Capote
Directed by Bennett Miller
- crime
- drama
The story
A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".
What it’s like
Cool, desaturated interiors and the muted greens and browns of rural Kansas, shot with patient, composed framing that lets people sit in their rooms and hold a look a beat too long. Light is mostly flat daylight through windows, lamplight in dim parlours, and the bleak grey of prairie towns and prison corridors; the camera stays mostly still, with slow pushes and carefully staged two-shots that make a conversation feel like a negotiation. The score is sparse and restrained, with hushed piano and long stretches of room tone, so silence carries as much weight as dialogue. Its vibe is quietly unsettling and literary, a slow, intelligent unease that suits a rainy afternoon or a late evening with the lights low. The pacing is deliberate, and the emotional register is cool and observant, following a brilliant, vain writer whose fascination with a crime gradually becomes entanglement. Violence is off-screen or brief and matter-of-fact, with a murder and its aftermath depicted without gore and an overall sense of dread rather than shock, though some scenes of execution and grief are heavy. It suits viewers who want character-driven true-crime drama, the craft of writing and journalism, and an adult, talky film about moral compromise.
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