Wie man sein Leben lebt

This was broadcast on American TV (with absolutely no fanfare) on one summer night in the late 1970s. I was just idly switching channels and started watching by accident. It's a movie about Quentin Crisp--a gay man who came out in the 1920s. He introduces the film and then it starts--done in documentary style it traces his life. The first image is of him as a young boy dressed in woman's clothes admiring himself in the mirror. I've never had a desire to wear women's clothes, but being a closeted high school kid when I saw this it had QUITE an effect on me.

The film follows his life, how he found others like him and his fame and fortune. It doesn't sugarcoat things--he comes across as vain and pompous sometimes and he is very brutally threatened in one scene. Still it shows how he survived and lived life on his terms. It was liberating--for me at least. Remember--this was the era when "Boys in the Band" was considered an accurate representation of gay life!

This was WAY ahead of its time--for TV. I'm shocked that it was even SHOWN on American TV (albeit VERY quietly--and late at night). John Hurt is superb in the title role--he sounds, looks and acts like Crisp did! An excellent TV movie--still relevant today and beautifully done. A 10 all the way.

In 1976, at 24 I thought I knew enough about gay men, but I was not aware of flamboyant male homosexuality. It can be difficult to watch the beginning of the film if you're like I was and never saw such behavior, but if you stay with it, it pays off big in very touching ways--and not only with regard to homosexuality but to living life in general. This film teaches you about yourself as good art always does. Note: Quentin Crisp (the main character) plays the part of Queen Elizabeth I in a film called "Orlando." And another movie that might be good to introduce someone to male homosexuality is "The Sum of Us" with Russell Crowe, though that film is more lighthearted and sweet than "The Naked Civil Servant."

I had a copy of this film back in the early 80s, it's long gone, but I'll never forget its power. I'm not a homosexual, nor had I ever heard of Quentin Crisp before, but watching the film, I was very impressed by his determination to stand up for his God-given right to be himself, whatever that "self" might be. I didn't see it so much as a proclamation of his homosexuality, but rather, an individual determined to live life on his own terms, rather than kowtow to the wants of society. To this fact I strongly relate. Crisp was a man who faced the ostracism of society head-on, and soldiered on through in spite of it. And for that I admire him strongly. After watching the film, I quietly said "Thank You" to Crisp for his forthrightness and honesty.

John Hurt's portrayal of Crisp was absolutely magnificent, and I've been a fan of his ever since. He's the most versatile actor of his generation, having played everyone from Jesus Christ in "History of the World part 1" to the guy in "Alien" who has the little monster jump out of his body to the inimitable Quentin Crisp in this film! However, some of his films are hard to find, given that he's not a household word name as an actor. Too Bad, He's among the best!

The Naked Civil Servant is a TV film based on famous gay wit Quentin Crisp's autobiography. John Hurt gives a characteristically committed, outstanding performance. His Crisp is both a bon vivant and a serious, determined man who, underneath his outrageously camp exterior, is anything but frivolous, flamboyantly using his wit and dress like weapons as a defence to the repressive, smug and specious attacks from the mainstream English establishment and society, which regards his sexuality as criminal and deviant.

Hurt's Quentin Crisp is an unlikely crusader, made appealing not only by his inspiring moral force in facing prejudice, abuse and rejection with honesty, courage and an uproarious sense of humour, but by the fact that he never loses his belief in humanity, living his life undaunted and surrounded by friends who he treats with warmth and compassion.

Jack Gold's direction is wonderfully theatrical and so suited to Crisp's eccentric world, and the dialogue is incandescent. Nevertheless, the film's narrative, as it ranges over Crisp's long life, is episodic and at times sketchy. Also unnecessarily, Quentin Crisp himself appears in a sort of preface at the beginning of the film.

Long before it was fashionable to come out of the closet, Englishman Quentin Crisp did so. He was rather effeminate, also wearing make up which made him stand out even more.

This is his fascinating story, marvelously portrayed by John Hurt.

(P.S. The queenly Quentin plays the kingly Queen Elizabeth I in the movie "Orlando")