In Cold Blood

Powerful adaptation of Truman Capote’s true-crime novel about the massacre of a family in Kansas, and the manhunt for the killers.

Late in 1959, Perry Smith breaks parole to join Dick Hickock in robbing a wealthy Kansas farmer. Result: four corpses and a massive man-hunt. Never offering a simplistic explanation for the killings, Richard Brooks’ script explores a range of psychological and social factors and wisely lets larger ethical issues speak for themselves. Also impressive are Conrad Hall’s ‘Scope’ camerawork, a Quincy Jones score and uniformly superb performances. Crucially, Blake as the volatile but strangely sympathetic Smith, and Wilson as the amoral but canny charmer Hickock, are especially excellent. Ageless, all too relevant, darkly powerful.