The biographical film Capote (based on real story, 2005) with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote and Catherine Keener as Nelle Harper Lee takes place in Holocomb (Kansas) in November 1959 until 1966. Truman Capote, the writer of “Breakfast at tiffany’s”, gets attracted by an article in the New York Times about the barbarous homicide of the Clutters, a farmer family. He get’s “The New Yorker” to order him to write an article about the murder. He starts doing research in Kansas together with a friend he knows since his childhood: Harper Lee, who’s writing her novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” (dt. Wer die Nachtigall stört) at this time. Initially Capote’s intending to interview all of the persons who were in touch with the victims, but his arrival isn’t attracting the positive kind of attention he’d like to get. Alvin Dewey, chief detective on the homicide at Kansas Bureau of Investigation declines the interview first, but Dewey’s wife, who likes Capotes books, can convince him to invite Capote and Lee. He also speaks to the friend of Nancy (one of the victims, a 16 year old girl), Laura, the one who found the bodies of the family. Nobody seems to know about the murderers when Dewey’s wife tells him that they suspect two men who paid with stolen paychecks, but managed to escape. As the relationship between Capote and Dewey is warming up more and more, Dewey shows photos of the suspecteds to Capote. Finally the murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock get caught and arrested in Las Vegas. The process is being held and the two are condemned to be hanged in several week. Capote, who started having appointments with Perry, helps the murderers to get a proper lawyer to appeal the case as the first one told them to not say anything except confessing the homicide. At the same time he informs his boss that he’ll expand his story to a full book. With this decision he also wants to prove his thesis that a non-fictional book can be as interesting as a fictional one. He’s only getting the layer to gain time in interviewing Perry and Hickock. In the next years he keeps seeing Perry and interviewing him, except a year he’s spending off in Spain and Morocco to write the first parts of his book. During the time he develops a good relationship to Perry.
Perry refuses to tell him about the night when he and Hickock killed the Clutters, which is angering Capote. But finally he gets him to tell everything. As Lee publishes her book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, which points out to be a best seller, Capote is unable to finish his book without a proper ending which is annoying him. So as Perry is asking him to find a new lawyer to appeal again he declines because he wants to finish his book. So as the last appeal is rejected he comes to talk a last time to Perry. He asks him to watch him being hanged. Capote get depressions after watching this horrifying scene (which is exactly shown in the film) and complains that he was unable to do anything. Lee responds that he wasn’t unable to safe them but not willing to do so. The film ends with a black screen with the phrase “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones” which refers to Capotes inner wish to get a proper ending no matter how. The film is absolutely a pladoyer against death penalty as you get to know Perry, not as a murderer but as a human with a bad childhood. This thing is attracting Capote because he himself hadn’t had the best one as his mother left him several times.
A special aspect of the film was the style overall. As I did some “just-for-fun-films” myself, I know that it is much easier to create deep emotions with the help of some film music. Most films use this powerful instrument pretty much and noticeable. In this film the music is pretty reduced and not noticeable most of the time. I guess most of the emotions are created by the photographer who is underexposing the film by several aperture units nearly all the time. This creates the dark atmosphere which is letting the film appear kind of depressing. The film is pretty conservatively made as there are not many special effects or stunts. Although the film was made in 2005 it appears older, at least to me. The film seemed really natural to me.
A thing I really liked was the last sentence “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones”. It is really, really true I think. In everybody, really everybody of us is this little piece of Capote who is egoistic enough to stop at nothing to reach his goals, not caring about the consequences at all. And all of us are sometimes wishing friends to just stop annoying us, especially when we are mad at them. As Capote isn’t searching a lawyer for Perry we won’t help these people in some situations, although we know what the consequences could be like. Of course we would regret these wishes if really something bad happens to this person, just as Capote does although he’s not willing to confess that Perry’s death is his fault. Of course he knows that Perry’s death was his fault. And that he even wished it. I think he get’s his depression from knowing that he wished Perry to be dead, that he could have helped him if he wanted to. So the problem is not the actual death, but that he feels kind of responsible for it. We all are annoyed by our friends sometimes. And we might wish them to just stop annoying us. But if really something bad would happen to them we would badly regret that wish of course. If nothing happens…well we might just forget about it and be friends again. So to me this phrase is a great, true one. A phrase that get’s you thinking about it for some time.
