On February 13, as a “comment,” post your response to the film Capote. Make your response a thoughtful two paragraphs. This will be your class journal, so also put a copy of your response in your journal document. Make in-depth comments (of at least three sentences) on at least three other entries from this class before February 15.
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anne f walker 
_Capote_ has really opened my eyes into really how much emotion was involved when Truman Capote was writing _In Cold Blood_. It really seems that Capote was torn between two different worlds in learning more and more about Perry and the crimes he committed. Capote had been waiting for a long time for an opportunity to do a book on something that would make him stand out amongst the crowd and writing this nonfiction depiction of a crime would do just that. However, throughout the process of learning about Dick and Perry along with their crime and trial, Capote becomes attached to Perry. I began to see how very close Capote really feels to Perry. They are both children of divorced parents and had some troubling times throughout their childhood. Having this in mind it was interesting to see how hard it was for Capote not to become too attached while still trying to draw information out of Perry. It seems that if he were not to continue seeking information, he would lose his one chance at writing a hit novel and only chance to show Perry in a different light. On the other hand, if he does continue to seek the information he wants, he becomes more attached to Perry and will be hit harder emotionally when the time comes for Perry to be hung.
Capote does continue to seek more information and once Perry opens up to his account of the Clutter murder, he has the material he needs to describe the murder in his book but the resolution has yet to play out. At this point in the movie we clearly see that the connection he has with Perry is having an impact on him. At one point Capote sits in his bed unwilling to move or answer calls even by Perry himself. He just wants to forget Perry and the whole case because he knows what is going to happen next and it will crush him. All Capote can do is wait for their deaths to come which will provide the resolution to his book. When their hanging date does arrive, it is possible to see how strong of a connection Capote had made with Perry. He begins to snivel after a short talk with the two just before stands by to watch the death of his newfound companion. In the final scene Capote looks over some of Perry’s belongings and we can infer that he still has Perry somewhere in his heart and mind, even after Perry’s existence has ended.
Do you think Capote’s reasoning for writing In Cold Blood was just for fame, or he was actually fascinated on the subject?
I believe it started out as an opportunity to become famous, but he got wrapped up with his connection to Perry and the case that it became an interest instead of a shot towards fame.
Interesting you’d point that out. While watching the movie it really did seem as though he was only doing the story at first for the fame. At the beginning of the movie he paid a black man to say that his book was great. This could show that he was trying to write something better than his last few books, and was using this as an opportunity to become more famous as you had said.
That is plausible as Capote seems like he just desperately wanted to try to get his name out there and become the famous writer we know him today. It also seems like he could also be desperate for some inspiration as he seems to have “block” when it comes to figuring out his next topic
I agree with Brian that the more Truman continues to investigate the case, the more he gets drawn into the severity of the crime.For Truman, he does not see the death of Perry and Dick as the end of his book. I believe the reason Truman does not write the conclusion of the book before Perry’s death is because he does not want to acknowledge that his friend is going to die. The emotional impact of Perry’s death is undoubtedly present in Truman as Perry’s death approaches and after Perry’s death.
I like how described the relationship between Perry and Capote. i think the reason they became so attached to each other is because they share in common. And Capote got business mixed up with pleasure and almost helped them avoid execution and Capote realized and stopped helping him.
Capote did mention he was meant to write this type of non-fiction novel and create a masterpiece, which he did.
His relationship with Perry was indeed incredibly strong and he was devastated when the end came for Perry. Even though he gave an excuse of not being able to finish the book while they were still alive, we know Capote knew what was their fate was going to be…
I agree with how similar Capote and Perry ended up appearing. It’s possible that Capote was portrayed as going through a slump himself (by ignoring Perry’s phone calls) because he realized how close he could have been to becoming what Perry was.
I like how you pointed out how similar Perry and Capote are and how Capote gets emotionally attached to Perry. When Capote got to the point that he felt that he was to attached to Perry he tried to break it off. Deep down inside I believe that Capote really thought that if he could save Perry, Perry could be like him.
I’m going to take the extreme position and say that Capote (at least as he is depicted in the film) cared only for his book. His ambitions were simply too high. However, when confronted by friends, and after the death of Perry, that quiet piece of his humanity slowly killed him with guilt. He was not torn until the end, when he had to decide between finding another lawyer and letting the two men die for his “marvelous” ending.
I found the perspective taken in this movie to be very interesting because it provided its audience with the background story of a novel in the making. Although it didn’t accurately portray the fine details we read of in the book, it was expected because seldom do movies turn out the way we picture them to be. For that reason I liked the movie because I wasn’t necessarily comparing it book the whole time. I thought the script suited the purpose of invoking the same emotions we felt for Perry especially, in the movie as well. Had the movie simply been an attempt to recreate the novel on screen, I don’t think it would have had the same effect “Capote” did.
