Richard Brooks’ In Cold Blood is a stylish dramatisation of the renowned non-fiction novel of the same name by Truman Capote. Though essentially made to cash in on the book’s fame, and hence made so as to closely follow the book’s structuring of the events, it has nonetheless managed to stand on its own as a work of merit and calibre. Brilliantly photographed in expressionistic black-and-whites, mostly employing claustrophobic visuals and low-angle shots, and backed by a memorable jazz-styled score, the movie bears close resemblance to classic era film noirs in terms of mood and atmospherics, though it doesn’t really qualify as one. For the uninitiated, the movie chronicles the real-life event of two delinquent crackerjack youths, Dick and Perry (extremely well acted by the respective leads), killing respectable rancher Herbert Clutter and his family in cold blood for a meager sum of money, and how they are successful pursued by the homicide cop Alvin Dewey Jr. and sent to the gallows to meet their fates. The voiceovers near the finale seemed a bit jarring and hence should have been avoided. However, that apart, the movie managed to be not just gripping, but even quite breathtaking at times.
Director: Richard Brooks
Genre: Crime Drama/Docu-fiction
Language: English
Country: US
7 comments:
Glad to see the five star rating on this film. The cinematography by Conrad Hall is just fantastic. The one scene where Robert Blake's character Perry is sitting by a window talking about his past and the rain is running down the window symbolically representing his tears is just one of many striking images in this film.
Well, I actually gave it a 4-star rating :) Anyway, ratings aside, I did like the movie, and must thank you for asking me to watch it. Yeah, couldn't agree with you more, John. The cinematography is nothing less than fantastic. The visuals, though stylishly done, have brought forth the inherent gloominess of the settings, the characters & the plot.
Shubhajit:
This is really one killer sentence here, even in a capsule review:
"Brilliantly photographed in expressionistic black-and-whites, mostly employing claustrophobic visuals and low-angle shots, and backed by a memorable jazz-styled score, the movie bears close resemblance to classic era film noirs in terms of mood and atmospherics, though it doesn’t really qualify as one."
Alas, Shubhajit, you leave no crumbs here for the reat of us as you say everything vital in regards to this film classic and distinguished literary adaptation. That sequence John describes is unquestionably one of the unforgettable in the film, and Conrad Hall (who during this early 20's period photographed som eof the best OUTER LIMITS episodes) was a master of expressionistic black and white, which of course in a film with such dark contecxt, is most visually compelling. Robert Blake gives a great performance here too.
I agree with you Sam about Blake's performance. I don't think he was ever any better.
Thanks a lot Sam for the good words. Indeed, the first thing that really hooks you to the film is its wonderful cinematography - really magnificent achievement for Conrad Hill even with his fame. The acting, too, as you mentioned, is great. The two leads did a really tremendous job in making Dick & Perry such well-rounded and utterly believable people, the kind who might chance upon any given day on the streets. Thanks again.
Capote's novel is one of my favorites and the film does it Justice. I think the wonderful cinematography, layered with the great jazz score, overwhelms the acting and distances the audience from becoming too involved with the killers. This creates a cold atmosphere that chills the blood.
It's been years since I've seen this on TMC but I'll have to pick up the blu-ray and write a review.
Well, the non-fiction novel from Capote figures among my favourite books too. So I watch the cinematic rendition of the events with a lot of trepidation, and I must say my experience was largely satisfactory. And yeah, the cinematography & the score are two of the highlights for the film, no doubt about that.
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