Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote by Delphine Letort

“…While literary biopics usually recreate the image of an author by drawing on his/her literary creations as signifiers of their authorial identity, Capote (Bennett Miller, 2005) and Infamous (Douglas McGrath, 2007) exploit the celebrity status of the writer by promoting his controversial lifetime achievement, In Cold Blood. Highlighting Truman Capote’s social life as a source of entertainment, the two films marginalize an author whose popularity overshadowed his literary achievements (including as a screenwriter).…”
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