Truman Capote’s account of the slaughter of a Kansas farming family by two violent drifters has been transformed into a chilling and brutal examination of the nature of violence by director Richard Brooks. The almost paradaisical black and white cinemtography seduces the viewer who is then confronted by the horrific reality of psychotic murder. “In Cold Blood”, as does Capote in his novel, refuses easy moralising, simple sociological explanations and resists turning the material into melodrama or conforming to the dictates of the gangster genre. Edited with sharp precision, this film shocked American viewers on its release by revealing the sadism and ugliness underneath the frontier myth of rural America. Music by Quincy Jones. Starring Robert Blake.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
304432
Language
English
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Sadism in moving pictures
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Kansas
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Crime films
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Gangster films
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Suspense
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Thrillers
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Murderers
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Violent crimes
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Masochism
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Sadism
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Sadism in moving pictures
Feature films
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Masochism
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Sadism
Literature → Literature
Places → Kansas
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)