Although I would not know if Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of Truman Capote was accurate, I thought his acting was expressive enough to convey the message of the story. It was interesting to see how Capote and Perry’s relationship developed, something I found the movie to do well. I liked how we got to know the man behind the book as we also got to see the mystery unfold. It was a connection I felt was needed to give closure to the “In Cold Blood” unit.
I also liked the fact that it didn’t really focus on the book as much and showed more of a connection with Perry and Capote. Do you believe that because of Capote’s connection with Perry, he wrote the book so the audience would connect to Perry as well?
Yeah, I’d also like to know your opinion/answer to the question. Personally, I think Capote wanted to learn more about Perry for that purpose specifically. I recall in the film where Capote states that if he didn’t get this information into the book, they would be viewed as “monsters” or as “monstrous people.” So, Capote’s connection with Perry to me wasn’t for the audiences’ connection to Perry, but so Capote and get the point that Dick and Perry were also human.
I think Capote’s purpose for writing the book at first was because he thought it would make an interesting story to go inside the minds of the criminal. I don’t actually think he was expecting the emotional trauma he experienced during the interrogation process and the deep connections he made. I think part of what made Capote such a great writer was his courage to put himself in a potentially compromising situation, combined with his talent for words.
The book was not the same as the movie, it has its own twist but the movie was good after all. It gave the audience a different perspective on the story and the details as well. I thought it was awkward how in the book Perry and Dick have a relationship and in the movie Perry and Capote developed a relationship based off the visits that Capote will make to Perry in jail.
I also liked the perspective in the movie and i dont know think that it was important to get all of the fine details of the book because it was only to portray what it took to get the book together
I agree that the movie didn’t really go into depth behind the story and was more of a representation of how the novel was written and how Capote was able to get information from Perry that even the detectives were unable to do. Perry was definitely represented in the same soft of way and gave the same emotions to the audience (whether it be reading the book or watching the movie) about his life and since Capote was able to relate to his rough life, he was able to connect with Perry.
I really enjoyed the fact that it showed us more of Perry’s personality, habits, and mannerisms which were hard to find in the book. It brought out the character very well and the relationship he had with Capote really showed what a person Perry was.
It is a very good point that movies rarely come out as the book is. It is a great point that we did get to see the man behind the book. It was nice seeing Capote and the making that went behind creating the novel. I think that you are right, that it did give closure to the unit on “In Cold Blood.” I think that you made some very good points.
I still would have liked it if it had at least taken the approach of reenacting some of the events from book then taking the Capote approach. It somewhat feels like if someone has never read the book, they would mostly see it as Capote’s show. There is a benefit there, as Capote bonds leaving a satisfying closure.
I think you should keep in mind, that this seems like one of those movies that is more character based. There is not a lot of speaking and when it is, it’s very quiet allowing more room for Hoffman to have us as the audience feel this bond and tug at us when Capote cannot help Perry anymore.
Everyone keep in mind that those elements might have been added by Capote, rather than extracted by Miller. I found it interesting the Susie Kidwell was entirely replaced by Laura Kinney (No idea why). In either case, let’s all remember that both the novel and this film are dramatizations; meant more to tell a compelling story than to tell the accurate truth. Let’s all remember that there is such a thing as “Poetic License.”
I still would have liked it if it had at least taken the approach of reenacting some of the events from book then taking the Capote approach. It somewhat feels like if someone has never read the book, they would mostly see it as Capote’s show. There is a benefit there, as Capote bonds leaving a satisfying closure.
The movie showed how strange a person Capote was. At first when the movie started his voice creped me out. It was high pitched and squeaky, by the end of the movie I was used to it. I noticed how concerned he was about his personal appearance to others, by paying a man, money to say something good about him in front of his friend. When Capote first met Perry he thought he was the person who was going to give him the details to a story that he wanted to write.
Once Capote got to know Perry he started to like him. Capote even paid the warden to see Perry whenever he wanted. The more Perry told Capote about his life the more Capote got attached to Perry. Capote was intrigued when Perry used a big word. Capote imagined that he and Perry could have grown up in the same house, but Capote went out of the front while Perry when out the back.
The attachment between Perry and Capote was strong. Capote even lied to Perry about making his book. Capote told Perry that it did not have a title and when Perry found out about the title Capote told him that it was not chosen by him. When Perry is sentenced to death Capote is emotionally distraught. Capote lies in bed and wont get up, and when he talks to Perry a few hours before the hanging Capote cries. Capote was so attached to this story he never wrote another book. Capote eventually died of alcoholism.
I agree, I was surprised when i hear Capote’s voice the first time in the movie. But then, I remember the type of person he is. Therefore, I did notice the way that Capote started to feel towards Perry. At first, I thought Capote has developed emotions for Dick but towards the middle he was all the time with Perry. I was surprised about Capote’s death an amazing writer ended up dying from drinking a lot after In Cold Blood.
