VIFF in Review

Kathy Chan

Chris and Don: A Love Story
USA/Ireland, 2008, 90 minutes
Directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara

As cliche as it is, whoever coined the phrase "age is nothing but a number" must have been making reference to Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy.

This beautiful documentary that tells the story of Chris and Don's 30 year relationship will surely give any individual newfound hope on the tainted image of love. Or, at least love as we all know it in the 21st century. Isherwood is famous for his literary works, and moved from Britain to America for a place where he would be free, and out about his sexuality. He was 48 when he met Don on the beaches of sunny Santa Monica.

Don was only 18 but the two maintained a relationship of 30 years until Isherwood's death in 1986. The film utilizes photographs, paintings, excerpts from Isherwood's journal, and footage of reeled film to showcase the dynamic of the relationship that had more than a few individuals skeptical that it would be long lasting and truthful. Chris and Don's love proved to me more than what anyone and maybe even themselves could think of it to be. The boy that Chris shaped Don into was "exactly what the young boy wanted" as their mannerisms grew to be the same, along with the same patterns of speech, and Don even developing a believable British accent.

A really powerful work of honesty and love, Chris and Don's story inspires. The portraits Don painted of Chris during his last days of life will cause your eyes to not believe that such beautiful and vulnerable art that can be displayed during such emotional times of saying goodbye. This brave account of love is a documentary worth seeing because it is not only honest, gentle, and reflective but a simple reminder of how wonderful a life of companionship and love really should be.

Michelle Da Silva

Crossing
South Korea, 2008, 107 min.

Kim Tae-Kyun’s Crossing is the emotional story of a North Korean family that becomes separated from one another while hoping for a better life. Kim Yong-Soo (Cha In-Pyo) crosses the North Korean border into China, hoping to get some medicine for his ailing pregnant wife. When he is arrested while working illegally at a Chinese lumber yard, it is discovered that he was once a talented soccer player.

A chain of mishaps results in Kim becoming a pawn of the North Korean Liberation Coalition, and ultimately with money but without family in South Korea. When Kim learns that his only son Joon has escaped to Mongolia, he tries desperately to reunite with him. However, life’s injustices and cruel ironies interrupt both of their journeys.