Film review: The Capote Tapes

 

Truman Capote

“I’m an alcoholic, I’m a drug addict, I’m a homosexual, I’m a genius.”

— Truman Capote

Very few of us would say this out loud, even if it were true, but then nobody else is or ever will be quite the character that writer Truman Capote was.

Here was a man equally comfortable in a crowded, sleazy dive bar or in the swellest neighborhood party in New York City – and he would somehow relate with ease to denizens in both spots. 

Probably best known as the writer of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” his 1958 portrait of a woman for hire (which starred Audrey Hepburn in its film incarnation), the little 5’3” gnomic Capote would say or do anything to get the attention he craved.

He loved the spotlight, and would happily talk to anybody, especially on camera.  It was a bit more difficult to do back in the ’50s and early ’60s. There was no reality TV or 24-hour news cycle, and gays by and large were closeted. But he made a point of declaring his gay status and daring people not to accept him. He had a coterie of beautiful women whom he called his “Swans,” who put up with his strangeness because he was, let’s face it, a fascinating character.

Several films have been made about Capote (I’ve reviewed two others myself), 

but for this one director Ebs Burnough got hold of the never-before-heard audio archives and interviews with Capote’s famous friends and enemies. 

Capote made another big literary splash with his 1966 true-crime novel “In Cold Blood,” about the murder of four members of a family in a small Kansas farming community. When he also got rich, after the publication of the book and release of the film, Capote finally got to do what he’d wanted to: throw a huge party for all the fancy people he’d met and befriended. More than 500 people were invited to The Ball at the Plaza, which holds the distinction of being the only one held in the 20th century.

This was the beginning of his downfall. Buoyed by the success of the party, he went back to a project he’d been working on. It was another book, to be called “Answered Prayers,” which was to be an exposé of the lives of the rich. In 1975, one chapter was published in “Esquire,” and in it he spilled the juiciest gossip the Swans had ever shared with him. 

One of them committed suicide after reading it. Marriages were damaged, and Capote was barred from the ranks of the rich and descended into alcoholism and drug abuse.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether this is tragedy or just desserts. Just know that “The Capote Tapes” gives us a fascinating exposé of a life like no other.

In theaters Sept. 10, 2021 and TVOD/EST & DVD on Oct. 26