In the movie, it was crucial that the actor that played Capote truly as how Truman was in real life. I do agree that, at first, Truman’s voice caught me off guard, but I found that his voice and quirky demeanor made him connect with his viewers. It is unquestionable that Truman is emotionally distraught after Perry’s death. I also find it curious that the movie and the book did not pay much attention to Dick.
Capotes’ voice also creep me out. When I heard him I was like, what that’s his voice? But yea, the book and the film are very different. I never thought Truman would get really attached to Perry, when he knew perfectly that he killed an entire family. Actually he did wrote more books, but he never finished them. But why would he never finished them?
The emphasis on Capote’s voice was a bit weird. And yes, at first they did portray him as a man who cared about what others thought of him, since even as a little boy they criticised him for his way of speaking. Why do you think Capote lied about making his book when he was very attached to Perry?
Many descriptive details about Holcomb and the Clutter family murders were presented gave the story a very “real” feel. When reading the book, I felt that the murders were only fictional; however, as I watched the movie, I got to really feel the atmosphere of the town and how the people were. We got to see the faces of the people, the house, and the people’s interactions with each other. The murders and the people became alive. I found it especially intriguing of how people responded to Truman’s inquiry of the Clutter murders and his questioning process. Over time, we see how the people of Holcomb and Perry accept Truman while he investigates the case. Truman’s investigation of the Clutter murder clearly shows that he has been deeply affected by the case. He even tells his editor that he cannot tell the entire case in one article and that it will do no justice to the people of the case.
The two parts of Truman’s life: his professional life and his social life, become intermingled as he personally connects with Perry. They both felt the loneliness that came from not having loving parents or the absence of them. Their deep connection changed how Truman sees the world, and his friendship with Perry was authentic. Truman tries to separate himself in order to protect himself and Perry; however, that does not prevent the devastation after Perry’s death which tears Truman apart.
I agree with you about Truman’s personal and professional life coming together due to this book. He became pretty close to many of the people in Holcomb and especially Perry. I wonder how hard it would be to be on both sides of the case? He seemed to want justice and not want it at the same time due to his close relationship with Perry.
The visual of Holcomb and the family was better to help actually visualize the happenings and the scenery. I also liked how Capote knew that just one article in the newspaper was not enough justice to the Clutter family. That was a very good point to bring up and I liked that he didn’t just put their story into one article like most reports did.
I still would have liked it if it had at least taken the approach of reenacting some of the events from book then taking the Capote approach. It somewhat feels like if someone has never read the book, they would mostly see it as Capote’s show mixed in with a little bit of In Cold Blood. There is a benefit there, as Capote bonds leaving a satisfying closure when it’s time for Perry to face his death.
The film Capote was an informative movie giving the viewer a background of Capote, instead of just following his book In Cold Blood. I also watched the movie In Cold Blood which was different from the book. Capote was centralized in the movie Capote, go figure, where the audience got to see the process Truman Capote went through while writing this book. His experiences could have affected how he wrote the book. For example, in his interview with Perry, Capote connected with Perry and pitied him. He felt for this man and this feeling in turn affected how he portrayed Perry in the book. As we read In Cold Blood, Capote seems to describe Perry and Perry’s past in great detail, emphasizing on his misfortune. The pity Capote felt for Perry came through in his writing when he explains Perry’s past and personality, this gives the reader more connection to Perry as well. However, in the recent film, called In Cold Blood, Perry wasn’t really separated from Dick. He was just seen as another killer, and the audience didn’t really get the same feel for Perry as they did when reading Capote’s writing.
Of course connecting with the killers isn’t really ethical, no one wants to be associated with someone who murdered four people without remorse. However, Capote saw something else in Perry and was upset; we see this when he’s waiting for Perry’s hanging. Capote’s feelings towards Perry gave the reader an unbiased opinion of the killer and allowed the readers to form their own conclusions about whether or not Perry could have been innocent given the chance in his past.
It is undoubtedly heart-wrenching when Capote goes through Perry’s death. For Truman, the way he saw the world changed, making him too devastated to even write another book. To write another book that would trump his account of the Clutter murders would require the same personal motivation and emotional connections similar to those he made with Perry. I agree with Carly that it may be because of Truman’s relationship with Perry that we are able to see a more human side of Perry, rather than just the cold-blooded murderer people see him as.
I see that you have seen the movie “In Cold Blood”. I really want to see that. I thought capote was going to be more about the book rather then the writing process of the book.Im curious to see how the movie “In Cold blood” is to the book. What you talked about how Perry was focused on in the book and in the movie Capote makes it seem that the movie Capote relates to the book better then the movie In Cold Blood.
