#in cold blood

“Look at my bulldog!”, said Truman Capote.

1001Books - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.#553.

4/5.

In Cold Blood, 1967

Directed by Richard Brooks

Cinematography by Conrad Hall

Capote
Directed by Bennett Miller
Screenplay by Dan Futterman (based on the book by Gerald Clarke)
USA / Canada, 2005

Watched on 10th February 2014
First viewing

I must admit I’ve yet to read any of Truman Capote’s work, but I had seen the 1967 film of In Cold Blood, which gave me some idea of the background to the story presented in Capote. It’s a fascinating, eminently watchable film with a beautifully subtle central performance by the sorely-missed Philip Seymour Hoffman. We see Capote’s flamboyant public persona, but also a more troubled, introspective private life – and the conflict between his personal attachment and concern for the murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock versus his need for In Cold Blood to end with their execution. It’s a film that lingers, and has certainly persuaded me to read Capote’s books.