Search - Capote / In Cold Blood on DVD

A Cold-Blooded Capote

John F. Rooney | 07/21/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Capote" (2005) is a brilliantly conceived and rendered movie with Philip Seymour Hoffman superb as Capote. Catherine Keener is novelist Harper Lee, Clifton Collins, Jr. is marvelous as killer Perry Smith, and Chris Cooper is Alvin Dewey, the chief investigator for The Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Occasionally Seymour can be faulted for excessive mimicry in his portrayal. The movie deals with the crucial part of Capote's life when he was researching his great non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood."
The movie starts with the vast open wheat fields and the Sunday morning discovery of Nancy Clutter's body by her girlfriend. When Capote shows up in the small Kansas town, a bit too much is made of Capote's flamboyant dress by the filmmakers; people weren't that primordial even in rural Kansas.
The movie shows the incredible access and trust he gained from everyone involved as he investigated the killing of the Clutters. It is not a flattering or favorable picture of Capote but rather a searing portrait of a self-absorbed and selfish writer who prized his book above the life of Perry Smith, a man who came to probably love him. Hickock and Smith were monsters of one sort, but Capote is pictured as being a monster of another sort. The movie makes short shrift of Hickock because Capote had less access to him.
We see views of Capote at New York cocktail parties entertaining his fellow guests, showing off, being vain, and petty and later flippant when he is recounting the gory details. Truman's relationship with his boyfriend is strained by his single-mindedness and callousness toward the condemned men.
The movie cuts back in forth between Capote in Kansas investigating and his periods in Manhattan writing or party-going. During the five and one half years of this case he was an obsessed man working on his greatest work.
Harper Lee, his friend, and herself author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" came to realize how selfish and cold-blooded he was in his pursuit of the story. This movie could have also been called "In Cold Blood" but referring to Truman rather than to the brutal murders. His desperate need for the story drives him to heartless acts and the brutal manipulation of Perry. Truman says to Harper about Perry, "He's a goldmine. When I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe." Later Truman says, "There was nothing I could do to save them," and Lee says, "You didn't want to save them."
Perry, anxiously awaiting the appeals, presses Truman to tell him the title of his book, but Truman prevaricates because he knows the title will upset Perry. Capote is unscrupulous, will do anything, hoodwink anyone to get his story. The crucial last piece he needs is the actual description of the murders by Perry.
At the very end of the film Truman's human emotions get the best of him. It's a brilliant piece of movie-making. See my review of "In Cold Blood" elsewhere on Amazon.
"

Capote - In Cold Blood

Michael T. Barden | Portland, ME | 04/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought the inclusion of the original movie with the movie about Capote himself was a nice touch and greatly appreciated..."

How are there no reviews for this wonderful package yet?

T. Nagle | Arden, NY United States | 07/14/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back when I was a senior in high school, I remember watching both of these films, and though In Cold Blood is the superior picture, they were both worthwhile of a movie collection. Soon enough, I got my laptop (which has a Blu-Ray drive in it with a HDMI output), and when this got released, it was on the Marketplace for cheap ($20!!!!).

Both films are based on the same crime/story. In Cold Blood is the story Truman Capote wrote about two killers who killed a family in Kansas (Robert Blake is one of the murderers in the movie in a ironic musing), go on the lam because of it, and then get the death penalty when they were caught. Capote was the movie that featured Phillip Seymour Hoffman in a prized role as the title character who interviews the men of the murders in prison and is therefore forever changed because of it.

This double-feature is not bonus-feature laden at all, as Capote has a port of all its bonus features from the DVD while In Cold Blood has nothing, just like its original DVD release. Though there are BD-Live features, I would assume there is not much to them. In that sense, it is forgiven because both movies are so strong on their own, plus you could consider Capote as a companion piece to In Cold Blood. .

Now, onto the price. I do think the price is a little steep, but if you can find it cheaper (like 25 to 30), and if you love the BD format, then go ahead and get this. The picture quality is good, the sound is good, and the movies do not appear to be "touched up" to look great on this format. This package from me gets a two-thumbs up!"