Capote film (2005) is very different from the book. Capote himself gets the interest of writing his next book, In Cold Blood, after seeing in the paper a brutal murder of four-member family. Decides to travel to Holcomb, Kansas, where the crime happened, to get more information about this murder than happen so cruel. Arriving at the town he gathers information along with his partner, Harper Lee. Capote has not yet met the murderers, not until they got caught and brought to court. Capote gets an interest in Perry, decides to help them out and becomes his friend to gather information. He wants every detail about him and more about how and why the Clutter family got murder.
The book and the film are very much alike. The only difference about the book is that it has more characters mentioned and Capote gathered the information about the murder. Perry also confesses everything to Capote, not to the agents. Well, at least, according to the film. However, after writing, In Cold Blood, which made him the best writer in America, he never finished another one. The tragic, the sorrow he faced. Due to complications of alcoholism he died, but the last book he wrote, not finished either; was, “More tears are shred over answered prayers than unanswered ones”.
Why do you think that Capote let go of his life like that and ended up dying of alcholism?
I would think that he started off writing this book as being interested on knowing more about the case. Never thinking he was going to develop a relationship with the murders. Therefore, he felt like he was guilty by not helping them out get out of prison that’s why he ended up drinking.
What did you think of the movie compared to the book? Which one did you feel a stronger connection to Perry with? Personally, I’d say the book gave me a stronger connection to Perry as opposed to the movie. Also, in what ways would you say the book and the film are alike?
I thought the ending was really interesting how he didn’t finish another book. I feel like the process of writing the book and becoming Perry’s friend really got to him. Makes you wonder if he didn’t get so close would he have written other books or not. Would he still die of alcoholism? Would his book still be so good? I think he needed Perry to have such a good book and alcoholism was the aftermath.
It is very interesting how Capote could no longer finish any other works of literature after crafting In Cold Blood and soon died. Capote had built a very strong relationship with Perry over the years and witnessing his death affected him greatly.
Why do you think he closer to Perry instead of Dick?
Why do you say that the film is different from the book in your first paragraph and say that they are similar in your second?
At what point do you think Capote realized there was no going back?
Do you think that Capote knew what he was getting into before he started writing In Cold Blood?
I think that Capote was hypothesizing about the murderers before he even know them. When Capote finally got to meet the murderers he became attached. He became attached to Perry by sharing his personal life with him. I wonder if Capote was an alcoholic before he started to write In Cold Blood
Capote the movie is a very interesting movie. First of all, I am disappoint it on the movie because is not what I imagined it to be like. Very similar to the book though. The movie has the same idea as the book but is being told through another aspect. For example, the author Truman Capote is the writer of the book In Cold Blood and in the movie he is the protagonist. Capote is a journalist he is reading the newspaper to get ideas of how he can write his journal. Meanwhile, he is reading the newspaper he finds the Clutter’s case and becomes interested on finding out more about it. He goes to Kansas with Harper Lee to go find more information about the case. Therefore, he gets the opportunity to talk to the killers and to a couple people from town and get information about the case. He becomes really interest that later he decides that he cannot write a journal about it; it needs to be more than that a book he says.
Truman sets an appointment with Alvin Dewey to speak to him and also to see if he can get a hold of the killers. He gets approved to see the killers and he is questioning them, but he also offers them help. He tells Dick and Perry that he is able to get them a lawyer. They agree to it and say yes. On the other hand, they don’t know that Capote is lying to them. He is telling Perry “I’m working on it” but, never does. Capote spends three months in Kansas within that time Dick does not want to eat anymore he is just in bed, he looks really tired and weak. Capote feeds him and talks to him, but Dick is just doing his own he is scared about the execution. Also, Perry wants to help Capote come up with the title of his book, Capote says yes he can help. But couple weeks later Capote starts to publish his first part of the book and never gave Perry a chance to help him out with the title. Perry finds out later about it and tells Capote a summary of his first part of the book along with the title.
I am also disappointed in the movie because I was hoping to see move of the book being involved instead of the book being made. The movie in my eyes was basically, a author befriending a criminal in order to write a book. The author then betrays the criminal but feels regret later on when he’s about to die.
Capote was an interesting film filled with emotion. Aside from that point, for some reason I expected the film to be almost nothing like the book. In ways they were similar, in the way it followed the case and all the smaller, important details. However, to me, Capote followed the process and work that Capote himself had to go through to gather the information for his book. Just like when reading the book, I felt a certain emphasis on Perry. In both the book and the film, it shows that there was a sympathetic feeling towards Perry. Capote, as depicted in the film, was an interesting fellow. According to the film, he had a rough past and that’s how he was able to connect to Perry. It seemed like his rise to fame was overshadowed by the sense of friendship and connection he felt with Perry after getting to know him and learning more about him.
