An Englishman in New York is a sequel. Not to another film, but to the 1975 telemovie, The Naked Civil Servant. It starred John Hurt, not the tall, blond American actor Hurt, but the small, Englishman, the one who looks like Gary Oldman’s scabby uncle. Remember that stomach-bursting sequence in Alien, well that was Hurt’s stomach. He also made cameos in The Proposition and the first Harry Potter film and currently voices the dragon in Merlin.

Based on Quentin Crisp’s autobiography, The Naked Civil Servant starred Hurt as Crisp, the effeminate gay English writer who lived by his own rules, at a time when homosexuality was illegal. Regardless, you do not need to have seen the telemovie to enjoy this film.

In 2009, John Hurt reprises his role as Crisp as a senior citizen, but Hurt is still captivating; you are taken from the first moment you see him, with the blue rinse through his grey hair to the pink rouge on his lips. But Hurt more than embodies Crisp’s physical appearance, again capturing the spirit of this sharp tongued, fascinating man.

The film follows Crisp as he moves to New York, delivering his one-man show and writing film reviews. Seeing Crisp succeed in later his life is very appealing, especially as the film movingly explores his past difficulties.

But Crisp experiences other personal moments, eventually befriending young artist Patrick Angus (Jonathan Tucker). Like Hurt here, Tucker’s eyes say everything about his character. Both men are able to move the audience without dialogue; in particular, Hurt makes you break your heart for Crisp. An Englishman in New York is filmed maximum intimacy and subtlety, expressing the lines of history on Crisp’s face.

This simple, beautiful, yet occasionally sad film does justice to an icon in the final period of his life. Hurt has been twice nominated for an Academy Award, and should warrant serious consideration for another.

Kate Gehrig