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Chris & Don. A Love Story
Universal acclaim
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Directed by:
Tina Mascara
Guido Santi
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 13, 2008
DVD: February 24, 2009
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Christopher Isherwood, and Don Bachardy
Chris & Don: A Love Story is the true-life story of the passionate three-decade relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood and American portrait painter Don Bachardy, thirty years his junior. From Isherwood’s Kit-Kat-Club years in Weimar-era Germany (the inspiration for his most famous work) to the couple’s first meeting on the sun-kissed beaches of 1950s Malibu, their against-all-odds saga is brought to dazzling life by a treasure trove of multimedia. Bachardy’s contemporary reminiscences (in the Santa Monica home he shared with Isherwood until his death in 1986) artfully interact with archival footage, rare home movies (with glimpses of glitterati pals W.H. Auden, Igor Stravinsky and Tennessee Williams), reenactments, and, most sweetly, whimsical animations based on the cat-and-horse cartoons the pair used in their personal correspondence. With Isherwood’s status as an out-and-proud gay maverick, and Bachardy’s eventual artistic triumph away from the considerable shadow of his life partner, Chris & Don: A Love Story is above all a joyful celebration of a most extraordinary couple. (Zeitgeist Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand
This is the portrait of a marriage as full and enviable as the greatest unions in literature.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
A celebration -- of love, commitment and devotion until the bitter end. Gay and straight viewers alike are sure to be inspired by this lyrical testament to a corollary of Tolstoy's famous dictum: Every unhappy family might be unhappy in its own way, but every genuinely happy family is a triumph.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Chris & Don is the rarest of documentaries: a realistic portrait of the human spirit.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Even a klutz could hardly make a bad movie about these compelling figures. Thankfully though, Guido Santi and Tina Mascara are superb filmmakers, fully alive in their terrific film Chris & Don: A Love Story to all the undercurrents of art, social class, sexual orientation, challenging relationships and, most especially, the touching love story at the heart of their film.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ernest Hardy
With his elegant cadence, crisp comedic timing, and witty flipping of homophobic stereotypes--in his very choice and use of language--Bachardy is that story come to life: the student who eventually mirrored his teacher, the molded who became a duplicate of the mold.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
The elegantly structured documentary weaves extensive footage of Mr. Bachardy rummaging through their house and reminiscing with readings from Isherwood's diaries by Michael York, old interviews with Isherwood, home movies of their travels and glamorous social life, and commentary by friends, including Leslie Caron and the British filmmaker John Boorman.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Sid Smith
A fascinating documentary, one much better than its rather flat and unimaginative title.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Describing the early stages of their sexual attraction, Bachardy sums up the whole outrageously fortunate arc of his life. "It was exactly what the boy wanted," Bachardy says. "And he flourished."
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Their love story was inevitably complicated. And so is the documentary Chris & Don: A Love Story -- not simply a love letter to love -- by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Robert Abele
Though drawn together by the thrill of infatuation, fostered by Isherwood's penchant for emergent male youth and Bachardy's awe of fame and glitz, the pair developed a durable love strengthened by nurturing and patience. In recounting this journey, directors Guido Santi and Tina Mascara make rich use of the couple's glamorous home movies.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
To describe the novelist's final days, Bachardy opens a drawer and begins pulling out the magnificent deathbed drawings he did of Isherwood -- a fusion of art and love that's deeply moving.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
In part, the documentary answers the question of why some couples flourish and others flounder.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
You wind up caring deeply about the affair that began in the 1950s between American teenager Don Bachardy and three-decades-older Christopher Isherwood, the noted British author whose "Berlin Stories" inspired "Cabaret."
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Becomes more engrossing as its focus shifts from Isherwood to Bachardy, who began as the bashful boy toy of a famous author but gradually emerged in his own right as a portrait artist of striking (and merciless) insight.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
It closes the film in what I suspect was intended as something of a happy ending, but it’s unnecessary: Thirty happy years should be happy ending enough.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
As loving and welcome as Chris & Don is, it's not well enough conceived to create equilibrium among its many parts.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Adi Z gave it a10:
I watched it 3 times and could not get over how charming Don was-even in his 70ties he was so alive and articulate about his experiences with Chris- I loved their home and how organized Don was, and the artistic charm of the whole movie. Tried to find out what don is doing now,there was nothing about him on the enternet...disappointing.
Craig gave it a2:
The film was well done, but the whole time it kept reminding me that this wasn't a touching love story, but a story of one man taking advantage of a young man who was almost a boy. It left me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Mark H. gave it a10:
Excellent work, both interesting and touching, yet humorous and compelling in its treatment of a very delicate subject. I hope to see future projects by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara - they are true filmmaking artists. With their talents, they should not be limited to documentaries and I hope to one day see how they apply their sensitivities and creativity to a full length feature film.
