Certainly you've all heard how great this movie is, how it's ahead of its time and that it's one of John Hurt's greatest performances. I wholeheartedly agree, and I don't think I can say anything that hasn't been said already. This movie came to me as a kind of surprise, and I'm glad it did. I'd just discovered who John Hurt was (Oh my God, he was the chestburster guy in Alien!) and was doing research into his work. When I stumbled upon this film, after reading the synopsis, I was fairly certain I would at least like it a little. A movie about a real homosexual man's life, trying to make his way through it, at the mercy of the world, sounded interesting to me. This movie gave me so much more than I'd anticipated, thank goodness. First of all what drew me in was that it was based on the life of a real figure, Quentin Crisp. "Oh, that's pretty cool." After that, the sight of Hurt in long red hair and walking with a feminine gait really grabbed hold of me. Sure I found it kind of funny, and of course great, but my major thought was, "How brave must an actor be to display himself in this way to thousands of people, and make them believe it's real!" And of course, the silent-film style text slides on the screen provided several laughs: "Some roughs are really queer, and some queers are really rough". Taken in fully now, I paid close attention to his performance through the rest of the film. It was a phenomenal performance! I am constantly recommending this movie to friends and I love going back and seeing it again. I am all for equality, and this movie deals with it in an amazing way, from the standpoint of a person who never knew that his was a widespread mental state. His directness and bravery reminded me of how I wish I was: willing to stand up for anything I believe in and "tell it like it is"! Highly recommend it; just don't be afraid to shed a few tears. ;)
Review of The Naked Civil Servant
