1. In Cold Blood Vs. Capote:

First things first, I must say that I am not a fan of movie adaptations, in general. I feel like watching a movie based on a novel, without reading the book first, cheapens the experience of the story and is a bit like cheating. My reasoning?

Watching a movie is a passive experience. You merely sit there and absorb someone else's interpretation of the novel. You are cheated out of using your own imagination to frame and color the story. When you read a book, you are responsible for putting faces to the characters, you are responsible for coloring the imagery and composing the sounds within the story. Its a proactive undertaking of which you are intimately tied with the author. Its more personal. No two people can read the same book in the same way. The experience you get from it is unique. Its yours alone.

For that reason, and even though I received my DVD of Capote a few days before I finished the novel, I refused to watch it till I was done. Well, I watched it last night and here's what I thought.

I thought the movie was ok, but a little shallow in its undertaking of Capote's experience while writing the book. I would have liked to see them spend more time delving into the actual research that went on. They spent a lot of time trying to illustrate what Capote, himself, was like. The truth of the matter is that Capote was an enigma and no amount of 'personal trivia' could possibly illuminate the personality of this strange and troubled man. You don't get any closer to figuring out who Capote was through watching this film. As for the other characters in the film, I felt that they kind of skimmed the surface with them. It made Capote's world seem a little shallow, although that was probably intentional as Capote seems to have been a pretty egotistical guy.

A lot of the names in the book were changed in the movie, which I found baffling. Also, a lot of the dialogues that I found most intriguing in the book did not find its way into the movie. Talks with Bobby about his relationship with Nancy Clutter, Perry Smith (one of the killers) describing the hitch hikers they picked up on their road trips, Richard Hickock (the other killer) describing his childhood.

The best thing about this film is, without a doubt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who took on the title character. He portrayed Capote brilliantly, taking on every aspect of the man's personality, from his accent to his peculiar speaking voice to his hand gestures. His performance is incredible and worth watching the movie for.

It was said that the process of writing In Cold Blood ruined Capote completely. He succumbed to alcoholism and died in 1984 from complications related to the disease. In Cold Blood was Capote's crowning achievement as a writer.... He never completed another novel in his lifetime.


Conclusion: Read the book, watch the movie, then read the book again.


2. Da Vinci Code Vs. Da Vinci Code:

If you loved the book, you'll hate the movie.

If you just managed to get through the book, you'll tolerate the movie.

If you haven't read the book, the movie will rob you of the experience.

............................................................

Now Playing: Dude looks like a lady By: Aerosmith

-Layla

14:54