Capote / All the King’s Men / Gandhi Philip Seymour Hoffman 2007 New DVD

Triple bill of US dramas. In the Oscar-winning ‘Capote’ (2005) it is 1959 and Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a popular writer for The New Yorker, learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story material, Capote and his partner, Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), travel to the town to research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, ‘In Cold Blood’. In ‘All The King’s Men’ (2006), Sean Penn plays Willie ‘Boss’ Stark, a weak provincial political candidate who undergoes a transformation into a charismatic man of the people by becoming an unashamed populist. In the classic political transformation, however, his ideology is soon trampled under the weight of accumulating wealth and influence. Jude Law stars as Jack Burden, the former reporter tailing Stark’s career arc with a cynical eye. Richard Attenborough’s Academy Award-winning epic ‘Gandhi’ (1982) follows the extraordinary life of Mahatma Gandhi (played by Ben Kingsley), from his beginnings as a young Indian lawyer to his triumph as a revolutionary – whose philosophy of non-violent protest helped gain India its independence. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.