Review of Naked Civil Servant, The

Introduction

Quentin Crisp, a flamboyant homosexual, described as the "stately homo of England`, died at the age of 90 in 1999 after spending much of his life fighting for gay rights. The Naked Civil Servant, the story of his life, was written in 1968 and became a play and this movie, featuring John Hurt as Crisp.

Crisp was sometimes unpopular with the gay community for being to effeminate, but he shrugged off such criticisms, saying "...camp is not something I do, it`s something I am".

Video

The video is presented in 4:3 full-frame and is only of average quality, with plenty of grain and not too much detail on display. The image is relatively stable, although at times there is a slight hint of flicker.

The film is set throughout the various periods of Crisp`s life, and accordingly décor, attire and locations alter as the film progresses.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital Mono, and like the picture, is only average, offering little of note. Unexciting it may be, but the reproduction of the dialogue is always clear and understandable.

Features

The extras consist of an audio commentary track; a documentary; extracts from Crisp`s biography on which the film was based and a still image gallery.

The pick of the extras is the documentary, which runs for just under 25 minutes and is quite interesting, combining two interviews together into one program and providing a look at how both Crisp and his views had changed over the years.

Conclusion

For those with an interest in Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant is a good movie, which is very well acted by John Hurt in particular, and tells his story well. For those, like me, who have no interest whatsoever in Quentin Crisp, this is a movie that raises a few smiles, but struggled to hold my interest at times. I actually found the documentary more interesting than the main feature, as the running time of 25 minutes was about the limit of my interest in the subject.

In summary, the audio visual aspects of the disc don`t offer much over the video version, but the extra features are pretty good and for enthusiasts, this will make the disc a worthwhile purchase.