I saw
this made-for-TV BBC film when it first came out in DVD, but this is the first
time I’ve seen it since reading the memoir on which it’s based. While my newfound knowledge of and love for
the book definitely colors my opinion of the movie, I’ll try and keep this
review as film-based as possible and save the comparisons for another post.
Like
the book, the film presents Christopher Isherwood’s time in pre-war Berlin,
where he meets the people who would inspire the characters in The Berlin Stories. His official reason for going to Berlin is
just that: a change of scene in which to
write. Unofficially, though, his real
aim is to fall in love with beautiful German boys. Similar to Cliff/Brian in Cabaret (depending on if you’re talking
about the stage or screen version,) he savors the party in Berlin while he can,
until the looming specter of the coming war is too stark to ignore.
As far
as the plot goes, the movie feels a bit stitched together. Scenes are sometimes placed alongside each
other rather than strictly seeming to lead into one another, although, based on
the source material, it’s an understandable fault. I really can’t think of a single Isherwood
book I’ve loved for its riveting, tightly-drawn plot. No – the beauty of Isherwood is the
extraordinary life he breathes into his fascinatingly-specific characters, and
that’s particularly true in this film, which presents the real people he
fashioned into characters. To that
extent, it doesn’t really matter what’s
happening onscreen, as long as Gerald Hamilton, Jean Ross, and Christopher
himself, are part of it.
Which
of course means that the acting is vital.
Can the performances make these people as vibrant as they are on the
page? As Christopher, Matt Smith is
superb: intellectual, naively
unaccustomed to life in Germany, somewhat snobbish, ironic, a bit bitchy, and
wonderfully earnest in love. He’s somehow
aloof and warm at the same time, and it’s clear why people would be drawn to
him. I always like seeing Toby Jones
(the Dream Lord from series 5 of Who,)
and his Gerald (a.k.a. Mr. Norris) is very well-realized. He has Gerald’s affectations and vanity down
to a tee. And I can’t sing the praises
of Imogen Poots (also excellent in Miss
Austen Regrets, another fine British telly biopic) highly enough. Her Jean is undeniably the best Sally Bowles
I’ve ever seen. She’s simultaneously
brash and brazen and vulnerable, and the way she sings is perfect: just shy of in-tune,
and lackadaisically, like she’s doing you a favor by letting you watch her.
Because
this is a BBC production, there are plenty of other familiar faces. As Christopher’s mother, Lindsay Duncan
steals every scene she’s in, Pip Carter (who previously worked with Matt Smith
in Party Animals) plays W.H. Auden,
Christopher’s boyfriend Heinz is played by Douglas Booth (recently Pip in a
Masterpiece production of Great
Expectations,) and who’s that playing Heinz’s brother, who’s being drawn in
by the Nazi’s promises? None other than
Tom Wlaschiha, Jaqen frickin’ H’ghar from Game
of Thrones.
Warnings
A fair
amount of sexual content (including sex scenes, flashes of nudity, and a brief
depiction of BDSM,) some language, drinking, smoking, and thematic elements.
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