The Capote Tapes

I remember wanting to see this in the cinema because it looked interesting. It is. You can watch it on Hulu. Lots of interesting interviews, vintage film footage of New York City, and of course, Truman who was a force...until he sunk into alcohol and pills. "Truman wrote the best sentences," said Norman Mailer (high praise and unexpected) and "No one carried the stress and the weight of what must have been a heavy burden just being him," said Norman Mailer when they went into a dark New York City bar one afternoon in the early 1960s and every head turned to watch Truman walk to the back and sit at a table. Mailer said he was tense from exhaustion from the adrenaline rush he was feeling waiting for a brawl, but the altercation never came. The men in the bar left them alone.

Capote was a great writer and a great personality. He may have been foolish at times but he was never stupid. He was able to keep his work life separate from his party life, until he couldn't. The crash came fast and hard and we were witness to it as Capote continued the talk show circuit longer than he should have. Those who wanted to save him couldn't rescue him from himself. But before Truman was lost, he was on top of the world. New York City was/is the pinnacle. No one cares where you were born, where you went to school, they care about what you do, who you are. You can be the richest man in DesMoines but its not worth a damn. Nobody understood this better than Truman Capote. His beginnings were crushing, would have destroyed anyone, anyone but Truman. It's interesting hearing what his friends and others had to say about him and better still hearing Truman in own words to really understand his charisma and the wit that drew people to him.

This is a well researched portrait of one of the most fascinating people of the 20th century.

Truman Capote's legacy -- encompassing a literary masterpiece, "In Cold Blood", a beloved Hollywood Movie, "Breakfast at Tiffany's", an incomplete and truly controversial novel, "Answered Prayers" -- (incomplete in that only 3 Chapters of it were ever published), and memorable appearances (for us old-timers) on all the major talk shows of the time from Johnny Carson, to Dick Cavett, to Merv Griffin, to a poignant, funny 1-man Tony award winning Broadway Show, "Tru", featuring the great actor Robert Morse, is now beautifully, succinctly yet comprehensively examined in this excellent documentary, which manages to cover this complex, controversial, pathetic, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic life of Capote. No punches are pulled. In addition to the magical world of celebrity and wealth and fame, a spotight also shines on the sadder aspects of Capote's life, from his sad/poignant upbringing, essentially abandoned by his mother, to his moments of glory with the success of his early literary work and celebrity, and his famous Black & White Ball to his tragic, lonely downfall, created by his own undoing. Black & White! That's Capote's life -- The highest of successes, and fame and money, and recognition -- to the lowest of failures, and infamy and derision, loneliness and sadness. A true American original, who's name will live on. AND this wonderful documentary will most certainly help that legacy long continue!

Honestly, this is one of the nastiest, most biased depictions of a historic literary figure that I have seen. After the opening sequence, it starts in a semi-objective manner, but then becomes a cruel character assassination. One thing that particularly disturbed me was the claim that Truman Capote had been urging the authorities to end the stays of execution for Perry Smith and Richard Hickock (the two killers in the book, In Cold Blood). It implies that due to Capote's ambition for publication and success, he threw them under the bus. However, it fails to note that if not for Truman Capote, the pair would have been hung many years before. It is possible that Capote actually wanted the stays of execution to end because he wanted the death sentence to be commuted to a life sentence. Afterall, it was Truman Capote who organized a reputable lawyer to lodge their first appeal. This was a biased production. It made me wonder, who financed The Capote Tapes? I felt that it was homophobic in parts. As if a Gay kid in high school was being rounded on by a group of malicious students, bitter that he'd had the audacity to be a success. At the beginning there are a series of recorded voices commenting on Capote. Two remarks stood out to me.. A man claims: "He was a freak, an absolute freak". A woman's voice quips: "I haven't had a good laugh since he died." - The full series of comments are predominantly spiteful. Those quotes set the standard for what follows...

This was a good idea to conduct the interviews both on audio tape and video and then turn it into a movie (documentary). Relevant photos, clippings, and such are displayed during the audio recordings. The interviews really do add to the depth and breadth of perceptions of the person of Truman Capote. Interviews include Dick Cavett, Lauren Bacall, and many others; in fact several segments of Cavett's and Johnny Carson's interviews of Truman are shown. ... Intriguing. ... The film is well done and excellently curated.

// As is well-known, near the end of his life (and of the film) Truman basically undermines himself and then gradually self-destructs. (As an aside, from having seen the 'authentic' and well-done film of Truman's life, "Capote," this documentary, "The Capote Tapes" confirms that the movie (with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman), "Capote," is highly on-point and accurate.)

You learn about aspects and significant persons in Truman's life that you might not have known about at all. Also, seeing this much more fully explained the early end to Truman Capote's life. // A few stars missing from the stars-rating since it perhaps could have been a two- or three-part limited series to be even more comprehensive and in-depth.

While I enjoyed Capote's writing I never cared much for Capote that i got to know through his many talk show interviews i saw all through my childhood. Yes, he was talented but didn't strike me as someone I'd like to get to know. The one day on the recommendation of a friend I read Gerald Clarke's biography of Capote. For someone that I wasn't all that interested in, tremendous credit and praise must go to Clarke's book. It is so thoroughly researched and well-written that I could not put it down. And, I found Truman Capote's life story very, very interesting. This film is only 90 minutes and as such there is a lot that is not addressed and much is addressed only topically. He was a complicated man with a few complicated relationships. We don't really get a deep dive into the man but for those that are curious this is an interesting introduction worth checking out.