Capote

"It's a scientific fact... For every year a person lives in Hollywood, they lose 2 points of their IQ"

Truman Capote invented the "nonfictional novel" in America and has often been portrayed as peculiar and extravagant, regularly on the front pages of

newspapers with pictures from the beau monde lavish parties. Being the author of the best-selling novels "Breakfast at Tiffany" and "In Cold Blood", his astonishing and flamboyant personality seems irresistible for screenwriters. One of them is Dan Futterman, who concentrates on a specific period of Truman's life to create his dramatic screenplay "Capote".

In the period of looking for ideas to develop, Dan Futterman is mostly interested in the inherent duplicity in the relationship between a journalist and a subject. While the journalist has a drive for a great story, there is also a genuine affection to the subject. For the subject, there is a conscious or unconscious desire to be portrayed in the best poss

ible light. The journalist, however, has more control and can manipulate the subject to get a sensational story.

Having read Gerald Clarke's biography of Truman Capote, Futterman recognizes the jeopardy of this dilemma in Truman's 6 year research of "In Cold Blood". It all starts with the horrific murder of a wealthy farmer family in Kansas, where 4 of the family members are bruta

lly killed. Truman cares more about the impact this crime has spread on the community, than the killers and whether or not they'll be caught. He goes there on a research

with his childhood friend Nell Lee Harper (author of "To Kill a Mockingbird"), with the drive and aspiration to write his best story which will gain him further critical acclaim and populari

ty in the writing circles.

Eventually, Capote meets the 2 murderers, and one of them absolutely fascinates him with his quiet, mystical drawing power. Perry Smith indeed is a tough criminal, but has also grown up as an outsider just like Truman. The journalist has a sudden need to understand his subject, to explore him further and find out the reasons that led to the shocking crime. Essentially, they both have similar artistic qualities, but one has succeeded in life and the other has reached the bottom. Truman's motivations for being involved with Perry are mixed- on the one hand there is a genuine caring for him, on the other hand is the purely mercenary interest.

Clifton Collins Jr. as Perry Smith and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote

What Futterman succeeds to build into his screenplay is the dramatic arch of a man's ambition winning out over the better part of himself. He knows that Truman will get to the final point, where he has the gripping story, the tribute and everything he's aimed for, but the events have changed him and he's innerly destroyed.

I find the character of Perry Smith very interesting to construct, making him sympathetic enough for the audience to get involved with his secrets and ostensibly calm

world. Just when we start to see him as a victim of Capote's game, in the last 10 min

utes of the screenplay we are soberly reminded that after all, he is a criminal and is condemned to death.

Both Futterman and the director Benner Miller are trying to present Truman's starting point of descending as an unintended consequence of himself- good motives turned bad, dangerous drives that people have. It begins with the public facade and peels back to the more disturbing reality behind the charisma. What particularly attracts me to this script is the almost invisible perspective that Capote was destined for great things and in the same time, destined for self-deconstruction. We are able to see beyond the flamboyant personality, in the dramatic image of this highly celebrated author.