Capote

I was at March of the Penguins early last Fall when I saw the first preview. Philip Seymour Hoffman was not an actor who I liked or disliked but I respect him as a good character actor with a range of acting talents. The cinematography looked and the editing of the preview was suspenseful yet gripping. I was determined to see it opening day.

Well I never got to the theatre opening day nor did I make it there for two months of its New York city release. I was busy, it was the holidays, and I couldn't really find anyone particularly excited about seeing the film.

Wednessday my roomate saw the film and raved about the the cast, visual, the content the next morning. When I found myself getting jealous of her having seen I film I could have seen and have wanted to see for the past two months, I decided that I not only had to see this movie but I had to see it this weekend.

Over all I found Capote compelling. The pacing was fair and the dramatization of the historical figure and event seemed well portrayed.

At times, I found the movie mildly humorous on account of my own knowledge about certain details of the topic. For example, I knew that Capote read about the killings in the New York Times and there is a small segment in the film where Copote stares at the story and the page and cuts it out as if he knows that this story will change his life.

When such details were acted out by Hoffman to show the historical accuracy of the film I found inexplicibly humorous. Though the details that where implyed and acknowldged through in his acting were one of the movies greatest strengths.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman portrayed Capote as a effemmine man who spoke softly and was insecure about his abilty to evade the small town. Hoffman's gestures and mannerisms, the soft way he would tie a robe or button a coat, showed the flamboyant and socially questionable side of Capote. The script Capote and was prone to suffer from his own emotions and express details of his life in a way men at the time would not. I think that Hoffman's performance of Capote's storytelling gave a sense of akwardness and misplacement that was neccesary for the time and the content.

I would recommend this film. The cast was excellent overall. Visually it was beautiful to watch. It was entertaining and like Capotes book In Cold Blood, and interpretaion of the truth that was composited through various historical sources.