Skip to main content

Catherine Keener: "Capote"

 A favorite movie of mine is "Capote."


One thing it reminds me of us is an apparent quote from Bob Fosse: If you're a dancer, you have to use every part of your body. The way you hold your fingers, or move your shoulder, or nod your head: Each moment should be a conscious decision, and the moment should help to create a mood. Philip Seymour Hoffman is dazzling in his big movie, not just because of his Oscar-reel scene at the end, but also because of his silences, his laugh, and even the way he breathes just before addressing a crowd.

People forget that Catherine Keener also earned an Oscar nomination for this movie, and I like to try to locate the moments in the script she might have especially admired. In a way, the script feels like a Nicole Holofcener piece (and it's interesting that Holofcener has moved away from of-the-moment contemporary-setting work, in the last few years). Keener has a great opening; she watches a porter praising "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and she guesses (correctly) that Capote has paid the porter to make these scripted remarks. I think Keener must enjoy this next little story, attributed to Capote: "I went to visit Marilyn Monroe, in her home, last week, and she had four works by Matisse. And I said, Marilyn, two of these are upside-down...." I have one other "Holofcener-adjacent" moment in mind: Capote blithely says, "Of course, I don't really care if you ever find the people responsible for these murders." And Sgt. Dewey clears his throat; he says, quietly, "I see. I care...."

"Capote" is a kind of sequel to a Janet Malcolm book, "The Journalist and the Murderer." In that book, Malcolm argues that journalism is, clearly, a bad-faith enterprise; you pretend to empathize with your subject, but really you're looking for gaps in the story, moments of evasion. You hope to expose a truth, and a truth is never really the same thing as a narrative you're asked to ingest, in an interview. All writers have a chip of ice in their heart; it's just that the chip in Capote's heart was perhaps bigger than most. Capote wasn't quietly misleading; he was a cheerful, energetic liar; he was actually impatient to throw his subjects "under the bus."

I think this is a good movie to watch after "The White Lotus." People squirm, in a Mike White hour, because the emphasis on transactional behavior is so strong. We squirm because we all know that we, personally, are guilty of this sin. And that's true in "Capote," as well; we may not be Truman, but we all know what it's like to give a performance, to take iffy short-cuts in an effort to get what we want.

What a treat to revisit this movie.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

Joshie

  When I was growing up, a class birthday involved Hostess cupcakes. Often, the cupcakes would come in a shoebox, so you could taste a leathery residue (during the party). Times change. You can't bring a treat into a public school, in 2024, because heaven knows what kind of allergies might lurk, in unseen corners, in the classroom. But Joshua's teacher will allow: a dance party, a pajama day, or a guest reader. I chose to bring a story for Joshua's birthday (observed), but I didn't think through the role that anxiety might play in this interaction. We talk, in this house, quite a bit about anxiety; one game-changer, for J, has been a daily list of activities, so that he knows exactly what to expect. He gets a look of profound satisfaction when he sees the agenda; it doesn't really matter what the specific events happen to be. It's just about knowing, "I can anticipate X, Y, and Z." Joshua struggled with his celebration. He wore his nervousness on his f...
2 comments
Read more

Josh at Five

 Joshie's project is "flexibility"; the goal is to see that a plan is just an idea, not a gospel, not a guarantee. This is difficult. Yesterday, we went to a restaurant--billed as "open," with unlocked doors--and the owner informed us of an "error in advertising." But Joshie couldn't accept the word "closed." He threw himself on the floor, then climbed on the furniture. I felt for the owner, until he nervously made a reference to "the glass windows." He imagined that my child might toss himself through a sealed window, like Mary Katherine Gallagher, or like Bruce Willis, in "Die Hard." Then--thank the Lord!--I was able to laugh. The thing that really has therapeutic value for Joshie is: a firetruck. If we are out in public, and he spots a parked truck, he wants to climb on each surface. He breathlessly alludes to the wheels, the door, the windows. If an actual fire station ("fire ocean," in Joshie's parla...
Post a Comment
Read more