The Naked Civil Servant (1975)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Powerful

Just perfect...

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

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. ;)

John Hurt is one of England's finest actors, and in his long career there are two performances that stand out: "The Elephant Man" which earned him an Oscar nomination, and "The Naked Civil Servant", which as a TV dramatisation could not. Hurt plays the enigmatic Quentin Crisp to a tee. Unlike the vast majority of today's Western homosexuals, Crisp knew what he was and made no attempt either to fit in or to embrace the so-called gay culture. He realised the futility of the effeminate homosexual's search for what he called his great dark man, and in the end abandoned it. He died at the age of 90 after being celibate for half a century.He was also a natural exhibitionist, so his accidental choice of career was fitting. It remains to be seen how much licence has been taken either by Crisp himself – whose autobiography is called "The Naked Civil Servant" - or by the film makers, but certainly being an out homosexual in London from the 1920s to the 1950s was a different proposition from today, and there is no doubt he would have been queer-bashed from time to time.Something else that has changed is the public perception of the police, a perception that on occasion finds its way to the bench. That being said, the court scene was the high point of this dramatisation.

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.

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!