Christopher and His Kind *** (2011, Matt Smith, Douglas Booth, Imogen Poots, Pip Carter, Toby Jones) – Classic Movie Review 12,985

Kevin Elyot’s effort to adapt Christopher Isherwood’s autobiography Christopher and His Kind to film shows, and it is uphill work for Matt Smith too.

Matt Smith takes a break in 2011 from playing the Doctor in the BBC’s hit series Doctor Who to film the BBC TV movie Christopher and His Kind. He plays British-American author Christopher Isherwood entirely well enough and with very great care, but he isn’t ideal casting, and he doesn’t light the rather elusive character up brightly enough, though he is a very good actor and he does provide what light he can.

Christopher and His Kind tells the story of Isherwood’s exploits in Berlin in the early 1930s during the rise of Nazism and how he and his German street sweeper boyfriend Heinz (Douglas Booth) met and fell in love.

The film is a mite troublesome too, and Kevin Elyot’s effort to adapt Isherwood’s autobiography Christopher and His Kind to film shows. There is a slightly stale feel, maybe even a rancid, bitter taste, about it all. It is uphill work for both Smith and Elyot, though they do get some way up the hill. Smith may be admirable – it was a brave move when he was Doctor Who – but certainly can’t do for Isherwood what John Hurt did as Quentin Crisp.

Many will find the film revealing, perhaps fascinating, but only those who don’t know the story. It adds nothing to the autobiography or to Isherwood’s original 1937 short story Sally Bowles, or to Cabaret for that matter. And somehow, it is not fully moving or deeply compelling. Yes, it’s well crafted in the BBC period drama manner, all very meticulous, but is it finally a bit bland? It’s just in the interesting category, a postscript or footnote to previously told versions of the story.

In the acting categories, Lindsay Duncan is tremendous as Christopher’s mother Kathleen Isherwood, firing up her scenes with Smith, but other actors seem less well cast and less comfortable. None of them seems quite right. Imogen Poots makes Jean Ross, aka Sally Bowles, properly infuriating, and Toby Jones makes Gerald Hamilton properly disgusting. They are both amusing showcases for actors’ turns. But why are we interested in these characters? Why was Isherwood interested in them, fascinated by them? The film doesn’t reveal any answers.

It was shot in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Ulster Unionists protested the roof-to-ground Nazi swastika banners being hung on buildings, so those exterior scenes could only be filmed very early morning or very late night.

Filming took place from 16 May 2010 to 8 June 2010. It was released in Germany and France on 20 February 2011 and on BBC Two in the UK on 19 March 2011.

The cast are Matt Smith as Christopher Isherwood, Douglas Booth as Heinz Neddermeyer, Imogen Poots as Jean Ross, Pip Carter as W H Auden, Toby Jones as Gerald Hamilton, Alexander Dreymon as Caspar, Tom Wlaschiha 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, and Stuart Graham as Passport officer.

The BBC gave Geoffrey Sax, this movie’s director, strict instructions that Smith was never allowed to be shown nude. Sax recalled: ‘They told me I must not show Doctor Who’s bare bottom. They were quite firm about that, even though Matt was playing an entirely different character. They have invested a lot in him as the 11th Doctor and were due to make a second series with him, so they were obviously anxious to protect their property.’

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,985

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