''Christopher and His Kind'' is a 2011 BBC television film. It tells the story of

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

's exploits in Berlin in the early 1930s. The film, adapted by Kevin Elyot from Isherwood's autobiography ''

Christopher and His Kind ''Christopher and His Kind'' is a 1976 memoir by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood, first printed in a 130-copy edition by Sylvester & Orphanos, then in general publication by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. In the text, Isherwood candidly e ...

'', was produced by

Mammoth Screen Mammoth Screen is a UK-based production company that was established in 2007 by Michele Buck and Damien Timmer. It produces drama for key UK broadcasters, especially ITV, and international distribution. Others may be looking for Mammoth Picture ...

and directed by

Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax (sometimes credited as Geoff Sax) is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of drama productions in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Life and career He began his directing career in the la ...

. Isherwood is played by Matt Smith, whilst the cast also includes

Douglas Booth Douglas John Booth (born 9 July 1992) is an English actor and musician. He first came to public attention following his performance as Boy George in the BBC Two film ''Worried About the Boy'' (2010). He also starred in the BBC adaptations of ' ...

Imogen Poots Imogen Gay Poots (born 3 June 1989) is an English actress and model. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film '' 28 Weeks Later'' (2007), Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic '' Jimi: All Is by My Side'' (2013), Debbie Raymond in ...

Pip Carter Pip Carter is an English actor. Career He attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester, Kent. Before starting his professional career, Carter trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) where he appeared in produc ...

, Toby Jones, and Alexander Dreymon.

Plot

In Los Angeles in 1976,

begins writing his memoir. The film flashes back to 1931 as Christopher prepares to leave England for Germany, against the wishes of his mother Kathleen. On the train he meets

Gerald Hamilton Gerald Bernard Francis Hamilton (1 November 1890 – 9 June 1970) was a British memoirist, critic and internationalist known as "the wickedest man in Europe".''The Man Who Was Norris: The life of Gerald Hamilton'', Tom Cullen, Daedalus, 2014. ...

, an English ne'er-do-well of Irish descent, who suggests that Christopher take a room at the boarding house where he lives. Upon his arrival in Berlin, Christopher meets his friend

Wystan Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety ...

, who takes him to the Cosy Corner, a seedy gay club populated by hustlers. Christopher takes up residence at Gerald's boarding house under landlady Fräulein Thurau. There he becomes fast friends with

Jean Ross Jean Iris Ross Cockburn ( ; 7 May 1911 – 27 April 1973) was a British writer, political activist, and film critic. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), she was a war correspondent for the ''Daily Express'' and is thought to have been a ...

, an aspiring actress who sings at an underground club. He also begins a tumultuous affair with Caspar, one of the rentboys from the Cosy Corner. Their relationship continues until Caspar abruptly disappears. Christopher does not see him until many months later and is horrified to see that he has joined the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. To earn a living Christopher offers English lessons. One of his students is Wilfrid Landauer (based on the true person of

Wilfrid Israel Wilfrid Berthold Jacob Israel (11 July 1899 – 1 June 1943) was an Anglo-German businessman and philanthropist, born into a wealthy Anglo-German Jewish family, who was active in the rescue of Jews from Nazi Germany, and who played a significan ...

), the wealthy Jewish owner of a department store. He entreats Christopher to take a political stand against Nazism but Christopher, as an artist, initially demurs. Herr Landauer's home is ransacked by the Nazis and they lead a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

against his and other Jewish-owned businesses. Christopher last sees Wilfrid when their eyes sorrowfully meet over a bonfire of books the Nazis are burning. Heinz Neddermayer, a street sweeper whom Christopher spies from a café, enters Christopher's life and they fall in love. Frau Neddermeyer looks kindly upon Christopher but Heinz's brother Gerhardt, a Nazi sympathizer, detests him. When Frau Neddermayer enters a sanatorium for treatment of tuberculosis, Gerhardt angrily advises Heinz that Christopher and Jean are no longer welcome in his home. Bobby Gilbert, the American steel heir, whom Jean had been courting to take her to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, departs Berlin suddenly, leaving Jean bereft and pregnant. She pawns her jewellery to pay for an abortion and soon after leaves Berlin as well. With the Nazis gaining in power, Christopher and Heinz decide to leave Berlin. They travel to England where Christopher tries to secure permanent residency for Heinz. Their hopes are dashed, however, when a passport officer denies Heinz a permit to remain in the country. The couple decide to travel around Europe, avoiding a return to Nazi Germany. Several years later Jean and Christopher chance upon each other in an outdoor café in England. They reminisce and he tells her that Heinz was eventually arrested and sentenced to prison, followed by a stint in the army. Jean confides that she does not miss Berlin. The scene shifts to 1952. Christopher has returned to Berlin for the first time since 1934, to write a magazine article. He reunites with Heinz who, following the partition of the city, ended up in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. He has married and has a son named Christoph. Heinz expresses his wish that Christopher should find a family of his own and suggests that he and his family could move to America and become Christopher's family as well. Christopher refuses to commit to the idea but promises to remain in contact with Heinz. He visits his old boarding house for a joyful reunion with Fräulein Thurau, whose home ended up being in the American sector of the city. She presents him with the dolphin clock that adorned his old room, exhorting him to look at it and remember happy times. 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.

