the artist as voyeur

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2009)

Never meet your heroes, we are told, as they will invariably disappoint. Any Truman Capote fans will testify to the veracity of that after this chilling account of Capote's process of researching his non-fiction work, In Cold Blood. Hoffman has been lauded for his portrayal of the writer, another success in the niche of acting as impersonation that has proliferated in recent years (Ali, Ray, The Hours, Walk the Line, The Aviator...). The horror of the crime, the self-absorption of the writer, the disdain of the killers - this is a story that appears to lack redemption and offer up only squalor. The film rises above that material by focusing on the symbiotic relationship of Capote and Perry Smith, two incomplete, emotionally stunted individuals, feeding their mutual need for as long as they can make it last. Clifton Collins Jr. matches Hoffman's performance with chill and vulnerability as the naive but ruthless Smith. The film's triumph is to have you rooting for Smith against the antagonistic Capote. When Capote finally gets what he wants - a full confession from Smith - the irony is that the raw horror of it breaks him, forcing him to confront his own amorality. The quiet power of the killer forgiving the artist at the climax is stunning. This is a complex film, disturbing, that dares to challenge big themes, and rewards greatly.