I felt the movie was interesting in how it jumped around from the various scenes from the book. It was interesting how the movie started off with “Laura” finding Nancy, with the blood on the wall. I felt the movie just pulled all the important parts and kept the detail within the dialogue which was pretty cool because it allowed the viewer to connect with the characters more. As I viewed the film, I still feel Capote wanted that rise to fame with the “juicy” story he had found, but the connection he built with Perry just became to strong. All in all, it was a pretty good movie.
I agree with you on how the movie just touched on the important details that the book had. It was overall a good movie and was interesting but I do wish the movie had more things from the book rather then story of capote writing the story.
Capote became quite fond of Perry as the movie unfolds, and you are right that since he had a rough past, he became more fascinated with Perry than he should have. He became kind of attached to the entire ordeal. I do think they didn’t show some of the finer details and sort of glossed over the story as it was portrayed in the novel.
I agree that this movie and the book emphasized on Perry quite a lot. After watching this movie I feel as though I got a better understanding of why he was emphasized so much. Good job with noticing that!
I also found it really interesting to see how connected the movie was with the book even though they had different names completely. I was expecting to hear a biography of Capote and his works but instead it closely followed the story and even gave more insight into the book itself. It was interesting to see the Clutter murder case beyond Capote’s own words because you get to see how emotionally connected Capote was to the case. Of course he had to leave all of these feelings out of the book in order to depict the case from an unbiased third person point of view but I believe that knowing what the author was feeling at the time of writing the book really adds to the depth in which we understand it.
The movie Capote was not what I expected the movie to be about. I was expecting the movie to be about the book but rather the movie was how the book was written by capote. It was a slow movie was interesting to see the relationship capote had with Perry. There was some minor details in this movie that did not match up with the book I noticed. Names changed, like bobby’s name was danny. The diary that capote received I thought was in detective dewy’s hands. I would have been more interested in the movie about the book so ill have to make sure I see that one of these days.
The beginning of the movie Capote was very excited about this book and he knew that it was going to be one of the best non-fiction books in the decade. It took about six years to finish the book. As the movie went own it seemed that Capote got closer to perry. Sometimes I thought that maybe he was just acting close to Perry to get information from him to benefit for himself. Though he did get close to him which made the end of the book hard to write for him. The ending Capote seemed crushed when perry was being hung. After it showed perry dyeing It said that Capote never wrote another book and died of alcoholism. This makes me wonder if Perry’s death had a role in those two things. The book seemed to be 1st on Capote’s list. At the end he gained such a friendship with Perry he seemed more worried about seeing him and seeing him die over everything.
Yea, same here. I noticed that the film was about how the book was written. Which led to a success and made him the best writer in America. I’ve noticed that you said, “The book seemed to be 1st on Capote’s list”, what are you trying to say by that? I didn’t quite get you.
I also noticed that the movie had a different focus than the book did. I expected it to be all about the murder but it spent a minimal amount of time on it. The focus of the movie was much more on the effects of writing the book on Capote himself. This may be why the title of the film is Capote and not In Cold Blood. I also wonder if the death of Perry and how close Capote got to him had anything to do with Capote’s death.
I never really thought about how Perry’s death was related to Capote not writing another book or dying from alcoholism. It really shows that this form of “interesting nonfiction” writing can take a huge toll on those who write them. As we can see in the movie, Capote began to form a real connection with Perry in his investigations for his writing and this connection, although it was guaranteed not to last long, is not something that Capote could just forget. I’m almost sure that this had some role in him not taking on writing another book and his eventual death. It makes me wonder if he was thinking of Perry when he was drinking his last few drinks.
The movie Capote is a very interesting and very different from the book. I thought that it would be based on the book instead of the making of it. But it still had some very interesting facts about it. Before In Cold Blood Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiifany’s and it was a success. He was reading the newspaper when he saw a section about a family in Kansas is murdered and decided that he wanted to write about that. I felt that he was very extensive with his research and wanted to know everything about the town and how the murders affected the town. With the help of his friend a fellow writer Harper Lee, they interviewed everyone that had to deal with the murder and got what they are looking for. The movie changed some names from the book like Bobby Rupp was now Danny. Capote work rate is incredible. He never rested until he got what he wanted.
When almost completing the book, he became very good friend with Perry. They shared their whole life stories with each other. In order to help Perry, Capote found him and Dick a lawyer so they can get an appeal. The reason Capote did this because he wanted to know about Perry and also wanted to know what happened on the day of the murder. He also did this because he was helping a friend in need. At the end of the movie Capote visits Perry and Dick for one last time before the hanging of the two. Capote comes out in tears. He told them that he did everything he could in order to help them. He told them this in order to ensure them that he was still their friend. Perry asked him to attend the hanging and Capote did. After the hanging Capote was very depressed because he lost a friend and could not do anything about it.. In Cold Blood was critically acclaimed and successful, but after that Capote did not finish another book.