To be honest I have to admit that I wasn’t that happy about my film when I first looked at the case. And I actually wouldn’t have bought this film if I saw it in some store. But I kind of liked it. Yes, it’s not the genre I would usually watch but it was absolutely not a bad film. It was very interesting, although I had to watch the beginning several times because I thought I wouldn’t get it. Well actually you just have to watch more of the film to understand it. The film is not the kind of film you would watch before going to bed, it’s a complicated one, a demanding one in which you have to watch everything carefully to understand all of it. I liked that you get a different view of the murderers as usually. Like here they are drawn as humans, not monsters. That you get to know why they killed the family. Of course there’s not really an excuse, but you get to understand the motives of them. As I already mentioned, I wouldn’t recommend it if you are searching for a film to watch to relax. Therefore you should choose a more simple film which is not demanding you to really think to understand it. I would recommend it to all of you who are willing to take some time to watch this film. You might have to watch it more than one time to understand it. You have to think to understand it. But it is worth it. You gain an valuable insight of Capotes and the murderers psychology. (1288 words) JL
Well JL has said all the main points about this movie so there is nothing really to add to it. You really have to pay attention to the plot otherwise you don't know what is going on. I don't know if it is sad to see these two men being hanged when you consider their childhood but on the other hand they killed a whole family. The only thing I can say for shore is that the way how Capote acts is something that reflects on us. Even though he builds up something like friendship, he uses their story to write a book about it and make money. And in the end he succeeded, the book became a bestseller and was the best he ever wrote. This shows us how egoistic we humans can be if it comes to money or power. We don't care who suffers under it as long as we personally profit from it. Apart from this I liked the movie it gets you thinking and like JL said there are not many special effects or dramatic music and this is what makes the movie good. It is reality and not some kind of made up story. You get to see the different perspective of the murderers and that they do feel guilty about what they did. I also like the sentence JL mentioned “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones” it makes you think about others in this world who don't get any attention. But I wouldn't compare the relationship between Capote and Perry with a friend and myself because I didn't become friends with him because he killed a family and I am not selling his life story to the public. I'd give the film 7 out of 10
The biographical film Capote (based on real story, 2005) with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote and Catherine Keener as Nelle Harper Lee takes place in Holocomb (Kansas) in November 1959 until 1966.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote, the writer of “Breakfast at tiffany’s”, gets attracted by an article in the New York Times about the barbarous homicide of the Clutters, a farmer family. He get’s “The New Yorker” to order him to write an article about the murder. He starts doing research in Kansas together with a friend he knows since his childhood: Harper Lee, who’s writing her novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” (dt. Wer die Nachtigall stört) at this time. Initially Capote’s intending to interview all of the persons who were in touch with the victims, but his arrival isn’t attracting the positive kind of attention he’d like to get. Alvin Dewey, chief detective on the homicide at Kansas Bureau of Investigation declines the interview first, but Dewey’s wife, who likes Capotes books, can convince him to invite Capote and Lee. He also speaks to the friend of Nancy (one of the victims, a 16 year old girl), Laura, the one who found the bodies of the family. Nobody seems to know about the murderers when Dewey’s wife tells him that they suspect two men who paid with stolen paychecks, but managed to escape. As the relationship between Capote and Dewey is warming up more and more, Dewey shows photos of the suspecteds to Capote. Finally the murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock get caught and arrested in Las Vegas. The process is being held and the two are condemned to be hanged in several week. Capote, who started having appointments with Perry, helps the murderers to get a proper lawyer to appeal the case as the first one told them to not say anything except confessing the homicide. At the same time he informs his boss that he’ll expand his story to a full book. With this decision he also wants to prove his thesis that a non-fictional book can be as interesting as a fictional one. He’s only getting the layer to gain time in interviewing Perry and Hickock. In the next years he keeps seeing Perry and interviewing him, except a year he’s spending off in Spain and Morocco to write the first parts of his book. During the time he develops a good relationship to Perry.