Cast

* Matt Smith as

as Heinz Neddermeyer *

as W. H. Auden * Toby Jones as

* Alexander Dreymon as Caspar *

Tom Wlaschiha Thomas Wlaschiha (born 20 June 1973) is a German actor. Internationally, he is known for his roles as Jaqen H'ghar in the second, fifth and sixth seasons of the TV series '' Game of Thrones'', as well as Sebastian Berger in the TV series ''Cr ...

as Gerhardt Neddermeyer * Issy Van Randwyck as Fräulein Thurau * Gertrude Thoma as Lili Neddermayer * Lindsay Duncan as Kathleen Isherwood * Perry Millward as Richard Isherwood * Iddo Goldberg as Wilfrid Landauer * Will Kemp as Bobby Gilbert *

Stuart Graham Leslie Stuart Graham (born 9 January 1942) is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Saloon car racing specialist. He is the son of the 1949 500cc world champion, Leslie Graham. Graham started racing in 1961 on a 125 cc ...

as Passport officer

Production

''Christopher and His Kind'' was shot in Belfast, Northern Ireland. To research the role, Matt Smith read Isherwood's novels, watched video footage of Isherwood and traveled to the United States to meet Isherwood's longtime companion, Don Bachardy. "Just seeing the love Don had for him, and to be in the space where Christopher had lived and written was very informative." For her portrayal of aspiring chanteuse Jean Ross, actress Imogen Poots claimed that she attempted to show Ross' personality as "convincingly fragile beneath layers of attitude." However, Poots did not wish to depict Ross as a talented singer. Poots explained that—in her estimation—if "Jean had been that good, she wouldn't have been wasting her time hanging around with Isherwood in the cabarets of the Weimar Republic, she would have been on her way, perhaps, to the life she dreamed of in

Critical reception

Sam Wollaston of '' The Guardian'' strongly praised ''Christopher and His Kind'', citing an excellent performance from Smith, whom he calls "appealingly rakish, thoroughly disreputable, charming, posh, clever and funny" and compares favorably to

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in ...

's performances as Quentin Crisp. He similarly praised several of the other performers and applauded the film for its masterful evocation of its time period, concluding, "Brilliant, top drama, well done." Michael Hogan for '' The Sunday Telegraph'' concurred in this assessment, calling the film "handsomely shot, lovingly recreating the period, but with a twinkling, tongue-in-cheek feel – not to mention some lusty sex scenes – that stops it becoming too misty-eyed". He echoed the kudos for the performances from Smith and the supporting cast. Less impressed was

John Lloyd John Lloyd may refer to: Artists, writers, and entertainers *John J. Lloyd (1922–2014), American art director and production designer *John Lloyd (graphic designer) (born 1944), co-founder of design consultancy Lloyd Northover *John Lloyd (journa ...

for the '' Financial Times'' who found the gay sex scenes discomfiting. Additionally he thought that the acting was not intense enough, finding the scenes between Christopher and his mother to be the most effective. The film, he concluded, "wasn’t great but it was bravely done, all the same".

References

External links

* * {{Isherwood 2011 television films 2011 films 2011 LGBT-related films 2011 biographical drama films 2011 romantic drama films BBC television dramas Biographical television films British biographical drama films British romantic drama films British LGBT-related television films British drama television films Films based on biographies Films directed by Geoffrey Sax Films set in 1931 Films set in 1952 Films set in 1976 Films set in Berlin Films shot in Northern Ireland Gay-related films LGBT-related films based on actual events LGBT-related romantic drama films Romance films based on actual events Romance television films Television films based on books Films scored by Dominik Scherrer Biographical films about LGBT people Films about writers 2010s British films