I too am amazed at how much work and effort Capote put into the book according to the movie. Why did you think Capote lied to Perry about the writing of the book and why do you think he had to lie in saying he did what he could? To me, the Perry in the book shared a lot of the same qualities as Capote in the movie. Also, which did you enjoy more, the book or the film and why?
Because he was doing research on the book and so he needed to lie about everything. But as you can see at the end of the movie it took a toll on Capote and he never finished writing another book again. I think I enjoyed the book because it showed the lives of the clutters and dick and perry and how the murders affected the whole town.
The biographical film “Capote “ dealt mostly with the research Truman Capote conducted on the Clutter’s case. The film begins by Laura Kinney, not Nancy Ewalt, discovering the gruesome scene of Nancy’s dead body lying in bed. Unlike the book, no members of the family were described and Dick and Perry were not mentioned until they were arrested. Also, we are introduced to Truman Capote himself, where as in the book he remained an unmentioned character.
Capote is interested in Perry as soon as he meets him and his affection grows stronger after he learns about his life and nurses him back to health. Capote tries to find a good lawyer for both criminals so they can appeal and so Capote can be able to conduct more research. He visits Perry frequently and after visiting Perry’s sister, hears Perry’s confession. Capote works extensively on his non-fiction novel. When Perry is sentenced to death, Capote becomes depressed. He visits them at the last minute and witnesses their death, since it was what they wanted. Overall it was a good movie and covered basically Capote’s research rather than the actual accounts of the townspeople and other events.
I agree with you. The film was mostly on research about the Clutter’s case. Also I noticed that in the film, the names were different from the book and I believe that Truman Capote just changed the names. Instead of being Laura Kinney, he must have put Nancy Ewalt. Remember in the film, he said he had 94% recall or something like that. So not putting the right names could be that 6% he can’t remember.
The movie didn’t feel like the book because we didn’t get to learn much about the Clutter. I think the movie is using the Clutter family’s book as the background of the relationship between Perry and Capote. It did feel like the book just emphasized Capote’s relationship more than the murder.
As I watched the movie, the most prominent difference was the fact that it included the background information that was used in the book. The movie was rather different in the sense that it was not completely accurate as far as details go nor did it have everything that happened in the book. Capote and Perry had a deeper connection in the movie and they even write to each other. Capote grew fond of Perry as the movie unfolds and their relationship turns to a sort of friendship, much like that of Dick and Perry in the book. In the movie, Perry is more forthcoming to Capote rather than the detectives which shows he trust him more than the people investigating what happened. He helps him in the way that he gives crucial details that lead Capote to write a better book. Without Perry’s help, Capote’s book would have been duller as the details given by Perry become very prominent and important to the whole story told by Capote.
The movie was not as I pictured it would be in the sense that even the characters looked different in my head. This is true for a lot of films that are based on novels but it shows the perception of the Producers and Directors, which is sometimes not very similar to the audience watching. The characters acted differently and even though the book did a good job of showing finer details, the human connection for me was not fully made until I watched the movie. It gave me faces to refer to when thinking of the story and movie and gave a better feel of Holcomb as well.
As I watched the movie, the most prominent difference was the fact that it included the background information that was used in the book. The movie was rather different in the sense that it was not completely accurate as far as details go nor did it have everything that happened in the book. Capote and Perry had a deeper connection in the movie and they even write to each other. Capote grew fond of Perry as the movie unfolds and their relationship turns to a sort of friendship, much like that of Dick and Perry in the book. In the movie, Perry is more forthcoming to Capote rather than the detectives which shows he trust him more than the people investigating what happened. He helps him in the way that he gives crucial details that lead Capote to write a better book. Without Perry’s help, Capote’s book would have been duller as the details given by Perry become very prominent and important to the whole story told by Capote.
The movie was not as I pictured it would be in the sense that even the characters looked different in my head. This is true for a lot of films that are based on novels but it shows the perception of the Producers and Directors, which is sometimes not very similar to the audience watching. The characters acted differently and even though the book did a good job of showing finer details, the human connection for me was not fully made until I watched the movie. It gave me faces to refer to when thinking of the story and movie and gave a better feel of Holcomb as well.
I agree with you that Perry had a strong influence on the book and was very helpful. I could expect that it would be harder to talk to police while they think you are on the side of the murderers as it is portrayed in the film. When Capote starts befriending Perry, the police become agitated. However, I believe that would be a natural feeling.
The movie was also not what I pictured while reading the book. But I feel like that is always how it is as well. I also felt more of an emotional connection through the movie than the book. Some parts of the book seemed to be just fact and background information. While the movie portrays the people and relationships more strongly. Also, seeing the faces of the people and the feelings they have creates stronger emotional responses.
