| Issue #31, October 27, 2006 |
Guy de Fraumeni’s Hollywood In The Hamptons
Truman Capote’s theatrical persona was so large and demanding, one had to give him a second look at least. Whether in his gossipy, high-toned, society-columned mode in Manhattan’s Côte Basque or in his bucolic, hedged-in Bridgehampton times at Bobby and Marina Van’s bar and eatery, eyes did double-takes, if not cautious, repeated, secretive glances. Now, you have a chance to re-see the writer with the delayed release of Infamous, a film shot about the same time as the Oscar winning Capote, and covering the same period in Truman’s career when he was researching and writing In Cold Blood, a detailed record of the Clutter family’s massacre in Kansas by two young men, later hanged for the cruel crime. He wrote the factual reportage in a fictional style, in the same way that he elaborated his persona, to make it a page-turner. His flamboyant personality turned a lot of heads too, as I said.
Infamous relates the effects of the writer’s jarring shift from being the socialites’ darling pet (and, as such, “in” on the tattletale gossip of the town’s celebrity crowd) to finding himself an alien on the dusty, flat land of Holcomb, Kansas, deeply entangled in a grotesque multiple murder. There’s no need to be concerned about the movies’ similarities, as there are so many differences and much gap-filling between the two, just as an excellently written biography leaves room for more. Capote’s ambiguous life invites interpretation by other creative people. Since he essentially recreated his own life story, I’m sure he’s smiling his ear-to-ear grin, pleased as punch that other talented people are taking a whack at it.
And don’t be intimidated by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s award-winning performance in Bennett Miller’s lean, sharp Capote, taken from Gerald Clark’s swell portrait and written so suavely. In Douglas McGrath’s Infamous, adapted from George Plimpton’s collection of interviews and writings, Truman is portrayed by the British actor Toby Jones. Mr. Jones resembles his character much more than Hoffman did, and plays Mr. Capote with considerably more warmth. And in keeping with Mr. McGrath’s stylish, entertaining wit, Toby Jones flaunts the author’s impishness and trick-dog playfulness. As the guest of Manhattan’s luncheon scene, with Babe Paley (Sigourney Weaver), Slim Keith (Hope Davis), and the elegant, Italian Marella Agnelli (Isabella Rossellini), Capote played the cuddly Pomeranian; he sat, he minded, he almost would roll over with delight. All the time, he was collecting the trashy peccadilloes of this satin bedclothes crowd. His betrayal of them is treated, in this film, more as a naughty-doggy act; he piddles on their best white-shag carpeting, not committing the mean spirited, suicidal sins usually used to stain Capote’s reputation. What was happening was interest in the pointless doings of the well-manicured, long, sharp-fingernailed cats was waning, and they desperately used them to scratch their playful puppy.
Back over the rainbow, in plain, old black-and-white Kansas, Capote’s celebrity, in some ways, helped him dispel the image he projected to the locals, as he flounced about with his homosexuality in full display. Capote was accompanied by Nelle Harper Lee, the writer of To Kill a Mockingbird and, in many ways, his mentor, who is depicted by (played by is not an apt description of the finely-tuned, accurate-as-a-bull’s-eye performance) Sandra Bullock. Yes, that’s Sandra Bullock. Mocked by some locals who say he is a woman, there are others who know of Lee’s showbiz fame, and are more than curious; we are at the heart of the matter. His total involvement in the two suspects, Perry Smith (Daniel Craig) and his accomplice, Dick Hickock (Lee Pace), creates a new thrall of excitement, as Capote is now the object of the riveted, shackled attraction of his subject, Perry Smith, not as opined as before as when he was Capote’s imprisoned lesser. The fragile relationship is further emboldened by a naturalistic sexual encounter. The love incited causes Capote’s inability to effectively help the two a romantic defeat. His vain, celebrity-seeking self is pushed behind him. He realizes his latent sentimentality as a potent ingredient, perhaps more so than he imagined. It remains easy for detractors to point to Capote’s misgivings for his catapult to the pedestal of our foremost author, springing off the backs of the tragedy’s deceased, the innocent and the guilty. His book has provided a mirror with which to better see his vanity. Director McGrath sets the sensitive treatise of the film with a cameo by Gwyneth Paltrow, star of his grand Emma, who sings a song that reveals a crushing sadness, a sadness that moves Capote, Babe Paley and the El Morocco crowd with its ominous authenticity - a heartbreaker.
Infamous, is not simply a runner-up; it paints a very touching portrait of Capote.
Guy-Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award-winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at major film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmys and various film festivals. Sarah Halsey assists him.
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