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In Cold Blood
Strange, I've seen that face before
1967
Review: June 15, 2007
Director: Richard Brooks
Starring: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Yes, it’ll help you soak in the vibe.
THE SETUP:
Adaptation of Truman Capote’s famed book, telling the story of the killers, the police investigation, and the Clutter family.
DISCUSSION:
I was just SO unenthused about watching this. I think I got so burned by Contempt that I didn’t want to watch a serious movie again for a while. Plus I had seen both Capote and Infamous, and I felt like I didn’t really need to see this story again. All of which added up to this movie sitting on my desk for a month and a half before I finally put it in, and even then mostly because it irked me that Netflix was taking my money and I wasn’t getting my rental value.
I’m happy to say I was wrong on all counts. This is good in an enjoyable way, not good in a druggery way, like Contempt, and it has a wholly different focus than either of the Capote movies, so I didn’t feel like I was seeing the same story over again. For a while, at least. The first thing one notices is the beautifully stark black and white photography and artful lighting. There’s a very hip 50’s style score, and soon we note that the music is by Quincy Jones. Perry Smith, played by a young Robert Blake, arrives in a train station, looking like a greaser and wearing a leather jacket, in contrast to everyone else, who is quite square. He soon connects with Dick Hickock, who has this tip about an unguarded farmhouse in Kansas that has a safe that’s packed with money. The homoerotic talk between Dick and Perry begins when Dick says he’s “In for the money, honey.”
We then cut to the Clutter family, wholesome all, and the music during this scene turns very stringy and sentimental. Around now one starts to notice that some of the edits between scenes purposely confuse the viewer by seeming to show a continuous scenario; for example, we see the Clutter’s daughter pick up the phone to speak. We then see Perry on the phone in a train station. It would seem as though the two are on the same line, but actually he’s talking to his parole officer. The guy warns him that his sentence will be doubled if he goes into Kansas, but he tells the guy that he has to go, that it may be the most important thing in his life.
We continue to find out more about Perry, like the fact that he is more than a bit odd. He goes into a trance when looking into a mirror and has a fantasy of himself as a singing star, with no one in the audience. When he awakens, Dick tells him that he was staring at himself “like you was lookin’ at a piece of butt.” We learn that Perry is an “aspirin junkie.” I was unaware that there was such a thing. Then he tells Perry about the big yellow bird, “Taller than Jesus,” who slaughtered the nuns Perry felt persecuted by. After the trial, incidentally, this bird changed its image and found employment on Sesame Street. Dick notes that Perry used to be friends with a “flaming faggot,” and there is much talk about how now that they’re partnered in committing this crime, they are virtually married: “all we need is a ring.”
We see the Clutter’s saying goodnight and going to bed. The girl says her prayers and clicks off the light—and we fast-forward to after the murder. We see the discovery of the bodies and the police, who knew the Clutters, examine the house for evidence. The movie does a good job—better than the two other Capote movies—of conveying how these murders shook the psyche of this small town.
Meanwhile the guys are on the run. Perry is assailed by guilt and how stupid it all was—there was no safe, no money, and now they both face a murder rap. There’s a good scene in which Dick wants to buy Perry a suit, then cons the salesman into accepting a check for it—and giving him $100 in cash. There’s another good, deliberately confusing edit as we see Perry throw something off a bridge, and in the next shot something hits the water below—but it is a huge magnet, dredging evidence from the bottom of the river.
Meanwhile the police are investigating the duo. Perry’s father becomes quite talkative during his deposition. Then we’re back with the killers, as Perry comes in with a sure-fire way to get rich. Dick finally explodes and excoriates Perry for his stupid ideas, reminding him how much he needs Dick. It really is a lover’s spat in an abusive relationship. Then Dick goes out for a date with a “senorita,” saying he doesn’t mind if Perry is there when he brings her back because he’s not shy. Later, while Dick and his ladyfriend are enjoying themselves at one end of the room, Perry has memories of his mother and some guy boozing it up and screwing in front of him and the other kids. Then the father comes in and whips the mother with a belt! So things were not all peace and love and making learning fun in the Smith household.
SPOILERS > > >
I have to say that around this point I started to get a little bored. They steal cars and write bad checks. They pick up a young kid and his grandfather and go through the desert collecting discarded soda bottles to return, which the desert is apparently awash in. Then they’re arrested in Vegas.
They are questioned, and are cool for a while, until they realize that the cops have a very good case against them. Then we have a flashback to the murder [long sequence], then an interminable courtroom trial [bored to tears by this point] and a whole extended death row / execution sequence that I was just watching so I could finally get this movie over with.
< < < SPOILERS END
It’s very well-made, with good performances and gorgeous photography and style. The problem, post Capote and Infamous [not to mention the novel], is that we know the story. So after all the interesting stuff toward the beginning where we delve a little more into the characters of the killers, we’re just watching dramatizations of what we already know happened. The movie itself is great, it’s just that at this point none of this is a surprise, and that wears on one’s enjoyment of it.
All the performances are very good, with Blake’s being the most prominent. There is a lot of homo subtext between the two killers, especially how they keep calling each other “honey” and “sweetie,” which can be put in an even more cohesive context if one has seen Infamous. And as I said, the photography is stunning. It’s just that, by this time, this movie is way too long and goes into too much detail about things most people already know.
SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?
It’s definitely worth watching, but if you’ve already seen Capote and / or Infamous, I think you can feel free to start fast-forwarding about 90 minutes in.
RELATED MOVIES:
CAPOTE is a biography of Truman Capote during the time he was writing this book and features a wonderful performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
INFAMOUS is another, equally interesting biography that is more about Capote’s homosexuality and social connections.
