An Englishman in New York Review

25 March 2009

In this sequel to trailblazing TV drama The Naked Civil Servant (1975), John Hurt returns to portray the legendary Quentin Crisp in his later years, famously spent as a "resident alien" in New York City. Indeed, as the opening scenes reveal, it was the American broadcast of Servant that led to Crisp's move Stateside at the age of 70.

Initially invited to dispense his wit and wisdom in a series of one-man shows, Crisp soon has the New York media in his thrall - until, that is, he publicly dismisses the mounting panic over Aids as a "fad". And as a result, it's no longer boorish straights who accost him in the streets, but aggrieved gays. Still a hero to many, however, including editor Phillip Steele and (briefly) Aids-stricken artist Patrick Angus, Crisp remains at the core of the Big Apple into the Nineties, looking on slightly askance as taboo is defused by tolerance, and protest eclipsed by the pink pound. Of course, such seismic shifts in attitudes mean this is a very different film from the original, but Hurt amazes all over again, ensuring that Crisp’s collision with heady pre-millennial America is just as fascinating as his defiance of drab Thirties Britain.  

Scott Hughes