The Capote Tapes

American novelist Truman Capote was just 59 years old when he died, but the mark he left on popular culture was indelible. Between his stinging wit, distinctive appearance and high-society friendships, Capote was every bit as colourful and intriguing as the characters he wrote about in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Other Voices, Other Rooms and In Cold Blood. With its wealth of archive footage and behind-the-scenes insight, The Capote Tapes paints a stark and moving portrait of the literary icon, mixing fresh interviews with vintage audio recordings of chats with Capote's contemporaries, including André Leon Talley, Norman Mailer and Lauren Bacall. Covering everything from the writer's adoption of daughter Kate Harrington to the stir caused by his great unfinished society novel Answered Prayers, director Ebs Burnough leaves no stone unturned as he delves into the life and work of a man variously labelled a "candied tarantula", "a sleazy bit of work" and "an absolute freak" - and that was just by his friends. Capote remains utterly beguiling throughout, and his sharp intellect and all-too-human frailty are sensitively explored in a documentary that offers a captivating tribute to one of our greatest (and rarest) cultural heroes.