A Visit with Truman Capote

This short film by the brilliant documentarians Albert and David Maysles captures Truman Capote at the very height of his career and influence during the aftermath of the publication of IN COLD BLOOD. We see Capote taking Alvin Dewey and his wife around New York City for the first time, Capote in his Long Island home chatting with a Newsweek reporter, as well as various book signings and functions centered on the book.

There is no doubt that Phillip Seymour Hoffman used this film extensively to arrive at his Capote performance. This short (30 mins.) film would make an excellent extra in a future deluxe DVD release of CAPOTE.

We get hints of his eventual downfall- he is clearly drunk in some scenes. The most poignant moment comes as he shows the Newsweek reporter letters from Perry Smith. He reads one out loud, and clutches the letter to his chest as if he is about to cry.

This film is available to viewing at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York and Beverly Hills.

A remarkable movie. I was spellbound. I had never known much about Truman Capote until I saw this show. I was first impressed with Hoffman in The talented Mr Ripley and this movie confirmed my first impression of him. Would you please answer a question I have. This seems to be the only way I can get the answer I seek. I may even have to see the movie again just to get those final lines given on the screen. At the end of the movie 'Truman Capote' there is given his epigraph-something about answers to prayers-I tried to find it on the internet but this seems the best way to get the answer. I would sincerely appreciate a response to my predicament.

Nola Jackson

This short documentary on the author Truman Capote is a rare find. Anyone reading will most likely have trouble finding it, unless there's an independent video store near them. (For those in the Los Angeles area, there's a copy at Cinefile in Santa Monica.) Besides being a compelling look at a bizarrely self-absorbed and idiosyncratic author, it is also a effective reflection of the Maysles influential film-making style and theories. Truman Capote sums up his "In Cold Blood", a novel about of non-fictional murder case, as being "fictional non-fiction." In this style, he tells a non-fiction story using all the techniques of classical literature and poetry. The Maysles famous films, Grey Gardens, Salesman, and Gimme Shelter, all capture documentary material in a dynamic, cinematic manner. Gimme Shelter is a great example of this, turning the simple concert film into a look at individual's politics, stardom, influence, and murder. Their use of sound/image juxtaposing goes far beyond normal journalism, even in television's "A visit with Truman Capote", with its effective scenes in which Capote reads excerpts from his novel as images montage of people effected by the case, the landscape in which this all took place, and even the interiors of Capote's living spaces. This is a great little half-hour for a bored afternoon. Enjoy.