Christopher and His Kind (UK)

This film was made for TV Uk film. I am by now very surprised how open Uk is about telecasting TV movies on gay subjects on BBC channel. I wonder when will America ever be so open about these things. Anyway. coming back, this film is autobiography of famous write Christopher Isherwood and his life in Berlin in early 1930s. The film is based on his book which itself became controversial when certain things were written about certain people who now enjoyed a healthy, successful and scandal free life.

Christopher is leaving England to go to Germany against the wishes of his mother. He meets Gerald on the train who suggest he can live in the same boarding house as him run by the landlady. Once in Berlin Christpher meets his friend Wystan (who we later find out that Wystan actually loves Christopher) who takes him to a seedy gay club populated by hustlers. In the boarding house, he becomes good friends with Jean, an aspiring actress. Christopher stars an affair with Caspar who is a hustler. The affair lasts till Caspar suddenly disappears and join the Nazis. Soon Heinz enters Christopher's life who is a street sweeper. They fall in true love for each other. Heinz's mother likes him but his brother, a Nazi sympathizer despises him. jean is left pregnant by one of her suitors and leaves Berlin soon after she gets an abortion. With the Nazis gaining in power, Christopher and Heinz decide to leave Berlin. They travel to England and Christopher tries to secure permanent residency in England for Heinz. Their hopes are dashed, however, when a passport officer denies Heinz a permit to remain in the country. We later find out that Heinz was eventually arrested, spent time in prison and finally in army. Almost 20 years later, when Christopher goes to Berlin again, he meets Heinz again who is now married with a son. He coaxes Christopher to have a family and also proposes that his family could be Chris' family if they can come to America. Christopher refuses to commit to the idea but promises to remain in contact with Heinz.

The guy playing Christopher does a good acting job. At time sI found his accent and mannerisms a little over the top but I am ready to give him the benefit of doubt because of the period the film was set in. It is not an easy job to portray autobiographical characters. The fact that the film was true story of a write makes it much more interesting. Had it been just a regular fictional story, I would be surprised if many people will find it appealing. Some of the explicit sex scenes were also fun to watch. Closing titles convey that the next year, 1953, Christopher met Don Bachardy and the two remained together until Isherwood's death. Christopher and His Kind was published in 1976 and Heinz, shocked at its frankness, never communicated with Christopher again which is completely understandable since Heinz was by then a successful 'straight' man.

The film wasn’t great but it was bravely done. (5.5/10)