Perry refuses to tell him about the night when he and Hickock killed the Clutters, which is angering Capote. But finally he gets him to tell everything. As Lee publishes her book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, which points out to be a best seller, Capote is unable to finish his book without a proper ending which is annoying him. So as Perry is asking him to find a new lawyer to appeal again he declines because he wants to finish his book. So as the last appeal is rejected he comes to talk a last time to Perry. He asks him to watch him being hanged. Capote get depressions after watching this horrifying scene (which is exactly shown in the film) and complains that he was unable to do anything. Lee responds that he wasn’t unable to safe them but not willing to do so. The film ends with a black screen with the phrase “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones” which refers to Capotes inner wish to get a proper ending no matter how. The film is absolutely a pladoyer against death penalty as you get to know Perry, not as a murderer but as a human with a bad childhood. This thing is attracting Capote because he himself hadn’t had the best one as his mother left him several times.
ReplyDeleteA special aspect of the film was the style overall. As I did some “just-for-fun-films” myself, I know that it is much easier to create deep emotions with the help of some film music. Most films use this powerful instrument pretty much and noticeable. In this film the music is pretty reduced and not noticeable most of the time. I guess most of the emotions are created by the photographer who is underexposing the film by several aperture units nearly all the time. This creates the dark atmosphere which is letting the film appear kind of depressing. The film is pretty conservatively made as there are not many special effects or stunts. Although the film was made in 2005 it appears older, at least to me. The film seemed really natural to me.
A thing I really liked was the last sentence “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones”. It is really, really true I think. In everybody, really everybody of us is this little piece of Capote who is egoistic enough to stop at nothing to reach his goals, not caring about the consequences at all. And all of us are sometimes wishing friends to just stop annoying us, especially when we are mad at them. As Capote isn’t searching a lawyer for Perry we won’t help these people in some situations, although we know what the consequences could be like. Of course we would regret these wishes if really something bad happens to this person, just as Capote does although he’s not willing to confess that Perry’s death is his fault. Of course he knows that Perry’s death was his fault. And that he even wished it. I think he get’s his depression from knowing that he wished Perry to be dead, that he could have helped him if he wanted to. So the problem is not the actual death, but that he feels kind of responsible for it. We all are annoyed by our friends sometimes. And we might wish them to just stop annoying us. But if really something bad would happen to them we would badly regret that wish of course. If nothing happens…well we might just forget about it and be friends again. So to me this phrase is a great, true one. A phrase that get’s you thinking about it for some time.
To be honest I have to admit that I wasn’t that happy about my film when I first looked at the case. And I actually wouldn’t have bought this film if I saw it in some store. But I kind of liked it. Yes, it’s not the genre I would usually watch but it was absolutely not a bad film. It was very interesting, although I had to watch the beginning several times because I thought I wouldn’t get it. Well actually you just have to watch more of the film to understand it. The film is not the kind of film you would watch before going to bed, it’s a complicated one, a demanding one in which you have to watch everything carefully to understand all of it. I liked that you get a different view of the murderers as usually. Like here they are drawn as humans, not monsters. That you get to know why they killed the family. Of course there’s not really an excuse, but you get to understand the motives of them. As I already mentioned, I wouldn’t recommend it if you are searching for a film to watch to relax. Therefore you should choose a more simple film which is not demanding you to really think to understand it. I would recommend it to all of you who are willing to take some time to watch this film. You might have to watch it more than one time to understand it. You have to think to understand it. But it is worth it. You gain an valuable insight of Capotes and the murderers psychology.
ReplyDelete(1288 words)
JL
Well JL has said all the main points about this movie so there is nothing really to add to it. You really have to pay attention to the plot otherwise you don't know what is going on. I don't know if it is sad to see these two men being hanged when you consider their childhood but on the other hand they killed a whole family. The only thing I can say for shore is that the way how Capote acts is something that reflects on us. Even though he builds up something like friendship, he uses their story to write a book about it and make money.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the end he succeeded, the book became a bestseller and was the best he ever wrote. This shows us how egoistic we humans can be if it comes to money or power. We don't care who suffers under it as long as we personally profit from it.
Apart from this I liked the movie it gets you thinking and like JL said there are not many special effects or dramatic music and this is what makes the movie good. It is reality and not some kind of made up story. You get to see the different perspective of the murderers and that they do feel guilty about what they did.
I also like the sentence JL mentioned “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones” it makes you think about others in this world who don't get any attention. But I wouldn't compare the relationship between Capote and Perry with a friend and myself because I didn't become friends with him because he killed a family and I am not selling his life story to the public. I'd give the film 7 out of 10
HL