I never cared for Truman Capote. He used people even women who he befriended and confided in him with their darkest secrets. The cast is phenomenal in their performances. Tom Hollander should get accolades for his performance. Truman was a predator who used people. Unfortunately the Esquire magazine article exposed secrets, lies and life on the Upper East Side. Treat Williams was great as William Paley. Even though Babe and Truman never consummated their relationship, she shared intimate secrets of her marriage. Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloe Sevigny and Demi Moore give first rate performances.
5 Reviews
A Feud in A Major
tm-sheehan23 March 2024
My Review entire Series 2
Feud- Capote vs The Swans
I would suggest before watching Ryan Murphy's brilliant 8 part series Capote vs The Swans to at least watch the 2005 movie Capote starring Philip Seymour Hoffman or even better the 2006 movie Infamous starring Toby Jones.
I only say this because Capote vs The Swans mostly takes place toward the end of Truman Capotes main fame and his descent into alcoholism.
His fame and acclaim from his best selling novels Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 and In Cold Blood in 1966 plus his brilliant and acerbic wit attracted the cream of New York Society which included The Swans .
The Swans were Babe Paley, played by Naomi Watts ,Slim Keith played by Diane Lane , C. Z. Guest played by Chloe Sevigny Lee Radziwell, played by Calista Flockhart , Ann Woodward played by Demi Moore and Joanne Carson played by Molly Ringwald.
All the actresses cast as The Swans are barely recognisable as they are transformed in the elegant costumes designed by Lou Eyrich and lead make up artist Jackie Risotto who transforms these actresses with her brilliant hair and makeup.
All the actresses give wonderful performances especially Naomi Watts , Chloe Sevigny and Calista Flockhart who reveal aspects of their characters I've never seen them achieve in previous performances they are sophisticated, elegant, bitchy ,vengeful swans .
Naomi Watts plays Babe Paley who Truman Capote was once her closest confidant and friend till the betrayal .
He described her once as "Babe Paley had only one fault. She was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect." their relationship was almost like a faux marriage they were that close .
This bring us to the crux of this 8 part Fued in A major - Truman Capote effectively destroyed his cherished friendships with The Swans in his first excerpt of what was to be his magnum opus never to be published titled Answered Prayers .
The excerpt titled La Côte Basque published in Esquire Magazine in 1965 dropped a bombshell on his Swans and New York Society.
His bitchy betrayal of the marriage infidelities and scandals of his characters in the excerpt were told to him in confidence or by rumour by his friends.
Capote naively or intentionally did use pseudonyms for his beloved Swans but it was a treacherous and cruel act even causing a suicide . The Swans plotted their revenge by totally alienating him from their lives and the lives of many of the New York society darlings that had begged for invitations to Truman's famous Black and White masquerade Ball .
This banishment from the high society and adulation he so loved sent Truman Capote into a spiral of self-destruction from which he would ultimately never recover.
This is why I think without some background into Truman Capote's personality style and fame this series may seem trivial or melodramatic his genius needs to be acknowledged as well as his flawed bitchy effete self destructive personality.
I think this series and the wonderful performance by Tom Hollander who plays Truman Capote brilliantly in this series might seem exaggerated and over the top but his portrayal of Capote in this era of his life is certainly equal to Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tony Jones and should earn him an Emmy in my opinion.
I've watched interviews with Truman Capote at the time this series is set in 1965 when these events of this series took place and he seems sad but still retained his caustic wit and Tom Hollander gives a truly amazing performance.
It's hard to imagine without knowing a little of Truman Capote's early life and fame that he created the beloved character we know from Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 named Holly Golightly .
Who knows the young fey café society girl Holly Golightly who charmed us so may have been an amalgamation of all the loveable and fallible aspects of his beloved Swans ?
I would suggest before watching Ryan Murphy's brilliant 8 part series Capote vs The Swans to at least watch the 2005 movie Capote starring Philip Seymour Hoffman or even better the 2006 movie Infamous starring Toby Jones.
I only say this because Capote vs The Swans mostly takes place toward the end of Truman Capotes main fame and his descent into alcoholism.
His fame and acclaim from his best selling novels Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 and In Cold Blood in 1966 plus his brilliant and acerbic wit attracted the cream of New York Society which included The Swans .
The Swans were Babe Paley, played by Naomi Watts ,Slim Keith played by Diane Lane , C. Z. Guest played by Chloe Sevigny Lee Radziwell, played by Calista Flockhart , Ann Woodward played by Demi Moore and Joanne Carson played by Molly Ringwald.
All the actresses cast as The Swans are barely recognisable as they are transformed in the elegant costumes designed by Lou Eyrich and lead make up artist Jackie Risotto who transforms these actresses with her brilliant hair and makeup.
All the actresses give wonderful performances especially Naomi Watts , Chloe Sevigny and Calista Flockhart who reveal aspects of their characters I've never seen them achieve in previous performances they are sophisticated, elegant, bitchy ,vengeful swans .
Naomi Watts plays Babe Paley who Truman Capote was once her closest confidant and friend till the betrayal .
He described her once as "Babe Paley had only one fault. She was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect." their relationship was almost like a faux marriage they were that close .
This bring us to the crux of this 8 part Fued in A major - Truman Capote effectively destroyed his cherished friendships with The Swans in his first excerpt of what was to be his magnum opus never to be published titled Answered Prayers .
The excerpt titled La Côte Basque published in Esquire Magazine in 1965 dropped a bombshell on his Swans and New York Society.
His bitchy betrayal of the marriage infidelities and scandals of his characters in the excerpt were told to him in confidence or by rumour by his friends.
