Christopher and His Kind

Christopher and His Kind, 2011

Director: Geoffrey Sax

Based on an autobiographical novel (1971) by the same name by Christopher Ishwood

Produced by the BBC

The film soon leaves the comforts of gentry London for the underground of Weimar Berlin. Immediately, Christopher is introduced to the cabaret, the brewing politics of the era, and gay life. He meets Caspar, a hustler, seeing him until Caspar vanishes. Christopher next falls in love with Heinz. The film follows Chris and Heinz through a summer, lounging by the lakes of Berlin. But their relationship too is short lived. The targeting of Jews and gays by a soon to be installed Hitler renders life for the couple impossible. Christopher and Heinz seek refuge in Britain and beyond, fleeing from country to country ahead of war. The last glimpse of a young Heinz is at the British government offices where he has been disallowed to stay. Chris offers a kurt "I'm sorry" before exiting the shot to leave a bewildered Heinz, fidgeting, bewildered, alone.

Heinz is eventually caught and sentenced to hard labour in Germany. Christopher meanwhile returns to London before emigrating to the US. He becomes a successful writer. In the final scenes of the film, ten years after the war, Christopher is reunited with Heinz. They make small talk as distanced friends do. Heinz produces a photograph of his new wife, then, a picture of his son, Christian (German for Christopher). Christopher returns Heinz's searching gaze with a blank stare. He pulls off his reading glasses and repeats in a whisper, "Christian." Christopher and Heinz depart for the last time. The postscript indicates Chris and Heinz never communicated with each other again.

Christopher and His Kind is a impactful piece. Emotion is strung taught and just beneath the films surface. Director Geoffrey Sax also peppers his production with humour, skillfully relieving even the most strenuous moments. Those moments are many. The film seriously portrays the stranglehold on vulnerable social groups in rising Nazi Germany. At times, historical events are played out nearly at the cost of the plot. The Night of the Broken Glass, the Book Burning, the day Hitler is made head of state, all carry tremendous associations and consequences, deserving films in their own right. But then again, this is British television and Nazi atrocities sell.

Christiopher's lovers are beautiful, perhaps too beautiful. Alexander Doetsch as Caspar and Douglas Booth as Heinz are distractingly perfect. Some scenes may as well be what Booth also does best, model for Burberry.

Geoffrey Sax's adaptation of the novel appears honest, also to a fault. The flow of the film is discernible by its parts. Again, perhaps due to its intent for television. Yet, the apex of the plot, where Christopher and Heinz meet for a final time, coming only at the end of the film, leaves much to be desired. The scene gives Christopher's character richer dimensions that are otherwise absent. The meeting also raises questions. Surely, Christopher must remember how he loved Heinz. How did Christopher Ishwood emerge to become the famous writer that he now is? The film powerfully depicts love amidst an era brutally hostile to gay men while leaving the torment of loosing love as thin as the postscript.