Christopher Isherwood Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: A Single Man
Filed under: Drama », Gay & Lesbian », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », The Weinstein Co. »
A Single Man is based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood, which is written as the internal monologue of a man who has made up his mind to commit suicide. If you know this, the first few minutes of the movie are a bit unnerving. Colin Firth, playing the title character -- a handsome, low-key college professor named George -- narrates the opening scenes by essentially reading lengthy passages from the book: the laziest possible approach to a challenging adaptation. There's little that does more to try my patience than this sort of extended "literary" voiceover. Not to be melodramatic, but in its worst incarnations, it's an affront to cinema. At the very least it misses the point.
Within a few minutes, though, first-time director Tom Ford finds his groove. Ford is a fashion designer by trade, a fact to which early reviewers have done their darnedest to ascribe significance -- a bit of a contrived exercise, it seems to me, since one certainly could not guess his prior occupation just from watching the film. In fact, despite the shaky start, Ford finds an elegant, striking way of bringing this material to the screen. Much of A Single Man is an elegiac tone poem, rendered haunting by Ford's beautifully composed images, and propelled by a gorgeous, somewhat Philip Glass-like musical score by little-known Polish composer Abel Korzeniowski. If you want a reference point, I'd name The Hours, which may send some readers screaming from the room -- but Ford's film has the same sort of nimble flow and sorrowful beauty.
Matthew Goode to Play 'A Single Man' with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore
Filed under: Drama », Gay & Lesbian », Casting »
Being the replaced man in Imagine Me & You, Matthew Goode (soon-to-be Watchmen) managed to balance the anger and loneliness of being second place while his wife found true love with their wedding florist. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that he gets to be the dead remembrance of A Single Man along with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.This is Tom Ford's adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel about a gay Englishman and professor named George (Firth). Over the course of one day, the story follows George as he tries to continue his normal life and routine after the death of his partner Jim (Goode). Moore will play one of his fellow professors.
It'll be nice to see Firth take on an entirely different romantic role, in the wake of his many typical romances. As for the story, being "one of the first and best novels of the modern gay liberation movement," it should come as no surprise that the book was dedicated to friend and fellow writer Gore Vidal. So perhaps Vidal can play an educated cameo once again? We'll know soon enough -- the project is about to head into production.
Review: Chris & Don: A Love Story
Filed under: Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters »
A real-life romance to put all those rom-com fairy tales to shame, Tina Mascara and Guido Santi's Chris & Don: A Love Story details the unlikely union between British author Christopher Isherwood - chiefly famous for writing The Berlin Stories, which was the basis for Cabaret - and Don Bachardy, a man thirty years his junior. From the outset, age was the monumental difference between the two, as Isherwood had already achieved professional recognition and befriended countless literary and filmic celebrities (including classmate W.H. Auden) when, in 1952, he met 18-year-old Bachardy on a Santa Monica beach. Having first had a fling with the young man's brother, Isherwood quickly fell for the bright-faced, energetic Bachardy, an L.A. suburbanite conditioned by his mother to adore all things Hollywood who saw in the writer a handsome, sophisticated father figure and role model. As friend John Boorman opines, Bachardy was a malleable individual eager to be shaped by Isherwood into a version (if not outright carbon copy) of himself, a dynamic that became so pronounced that the teenager, raised in California, soon began unconsciously speaking with a British accent.
Isherwood/Bachardy Doc Gets a Distributor
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Romance », Deals », Distribution »
Last year, we got the previously-untold story of Danny Williams and his forays in love and Warhol. This year, we're getting a documentary about writer Christopher Isherwood and his long, 30-year love affair with artist Don Bachardy called Chris & Don: A Love Story, which comes from newbie directors Guido Santi and Tina Mascara. Variety reports that Zeitgeist Films has nabbed the domestic rights to the documentary, with plans for a festival run, a limited summer release, and an expanded run after that. The film details the partnership, which began when Isherwood was 49 on Valentine's Day, 1953. (How romantic, eh?) He met the young, 18-year-old Bachardy at a beach in Santa Monica, and the huge age difference did not deter him. Nor did the waves the unconventional union made. For the most part, the couple remained together for the rest of Isherwood's life -- an impressive 33 years.
Andy Herwitz, of Film Sales Co., negotiated the deal, and says: "The fact that the film is about the 30-year love relationship between two men made it a natural for a number of the gay distributors to pursue. What I think is telling is that, ultimately, the strongest and best offer came from Zeitgeist, an arthouse distributor which appeals to mainstream audiences. I think this augurs for the crossover potential of the film." Now if only someone could make a film about Gore Vidal and Jimmie Trimble.
Has Chris Evans Won Captain America's Shield?
When Netflix Isn't Enough
Full-Length 'Predators' Trailer Debuts
Frankenstein is 100 Years Old! Watch His First Movie Now!
Bryan Singer May Direct 'X-Men 4' and 'Wolverine 2'
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