Capote naively or intentionally did use pseudonyms for his beloved Swans but it was a treacherous and cruel act even causing a suicide . The Swans plotted their revenge by totally alienating him from their lives and the lives of many of the New York society darlings that had begged for invitations to Truman's famous Black and White masquerade Ball .
This banishment from the high society and adulation he so loved sent Truman Capote into a spiral of self-destruction from which he would ultimately never recover.
This is why I think without some background into Truman Capote's personality style and fame this series may seem trivial or melodramatic his genius needs to be acknowledged as well as his flawed bitchy effete self destructive personality.
I think this series and the wonderful performance by Tom Hollander who plays Truman Capote brilliantly in this series might seem exaggerated and over the top but his portrayal of Capote in this era of his life is certainly equal to Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tony Jones and should earn him an Emmy in my opinion.
I've watched interviews with Truman Capote at the time this series is set in 1965 when these events of this series took place and he seems sad but still retained his caustic wit and Tom Hollander gives a truly amazing performance.
It's hard to imagine without knowing a little of Truman Capote's early life and fame that he created the beloved character we know from Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 named Holly Golightly .
Who knows the young fey café society girl Holly Golightly who charmed us so may have been an amalgamation of all the loveable and fallible aspects of his beloved Swans ?
Great Acting, writing and directing the whole package
katiewon1 February 2024
I can't say enough about the great actors playing intriguing society women and how they bring them to life in every movement and word spoken. They are on top of their game and what fun to watch! It gives me hope that Hollywood will see from the success of this show how much more these women have to offer after 50!
Yes the rest of the cast is fantastic- Jessica Lange was fantastic as Truman's mom whose influence on events is evident- even though she's dead. And great shots of NYC and capturing some of the "old" New York City, the Brownstones, the "ladies who lunch", the bath scene. Gus V and team did a great job. I bet this was a lot of fun to make too.
Yes the rest of the cast is fantastic- Jessica Lange was fantastic as Truman's mom whose influence on events is evident- even though she's dead. And great shots of NYC and capturing some of the "old" New York City, the Brownstones, the "ladies who lunch", the bath scene. Gus V and team did a great job. I bet this was a lot of fun to make too.
In Warm Blood?
mls41823 February 2024
Did someone get shot in here?
The most wickedly delicious and campy scene is in the pilot episode. Only two gay men, Ryan Murphy and Gus Van Sant could exaggerate that bloody scene with Happy Rockefeller, the wildebeest with fat ankles. An elephant couldn't survive that much blood loss.
Naomi Watts and Diane Lane are magnificent. They will make this watchable. The other ladies are adequate.
This miniseries has all the typical Ryan Murphy touches. It has cynical sleaze touched with humor, great lines and a minimum of pointless filler scenes.
Whether you like Murphy or not, you have to admit he creates great projects for actresses. Of lesser note, we see more of Capote's self destructive personality.
The most wickedly delicious and campy scene is in the pilot episode. Only two gay men, Ryan Murphy and Gus Van Sant could exaggerate that bloody scene with Happy Rockefeller, the wildebeest with fat ankles. An elephant couldn't survive that much blood loss.
Naomi Watts and Diane Lane are magnificent. They will make this watchable. The other ladies are adequate.
This miniseries has all the typical Ryan Murphy touches. It has cynical sleaze touched with humor, great lines and a minimum of pointless filler scenes.
Whether you like Murphy or not, you have to admit he creates great projects for actresses. Of lesser note, we see more of Capote's self destructive personality.
A celebration of perversity
lor_4 February 2024
By perversity, I'm not referring to sex, but to Truman Capote's attitude as portrayed here. His contrariness to acceptable human behavior is obvious, way too obvious; only Trump makes him look like a piker, and as emphasized by the "Miss Europe 1952" character in this pilot episode, it is the powerful who really are perverse, not the writers.
The quality of the screen writing draws you in, plus the various and obvious inclusion of gimmickry (shock effect of menstrual blood; or the jacking off in the public baths scene) to deliver that je ne sais quoi that only crappy cable networks can provide. But as entertainment the hiring of Gus Van Sant, that hack whose "Psycho" remake remains the all-time worst misuse of cinema I've ever witnessed, is quite destructive. He embraces what's worst about this miniseries and wallows in it, rather than asserting himself (as director) and overcoming the vulgarity and obviousness of some scenes.
We're left with very fine performances: Naomi Watts terrific and understated in her acting as Mrs. Paley; the late Treat Williams quite effective as her powerful husband (I couldn't help wondering how Sigourney Weaver could watch this stuff!) and of course Hollander very broadly capturing the awful side of Capote -I would have preferred a better actor like Toby Jones, but guess what -it's not up to me! I'm just a humble viewer, stuck with whatever crap or on rare occasions caviar is being served up.
The quality of the screen writing draws you in, plus the various and obvious inclusion of gimmickry (shock effect of menstrual blood; or the jacking off in the public baths scene) to deliver that je ne sais quoi that only crappy cable networks can provide. But as entertainment the hiring of Gus Van Sant, that hack whose "Psycho" remake remains the all-time worst misuse of cinema I've ever witnessed, is quite destructive. He embraces what's worst about this miniseries and wallows in it, rather than asserting himself (as director) and overcoming the vulgarity and obviousness of some scenes.
We're left with very fine performances: Naomi Watts terrific and understated in her acting as Mrs. Paley; the late Treat Williams quite effective as her powerful husband (I couldn't help wondering how Sigourney Weaver could watch this stuff!) and of course Hollander very broadly capturing the awful side of Capote -I would have preferred a better actor like Toby Jones, but guess what -it's not up to me! I'm just a humble viewer, stuck with whatever crap or on rare occasions caviar is being served up.
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