I agree with you. If I were to have watched the movie before the book, I wouldn’t have known anything about the Clutter family or Dick and Perry’s relationship. We never get to see Dick and Perry together like friends but just saw them handcuffed. Additionally, the family’s murder didn’t make me feel any emotions because there death was only just glimpsed.
It’s strange, I suppose, but I felt much more emotion evoked in the book than the film(s). The backstory of Perry is where the novel comes to life, and that simply isn’t something that can be summarized in any movie. Perhaps I’ve read the book from the wrong angle, but I found Perry to be a far more sympathetic character than anyone else (and certainly more than Capote in this film).
I found that this movie brought out a side of the book we could never have gotten. The major difference was the fact that it was more based on Truman Capote than of the murders of the Clutter family. I believed that this movie showed us the significant amount of time, effort, and mental stability on the time to write. It took him about seven years to complete this book “In Cold Blood” and the whole process was shown very well in this movie.
We were shown that although Truman Capote was flamboyant and outgoing, that this book and being close to the murders really took a toll on his body and mental status. This movie also made sure that we knew that this was not some fictional story they created, but was the nonfiction happening in American history.
That is very true, especially considering Capote was able to have direct interaction with Perry which was something the detectives had a harder time with. Perry felt safer with Capote and this is shown in the movie very well. The process of writing was definitely depicted very well in the movie and I fell that I have a deeper understanding about the story because of watching the movie.
I agree that the movie was biased on Capotes life more than the book, but it added a different side of Capote that we never would have known. The time that was shown in the movie confused me, it seemed as if the book was written within a week. I found it strange that time before the murderers were found was short, while the time with Perry was long.
It is a really good point that the movie brought out a different side of the book that was not seen before. It was like an add on of the book, not a replica of it. It showed us the man behind the scenes!
The movie Capote is very different than the book In Cold Blood. I feel that they left out a lot of the crime and pretty much all of Dick’s character. But I like that it is more about how Truman Capote wrote the book and his relationship with Perry Smith. The movie goes into a lot of detail about how Capote became close to Perry. I thought it interesting how much Capote seemed to relate to Perry. I did not know much about Capote’s life before this movie. He seemed to have a similar troubled upbringing to Perry. However Capote seems to show the side of that where they turn out well. Perry took his troubled upbringing and turned to crime and violence. The movie shows how two people with similar childhoods can turn out so differently. It also shows how two very different people can become very close because of such similar pasts. Capote seemed to develop a very close relationship with Perry. In the film Capote has a very hard time handling the execution. I wonder if that is how he truly felt. If so, the publication of In Cold Blood must have been extremely bitter sweet for him.
I found it neat that you related the troubled upbringings of Capote and Perry and showed how the result can be so drastically different. I understand that there are probably innumerable aspects that play into the development of a person in the present moment but I think one aspect that helped to create this difference was the relationships they made in their lives. Perry seemed to be not so lucky and ended up with the wrong type of people such as Dick who led him into crime and its punishment. On the other hand, we learn that Capote grew up as a neighbor and schoolmate of Harper Lee who was becoming a successful author at the time of the movie. This really interesting difference between the two could have contributed to the drastic difference between Perry Smith and Truman Capote.
It is totally true that the book did not go into Dick or Perry’s characters in depth! I found that as well. It was nice getting to know Truman Capote even though he was not such a large character in the novel. I noticed as well that Capote had a strong reaction to the hangings of Dick and Perry. I bet that someone who has done so much research on these people and who has spent so much time with them does have a strong reaction to the killing of the two people he spent so much time writing about and analyzing.
The background connection between Capote and Perry is an interesting observation. But it makes me wonder if Capote truly understood Perry because although they both experienced trouble as they were growing up, they made their own conclusions and may have a different takes on their past. I guess it’s safe to say that the possibility of Capote’s understand of Perry is probable because he seemed very sympathetic towards Perry in the movie.
Capote was a very odd movie, as it had taken the turn of following very closely to the author himself rather than follow the book and show the events of the Clutter’s murder. When we first see Capote himself, my image of the man was wrong as here I was expecting an embittered old man but instead he is somewhere between a caring person and one who is a tortured writer looking desperately for information.
That does not mean that the entire movie does not focus on the characters of the book. It actually means quite the opposite as Capote himself eventually finds Perry and they start this bond together over some baby food. It may seem silly at first but as Capote himself feeds this murderous criminal, we see the broken man confide in who is essentially to him, a complete stranger. This relationship is made all the more heartbreaking when Capote cannot be able to help Perry escape his death sentence and is made famous because of this murder.
While this movie may seem odd at first, the emotional resonance is there when Capote and Perry meet and just goes deeper from there.
My image of Capote was also very different from the movie. The scene of Capote feeding Perry stuck out the most to me because he cared for someone he didn’t know, and it wasn’t his job to either. The emotional part of the movie was definitely noticeable.
