Documentary Review: 'The Capote Tapes'

When it comes to Truman Capote it’s fair to wonder if there is anything new to learn about the man. Capote’s life and work have been explored in books, television series, documentaries and even a pair of biographical films released within a year of each other, Capote starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman in 2005 and Infamous starring Toby Jones, released in 2006. More recently a stage play and documentary was made regarding Capote’s friendship with Tennessee Williams, a fellow tempestuous writer with a lengthy and well documented history.

So, hearing that there is yet another work discussing the life of Truman Capote may seem rather exhausting on the surface. Thankfully, I am here to assuage your fears. The Capote Tapes, from director Ebs Burnough treads only some of the most well-tread areas of Capote’s life but finds its purpose and place of usefulness in following the story of what happened to what Capote called his most personal and dangerous book, Answered Prayers.

Answered Prayers was the name of what would have been Capote’s final book. Having worked on the book for over two decades, promoting it even as far back as the late 1960s on The Dick Cavett Show, Answered Prayers was supposed to be Capote’s expose of his closest friends, his so-called ‘Swans,’ the rich patrons who helped to fund Capote’s lavish lifestyle throughout his rise to fame and prominence in the mid-1950s through the 1960s.

It was viewed by many as Capote’s way of biting the hands that fed him, exposing the secrets of rich society women who were drawn to Capote as a friend and lifestyle accoutrement. He was beloved by many of these women but he was also ornamental, a high priced jester who entertained friends at parties with his razor sharp wit and unmatched storytelling skill. Kate Harrington, whom Capote took on as an adopted daughter after dating her father, speaks poignantly in The Capote Tapes about how Truman really felt about being the life of everyone’s party.

For all the love that was seemingly lavished upon Capote by his rich friends, he always felt more than a little used and abused during this time. Those feelings were allegedly being channeled into Answered Prayers which contained veiled references to things that really happened in the lives of famous socialites and friends of Truman. So closely did Answered Prayers come to reality that when Capote published a single chapter in Esquire, in the early 1970s, everyone who read it seemed to know who the fictional lead character was intended to be.

The Capote Tapes, directed by Ebs Burnough, takes its name from tapes made by Author George Plimpton who interviewed many of Capote’s ‘Swans’ for a project he was once working on. The tapes were lost for a time and are revealed for seemingly the first time in years in the documentary. The tapes give shape to the documentary and a purposeful sort of narrative as they build toward the ultimate fate of Answered Prayers, a fate that is still a mystery to this day.

The Capote Tapes doesn’t answer the question of what happened to Answered Prayers because no one, other than the late author, knows what Capote did with the book. Did he finish it? He told some friends that he had but he was notorious for wanting to make changes all the way up to his death in 1984. Capote had even accepted a $2 million dollar advance on the book despite never delivering the final product to his publisher.

Sean, here, a wonderful reader pointed out that I was very wrong about this. Answered Prayers was released in 1986, two years after Capote's Death. I misunderstood the ending of the documentary as implying there was a mystery regarding Answered Prayers. I should have done a little more research.

Rather than trying to find the answer to the Answered Prayers mystery, The Capote Tapes tantalizes with stories that may have contributed to Answered Prayers and airs the words of those who unwittingly aided Capote in creating his supposedly scandalous tome. The documentary never turns fully salacious or gossipy but it gives you just enough of a glimpse of Capote's inspiration as to make you yearn for Answered Prayers to come to life and satisfy your curiosity.

The Capote Tapes will be available via streaming rental services on Friday, September 10th, 2021.