2024-04-19 13:58:19
Among Truman Capote’s staunch admirers were the so-called Swans, a group of New York high society women who listened with malicious delight to his anecdotes about the lives of Hollywood’s elite. But the famous writer betrayed their trust in such a way that they never forgave him. The case is told in a mini-series, which can now be seen on the Disney+ platform.
The leading American novelist of the second half of the 20th century, Capote became famous for his stylistically polished novella from the bohemian world Breakfast at Tiffany’s or his pioneering true crime novel In Cold Blood. An eight-part series called Bad Blood – Capote Vs. the swan concentrates more on his personal life, but still lets his wit and storytelling skills stand out.
He used both to entertain friends he met in New York’s glitzy bistros, cafes and restaurants. He was rewarded with warm attention. Through the eyes of the creators, he developed a similar addiction to it as he later did to drugs and alcohol. He did not hesitate to sacrifice lifelong friendships for fame.
Sixty years later, in the age of social media and instant celebrities deriving their worth from the number of Instagram followers, the theme is still relevant. That’s probably why TV hitmaker Ryan Murphy reached out to him. He already reflected on the price of fame and the obsessive cultivation of his own cult in the series Pose and Hollywood or the first series of Bad Blood with the subtitle Bette and Joan, which in 2017 brought the almost murderous rivalry between the actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis to the television screens.
Originally, Bad Blood was supposed to continue the story of Princess Diana. However, this did not happen, and Murphy only found suitable material for uncovering another star scandal in the book bestseller Capote’s Women from 2021.
A secret revealed
This time, the very first episode reveals the cause of the feud. In 1975, Esquire magazine printed a chapter from Capote’s never-completed novel Answered Prayers. In it, the scathing critic of social conditions revealed, without much concealment, the naughty secrets of his female friends, with whom he regularly dined and discussed gossip in the luxurious Manhattan restaurant La Côte Basque. Among them were Babe Paley, married to the founder of the CBS television station, Slim Keith, whose boyfriend was the actor Cary Grant, CZ Guest, who was immortalized in his paintings by Diego Rivera, or Ann Woodward. According to Capote, she shot her own husband.
Chloë Sevigny in the role of CZ Guest. | Photo: Pari Dukovic
None of the ladies expected that a regular attendee of their parties would use the confidential chat without permission to write. They were all the more surprised and enraged by his bluntness.
Capote, in turn, underestimated how much social influence the “swans” have and how hungry they will be for revenge. In the miniseries, he becomes persona non grata and threatens to lose access to the world of luxury in which he has already settled. The story jumps clumsily between several decades in subsequent episodes, tracing both the devastating consequences of the split and the history of Capote’s relationships with the women in question.
Relationship with mother
It would be enough and Bad Blood would slip to the boulevard, which would portray the “swans” as caricatures of wealthy ladies. However, screenwriter Jon Robin Baitz and the trio of directors use the generous footage and talent of the cast actresses to show them in diverse positions.
We have the opportunity to look under the elegant masks, to see the pride, cunning, fear and insecurity with which they face unrelenting social pressure. The authors leave the contradictory characters with dignity, but at the same time do not excuse their numerous character flaws.
The series could be a comeback for Demi Moore in the role of Ann. | Photo: Pari Dukovic
Babe was most affected by the writer’s indiscretion. Naomi Watts plays a fragile woman who at the same time can show unexpected hardness. She considered Capote a kindred spirit, trusting him more than her chauvinist husband. The strongest line of the series, which later branches into many directions and loses its initial impact, is precisely the disintegration of their friendship.
Diane Lane plays Slim, who takes command of the anti-Truman brigade after the short story is published. The series could be a big comeback for Demi Moore in the role of Ann, a mentally unstable woman who is not too happy that Capote made her a murderer. Chloë Sevigny as CZ Guest, on the other hand, maintains balance. He brings warmth and humor to a dark story.
Jessica Lange as Capote’s dead mother enriches the narrative with elements of a gothic novel. Their broken relationship serves the creators as a key to the writer’s personality. Freud would have danced. From his attitude towards his mother, the protagonist’s behavior towards other fateful women, for whom he was, as needed, an entertainer, a surrogate husband or a confidant who stood by them with a glass of scotch and a valium pill even when others turned away from them. It is only gradually becoming clear what Capote was getting in return for his “services”.
Even the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s does not appear as a devilish figure in the story. Played by Tom Hollander, he completes the gallery of ambivalent queer men from Murphy’s previous series, such as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer or fashion designers Gianni Versace and Halston. Because of his desire for visibility, he treats those he cares about most cruelly. However, the recognition he gets from it turns out to be rather fleeting. He finds that the end of a long-term relationship hurts more than a hangover after a party he was invited to, perhaps a little undeservedly.
Bad Blood Miniseries – Capote Vs. Swans is on the Disney+ platform with Czech subtitles. | Video: FX
Desire for love
Like Toby Jones in the film Dubious Fame and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the drama Capote, Hollander also excels in imitating the writer’s distinctive gestures and voice. He based his performance on the contrast between external theatricality and internal loneliness. Never, even when he becomes the main star of a masquerade ball in the documentary-styled third episode, does he fall into parody. Behind the layers of affect, we still perceive a person who longs for fame, money and for others to love him sincerely, without pretense.
Taking place in a single day, the minimalistic fifth episode, following the example of films like Before Dawn, consists mainly of apt dialogue between two characters. As Capote’s friend, the African-American writer James Baldwin, notes in it, gays in the 1950s and 1960s could not count on the same stable support community as other minorities. Even their loved ones tolerated rather than accepted their sexual identity. Even Capote is convinced of this, whom Babe callously calls a “homosexual court jester” after the publication of the scandalous text.
The statement touches on another prominent motif of the layered series – the discrepancy between reality and the roles we portray. Either for others or within the fairy tales and myths we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Truman Capote was famous for his flamboyant behavior and dressing. It follows from the series that in this way he built a defensive rampart between himself and his surroundings. When everything is a show, nothing can hurt you. Babe was paradoxically one of the few people he wasn’t afraid to open up to. This is also why their sparkling verbal exchanges belong to the most emotionally rich scenes of the series.
Many other dialogues lack a similar dynamic. Directors Gus Van Sant, Jennifer Lynch and Max Winkler stick pretty close to the wall except for the third and fifth episodes. They make the actors and period details stand out, which transport us to the classy environment of the cream of New York. Jewels on the women, lacquered furniture on the floor, modernist paintings on the walls. But costumes, hairstyles and scenography are not only used to dazzle the audience. They help to characterize characters for whom an opulent appearance is essential.
The submission of form and style to internal and external conflicts leads to narrative stagnation, especially in the later, more melancholic and introspective episodes. The enduring and timeless theme of interpersonal bonds and the tribulation that comes when they are broken, the miniseries dilutes rather than develops. However, the personality of Truman Capote, who could not choose between attention and closeness and ended up losing both, is fascinating until the bitter end.
Serial
Bad Blood – Capote Vs. swans
Creators: Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam
The miniseries can be seen in the Disney+ video library.