News-Letter

Media Credit: Britni Crocker Don Bachardy, subject of the documentary Chris & Don, discusses the filmmaking process with directors Tina Mascara and Guido Santi.

Last Friday night, Hopkins students, faculty and the Baltimore public filed into Hodson Hall for a special screening of the acclaimed documentary Chris & Don: A Love Story.

Though the exclusive screening, sponsored by the Film & Media Studies Program, was significant on its own, a question-and-answer session followed the film with not only the filmmakers but also one the documentary's central subjects - Don Bachardy.

The public was given the opportunity to ask filmmakers Tina Mascara and Guido Santi as well as Bachardy their questions, but Hopkins film students were given the rare opportunity to have an intimate workshop with the trio on Saturday morning.

Mascara and Santi's Chris & Don: A Love Story follows the passionate, defiant 34-year-long relationship between the distinguished writer Christopher Isherwood and his lover, Don Bachardy. Isherwood, the prolific British author best known for The Berlin Stories (which became the musical Cabaret), was 48 when he met the 18 year-old Bachardy on a beach in Santa Monica. In the film, Bachardy recalls Isherwood as, "so friendly; he had such a charming smile and sparkling eyes. Eyes that had such energy, eyes that ate you up." And though Isherwood had a fling with Bachardy's brother prior, Bachardy and Isherwood soon fell in love.

During the 90-minute film, their love is portrayed so tangibly that the inevitable and known death of Isherwood is still heartrending. An agglomeration of home videos, old photographs, excerpts from Isherwood's diaries and Bachardy's commentary, the documentary is an in-depth look into the couple's life. Since Isherwood was a prominent person in Hollywood's social scene, the two were often seen with celebrities such as Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Igor Stravinsky, Anthony Perkins and Leslie Caron. Anecdotes surrounding Isherwood and Bachardy's interactions with these people and interviews with those icons who are still alive add dynamism to the documentary. But even within their seemingly perfect, happy relationship, the documentary captures many of their hardships as well, especially in the face of adversity.

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