Chris & Don: A Love Story (2008)

In 1952 on a Santa Monica beach, the 48 year old British expatriate novelist Christopher Isherwood (BERLIN STORIES which eventually became the musical CABARET) met an 18 year old boy Don Bachardy and a love story begins that lasts until Isherwood's death in 1986. Directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, this engrossing documentary which through interviews, home movies, photographs and diaries tells of the fascinating and complex father/son/lovers relationship. An unformed young man living in the shadow of his famous lover until he finally comes into his own. The story is absorbing in both the inside look at the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle of the 1950s and 60s (friends like Leslie Caron, Liza Minnelli and director John Boorman are interviewed) as well as an intimate look at the relationship of two gay men in a society and era when being open about one's sexual orientation was not the norm. Bachardy narrates the story with warmth, honesty and humor.