Chris & Don. A Love Story

Name: Chris & Don. A Love Story
Genre: Biography, Romance, Documentary
Released: June 13, 2008
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 81

2008

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Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Chris & Don: A Love Story

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Movie Details & Credits

Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: June 13, 2008 | Not Rated

Summary: 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 onChris & 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)… Expand

Director: Guido Santi and Tina Mascara

Genre(s): Biography, Romance, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

100

David Wiegand

This is the portrait of a marriage as full and enviable as the greatest unions in literature. Read full review

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

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

David Ansen

Intimate, moving and playful. Read full review

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

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

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

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User Reviews

AdiZ

Jun 10, 2009

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 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.… Expand

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MarkH.

Jun 28, 2008

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 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Craig

Jul 23, 2008

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.

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