Good Bye To Berlin.

Had a bit of a Christopher Isherwood double whammy ( oh er Vicar!). Read the book and watched the DVD of the BBC adaption. The book was no where near as eye brow raising or even provocative as I had been lead to believe ( a common enough experience for anyone raised an Irish Catholic I suppose.). I found it quite touching in a cranky sort of fashion and liked the Germanic kitchen sink decadence, An age of horrors was awakening all about the main characters but all seemed oblivious in their quest for their own personal slice of heaven, mostly to be found in the perfectly formed arms of German rent. It is beautifully realised in the BBC adaption of the novel, with the smoke filled shadowy beer cellars all lovingly homo erotically lit and filled with German beef cake in its prime, all sexily displaying their wares in tight white vests and snug braces...phew, I will have some of that, please.
           I almost did actually. They filmed this adaption of Isherwood's novel in Belfast. Transforming, very cleverly, Belfast city center streets into those of  early thirties Berlin. It was most impressive to see some of those run down back streets morph into another age, another locale with a bit of clever dressing and a few strategically placed flags and street furniture. I was on my way into work one sunday morning and was politely redirected down an alleyway as my normal route was straight through where they were shooting. As I dandered down this cobbly alley way I was stunned to see a group of extras in a parked German lorry all sitting around chatting and smoking. They were all Nazi brown shirts but they were also exceptionally handsome men. There was something undeniably homo erotic about the scene. They did not hire a bunch of knuckle draggers or obviously thuggish types, there was definately something more at play here and I decided they must have very cleverly picked a cast which showed the attraction of evil. How a beautiful male form could cloak a heart as black as smoldering Stygian coal. I think this movie was directed by the same person who directed the Paul McGann Doctor Who movie from the mid nineties. And his version of The Master was striking and cloaked in a majestic elegance. Evil is never more dangerous than when it comes  disguised as a thing to admire or aspire towards.
            That was quite a break through year for Matt Smith. He was about to dazzle us all with his turn as The Doctor in that magnificent first season of his. I did over hear two people discussing seeing it shortly after it was broadcast and one was expressing his shock at seeing "The Doctor"indulging in man on man action. Not just that he was indulging in the beastliness of human relations but the shock of his gender preference. As though that was not Christopher Isherwood but the eleventh incarnation of their favorite time-lord. More Goodbye To Galifrey than Good Bye to Berlin. This poor chap aside I do hope This adaption encouraged a few people to give the Christopher Isherwood story a view as its subject matter perhaps fell outside their usual comfort zone.
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