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'Chris & Don: A Love Story'

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BY JOHN ANDERSON | Special to Newsday

June 13, 2008

Given the threat gay people pose to lasting relationships, it's positively astounding what directors Guido Santi and Tina Mascara reveal in their affectionate nonfiction, "Chris and Don: A Love Story."

Christopher Isherwood is probably as famous now as gay icon as writer (his work was the basis for "Cabaret," among other things). But while serving as an inspiration to the entire gay movement, he spent the last 30 years of his life with Don Bachardy, filling the role of both lover and de facto parent to the much younger man, and helping to mold both the person and portrait artist Bachardy would become. Virtually growing up with Isherwood, Bachardy was thrust into a milieu populated with some of the most famous names of 20th century art (W.H. Auden, Igor Stravinsky and Tennessee Williams are among those who stroll through the film, courtesy of the titular couple's home movies).

While they might have had their ups and downs, the subjects of "Chris & Don" are a testament to fidelity.

PLOT Documentary account of the three-decade-long relationship between writer Christopher Isherwood and the much younger Don Bachardy. (unrated)

CAST Don Bachardy, Liza Minnelli, John Boorman, Leslie Caron. Narrator: Michael York

LENGTH 1:30

PLAYING AT Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington and Quad Cinema, Manhattan

BOTTOM LINE Too much information at times, but a heartfelt appreciation of Isherwood, Bachardy and their enduring romance.