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TechnoTV - Chris & Don. A Love Story
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List Price: $29.99
Our Price: $26.99
Your Save: $ 3.00 ( 10% )
Availability: Not yet released
Manufacturer: Zeitgeist Films
Starring: Leslie Caron, Christopher Isherwood, Michael York, Don Bachardy, Liza Minnelli
Directed By: Guido Santi;Tina Mascara
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0795975111133
Format: Anamorphic
Label: Zeitgeist Films
Manufacturer: Zeitgeist Films
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Zeitgeist Films
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2009-02-24
Running Time: 90
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sharing Love
Comment: "Chris and Don: A Love Story"
Sharing Love
Amos Lassen
"Chris and Don: A Love Story" is just that--a beautiful love story that tells of the feelings shared between Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy and it is as romantic as it is filled with the history of our lives. The two men fell in love long before gay marriage was ever thought about. Their love began one day on a beach in Malibu, California and lasted until Isherwood died in 1986. This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen and it is the documentary of a great romance.
Christopher Isherwood was a noted author who is primarily famous for his book "Berlin Stories" which was adapted for stage and film as "Cabaret". He was born in England in 1904 and at the age of 25 he moved to Germany to be with his friend, W.H. Auden. He stayed there until the Nazi party made life uncomfortable for gay men and he came to America in 1939 where he found sexy men and eastern religions. But it was not until 1956 when the love between Chris and Don began. In this feature length documentary we see the remarkable lives of the two men and there is a lot of never seen before footage which was shot by the two including interviews with Liza Minelli and Leslie Caron. The two lived their lives together openly and proudly and did not care about controversy and this was at a time when gay relationships were not accepted. Bachardy was simply an artist while Isherwood was a member of the literati and Don often felt as if he was disregarded by his lover's famous friends. He had to realize that he had to function independently and this caused him to question whether to stay in the relationship or not but he realized that his love for his partner was too great to walk away from. The two attempted projects together and in 1981 when Chris was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Bachardy nursed him through the disease and through the last six months of his life. Bachardy decided to paint only Isherwood and this became the two men's project.
Again I must remind you that the two men were lovers at a time when this kind of relationship was not acceptable and the movie could have showed their love as scandalous and unusual but the directors, Guido Santi and Tina Mascara give us the men's love as sophisticated and gentle as well as perfectly natural. The men shared a sentimental love which involved an artistic exchange that comes close to art itself. The film is cinematically innovative and touching and romantic and as a documentary it is emotionally involving and it is absolutely true. It never indulges in the issues of homosexuality and it looks at the love between Chris and Don as natural and unaffected. It is an ordinary story of passion which shows two people sharing both emotionally and artistically and their love is pure. Footage is mixed with current and archival film as well as cartoons and the result is beauty. The film abounds with intimate details and we see Don is still thriving at 74.
A lot is covered in the film including not only sexuality but aging and death, spirituality, literature and art, celebrities and alternative life styles, tragedy, mental health, drug use and so much more but above all is the theme of love--love that is pure and simple. There is a wealth of first hand material and the legacy of the love of the two men is so rich and beautiful that I find myself tearing up as I write this review.
What great timing for this movie--our country is now deciding whether or not it should legalize same sex marriage and this movie further shows proof that such unions should be sanctioned. There is no agenda in the movie except to show us how love transcends all and this love story is so real and so powerful that you cannot help but feel good. It will open your eyes and it will break your heart as it shows a growth of artistic confidence as a young man, Don, with no strong vision is loved and thereby encouraged to find his way. Here is a movie that could have been sordid yet it emerges as a thing of beauty and a testament to love. If you see no other documentary this year, make sure this is the one you do see.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Chris & Don: A Love Story is the true-life story of the passionate three-decade relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood (whose Berlin Stories was the basis for the beloved Cabaret) and American portrait painter Don Bachardy, thirty years his junior. From Isherwood's Kit-Kat-Club years in Weimar-era Germany to the couple's first meeting on the sun-kissed beaches of 1950s Malibu, their against-all-odds saga is brought to dazzling life through beautiful, rare home movies and reminiscences from Don and many of their friends, including Leslie Caron and Liza Minnelli. With Isherwood's exemplary status as an out-and-proud gay hero, 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.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- 16:9 anamorphic transfer, formatted for widescreen televisions
- More of Chris and Don's home movies, including footage from the sets of The Rose Tattoo (1955) and King Vidor's War and Peace (1956)
- Deleted sequences with Don Bachardy, including an interview on gay marriage
- Deleted interviews with actress Gloria Stuart (Titanic), filmmaker John Boorman (Point Blank), and actress Leslie Caron (Gigi)
- "Don on Chris": An 8-page printed monograph of Bachardy's paintings of Isherwood
- U.S. theatrical trailer
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks
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