truth. Given the conflict between his pressing self-interest (for the men to be executed so the book could have an ending) and his desire to keep Smith (a man with whom he had a strange identification) alive, he had done the only thing he, given his literary ambition, could do: Namely, nothing. They are, in short, tears of tragic self-knowledge. Interestingly, as alluded to above, I didn't feel like Capote was being portrayed simply as a monster but rather as an instance (albeit an extreme one) of the ways we're all trapped within our particular limitations and contradictions. The film seemed to be saying "Ecce Homo" (behold mankind, not behind the homo--although he was, indeed, one heck of a homo.).

The one real downside of the movie is extended exposure to Capote’s high pitched wilting lisp. It’s creepily infectious and disturbingly imitable and, upon exiting the cinema, you may find yourself adopting it to the acute dismay of your friends and family. Or at least I did.

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Posted on 12/5/2005 ( Permanent Link )
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