The film Capote was very different than I thought it would be. I thought that the film would follow the book more closely, but it became more about Truman Capote than about the murder. Truman Capote became the main character, which we followed around through his investigation of the Clutter family murder. He seemed to be the investigator for the murder. Dick and Perry were found very soon in the film and put into jail. The plot was about the making of the novel In Cold Blood, and how Capote created the story from the actual case. Capote acted very strange throughout the film. He was different than I thought he would be. He acted and spoke in a weird way, that distracted me from the content of the film.
In the novel, much of the story was about Dick and Perry’s pasts and how they became the way they were, and what led them to murder the Clutter family. The movie did not have hardly anything about the background of Dick and Perry, but more about Truman Capote. I enjoyed the part about Dick and Perry in the novel, but in the movie it hardly portrayed them and their personalities. I enjoyed the movie because it helped me visualize the characters in a different way from the book, but at the same time, I think it ruined the book for me in a way because it was so different from the novel. It is always nice to compare the a book to the movie because you can see the similarities and differences.
This movie was quite different from the book and it gave us a view of the murder in the eyes of the writer. My expectation for this movie was the journey between Dick and Perry but instead, we saw the creation of “In Cold Blood”.
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This movie was quite different from the book and it gave us a view of the murder in the eyes of the writer. My expectation for this movie was to see the journey between Dick and Perry but instead, we saw the creation of “In Cold Blood”. Capote gave me a bad first impression when the movie started because he was acting rude. Over time, we started to see a emotional side of Capote as he became more involve with the murder case.
The movie didn’t satisfy my expectation on how it would be because I was hoping to see the Clutter family’s life before they died. Additionally, the movie didn’t seem real to me because it felt like the Clutter family’s death wasn’t important at all (unlike the book). The movie was more like the relationship between a killer and a journalist.
I was not satisfied with the movie as well because I, too, wanted to learn more about the Clutter family. Yet, this movie was made with a different focus; that is, to show viewers about Capote’s investigation and invovlement in the murder case. The title of the movie should also be accounted for. The title, “Capote,” reinforces the fact that the movie will be more focused on Capote.
That is true, but yet the title “Capote,” could also mean something like the author himself is narrating the events of the Clutter Murder himself possibly through interviews or the like.
The movie, Capote, was a lot different from what I expected. On first impressions, I thought that the movie would be based more on the story line of the book. Instead, the movie was more focused on Capote and his investigation of the Clutter family murder in order to write his book, In Cold Blood. I thought that the change in focus allowed viewers to get a more in depth perspective on the amount of investigation work and time it took for Capote to write his book.
In the movie, Capote became really close to Perry. He even fed Perry when he was starving himself in prison. This act, along with other moments, garnered more sympathy for Perry, especially during his execution; Capote seemed affected by it. This is similar to the novel because in the last part, Capote thought that Perry shouldn’t have been executed and that things could’ve been done to help him “reinvent” himself. Also, in the novel, Capote spent a decent amount of time giving background information about Perry. His history was very harsh, and the sympathy evoked from it is similar to the sympathy Capote felt when Perry was executed in the movie.
Bennett Miller’s film Capote (2005) is a dramatization of Truman Capote’s career at the time of writing In Cold Blood (1965). If I had to choose a simple theme of this story, it would be “deception.” The character of Capote, to say the least, is not what I expected after reading the novel. But this film is more than a story built around the development of yet another story. It is a story in its own rite; set against the background of a terrible crime, but showing yet another darker side of an already pitch-black story. The ultimate irony of Capote is that, while every other character who reads his book believes the two criminals (Dick and Perry) to be monsters, he is the real monster of this story.
Obviously, this film is first and foremost centered on Truman Capote himself. What amazes me is the horrible way he is portrayed in the film. Capote manipulates virtually every other person around him. He is sad and morose in Kansas but laughing and happy in Boston, as though there are two Capotes. He bribes the warden to interview the prisoners. He treats Perry as a “goldmine,” lies to him about the title of the novel, and threatens to abandon him to get the information he wants. He lies to Lee about her recently-published book. He lies about trying to find a lawyer, preferring instead that the two criminals be put to death for the sake of his precious book. Given his past record, he probably lied when he said he liked the Kansas countryside. On that note, he only tells Perry and Laura about his past to reciprocally gain their friendship.
I realize that this is a subjective account, written by a biographer of Capote; Gerald Clarke. Everything I have written above is strictly in the context of the film. It would not be prudent to accept the film as entirely accurate. When he first appeared in the film, I thought he was simply a minor comic figure; epitome of the eccentric creep with a stiff upper lip. Strangely effeminate and posh like no one I have ever met. If Truman Capote was anything like this man, I find myself filled with regret at learning so.