Review of Christopher and His Kind (2011) by James L — 07 May 2014

This exceptional autobiographical film depicts the Berlin period from 1929-1939 in the life of gay writer and creative, Christopher Isherwood, and is based on his memoir of the same title. The large gay culture in the Weimar Republic of pre-Nazi Berlin was largely well-accepted, yet gay men in particular became a prime target for Fascist misplaced anger at the long years of austerity and poverty produced by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

As Hitler coalesced working class anger and middle class angst, he also exploited the cultures long seen as not truly German: Jews, gays, the Romany, and others, using them as punching bags and ultimately committing horrendous acts of genocide, resulting in the deaths of millions of Jews and an incalculable number of gay men.

Isherwood's perspective is candid, descriptive, and engaging. Christopher's "Kind" is MY kind: I am a gay man. I am honored that this man, who left us in 1986, shared so much of his personal life with great detail.

Thank you, Christopher: I call you brother.