Director Richard Laxton with prolific actor John Hurt on the set of An Englishman in New York (2009)

The long-anticipated sequel to the legendary The Naked Civil Servant (1975), An Englishman in New York was screened at this year’s London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (LLGFF).  During the festival, I had the great privilege of interviewing director Richard Laxton at his London offices to discuss this landmark achievement.  The film, produced by Leopardrama, will be broadcast shortly on ITV1 on December 28 (9pm).

Still relatively unknown to younger generations, Quentin Crisp’s memory was rekindled by this year’s LLGFF, in an effort to recapture his spirit and introduce his legacy to a new generation of film lovers and queer culture fans.  Reluctant gay icon Crisp, who was born Dennis Charles Pratt in 1908 and passed in 1999, broke countless social and cultural taboos with his controversial and insightful observations recorded in writing or expressed through public performances, the most outrageous of which took place in New York in his later years.

Civil Servant was groundbreaking on several levels, not least because it was screened on mainstream national television to an audience who took the film to their hearts, regardless of their sexuality or moral positioning.  Based on Crisp’s 1968 autobiography of the same title, this must-see film broke taboos not only in the film and TV world but also on a wider social scale.  It opened the door for further queer-themed programming, changing the face of mainstream British TV forever.  For his extraordinary performance in Civil Servant, John Hurt, one of Britain’s most prolific actors (Alien, The Elephant Man, Nineteen Eighty-Four, V for Vendetta), earned himself a BAFTA (British Academy Television Awards) award for Best Actor.  The film’s success effectively launched both Hurt and Crisp onto the international stage.

34 years on, John Hurt reprises his role as the eccentric and beloved Crisp, together with a prestigious ensemble cast including Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon (as Quentin’s charismatic co-performer playwright Penny Arcade, AKA Susana Ventura), Denis O’Hare (as friend Phillip Steele, an amalgam of Quentin’s friends Phillip Ward and Tom Steele), Jonathan Tucker (as tortured yet talented gay artist Patrick Angus) and Swoosie Kurtz (as Quentin’s New York agent Connie Clausen).  Englishman is a touching homage to Quentin, covering his extraordinary career and life in New York from 1981 through his final years.  

Hurt’s performance is subtle yet impassioned, fearlessly embodying the unique essence of Crisp.  When asked what led him to slip into Crisp’s skin once again, Hurt poignantly commented, “In a sense, I thought it would be wrong not to do it.”  And, in this exclusive SHATTERJAPAN interview, director Richard Laxton reveals, “I would never have done it without him because I don’t see the point.  He is so much the epitome of Quentin Crisp on the screen.”  Cynthia Nixon’s turn as Crisp’s loyal friend Penny Arcade is particularly memorable and touching, with scenes from their unique joint show “The Last Will and Testament of Quentin Crisp.”  Equally, Denis O’Hare’s Mr. Steele is a sensitive portrayal, his relationship with Crisp movingly depicted, particularly in moments of Crisp’s frailty.  Jonathan Tucker provides the surprise performance of the film as desperate artist Patrick Angus, who eventually finds salvation through Crisp’s mentoring and support.   Englishman is perfectly cast – it is quite impossible to imagine anybody else in any of those key roles – and the film has already garnered the prestigious Teddy Award at the 2009 Berlinale for John Hurt’s performance.

Above all, both Civil Servant and Englishman serve as a reminder that there should never be any shame in being our true selves, but that the road to truth is not without difficulty or danger, especially when it requires confronting deep-rooted social prejudice. 

Director Richard Laxton has worked extensively in TV, highlighted by Life and Lyrics (2006) about rival rap crews in South London, and BAFTA Award nominated Hancock & Joan (2007) about the troubled comic legend Tony Hancock and his relationship with the wife of actor John Le Mesurier.  We bring you this rare interview in which he talks openly about his background and his impressions of working on Englishman, which became a work of passion.

SJ:

First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on your new project An Englishman in New York.  I saw The Naked Civil Servant a number of years after its initial broadcast – it had an enormous impact on me in terms of my awareness of Quentin Crisp and his social and cultural importance. It is wonderful that Quentin’s memory has not been forgotten and that Englishman now gives a new generation of queer youth the opportunity to celebrate his wit and wisdom and to recognize his courage to stand up for what he believed in.  But, I don’t really see Englishman as a "queer film" so much as a "human film."  What do you think?

When I hear the term “queer film,” it makes me go, “Oh hell, I hate that expression.”  I have had a very big struggle in my life about my own internalized homophobia.  I’m a gay man and I have a struggle with that.  Why do I feel uncomfortable about that phrase?  Because the things that you’re get beaten up for at school are the things that then get used as labels which press particular buttons.  My grandmother used to refer to herself as “queer” when she wanted to throw up, because 50 years ago, “queer” meant “queasy.”  Then it became “queer” as in “You dirty queer!” like the guy who speaks to Quentin at the beginning of the film.  I’m just completely open about this.  A couple of people have said to me, “You know, you‘ve got to be really careful when talking about Quentin…” but I say, “I’ll just be honest.” 

SJ:

Quentin was famously open about his sexuality and suffered homophobic verbal and physical attacks himself.  His refusal to stay in the closet in less forgiving times, together with his natural flamboyance, led him to be embraced by some members of the queer community as a symbol of bravery and wisdom, while others were uncomfortable with what he stood for.  What was your impression of Quentin when you were growing up?

RL:

I’ve been very open about this, but my reaction to Quentin at first glance wasn’t “My god, he’s fantastic!  He’s absolutely got the courage to be what he is.”  I was sat in the Home Counties (Surrey) around London in the classic kind of 2-kids-and-a-dog-and-an-estate-car family.  My parents are classic products of post-war-married-in-the-50s don’t-rock-the-boat society.  So, when Quentin Crisp appeared on TV, I felt this is the man that my parents think I’m going to turn into if ever I came out, and this is absolutely their nemesis in terms of what a gay man is. 
 
And still now, the portrayal of gay men on TV is very ghettoized, dismissed and trivialized.  I had this conversation with some performers on TV, who I won’t name but who I got quite angry with, about the way they’re portrayed on BBC1 and what damage that does to a very big audience.  But also, I’m not someone who’s kind of made a career out of my sexuality.  I don’t mean in terms of directing, I just mean I see it as one part of who I am.  I think the problem with being a minority and having to stick together is that people can believe you are “one of a type.”  

SJ:

So, how was your own coming out story?

RL:

I think I kind of knew that I was gay from an early age.  I thought this was absolutely a no-brainer of never being allowed to be that.  I tended to have relationships with women.  I fell in love with a straight man when I was quite young which was unreciprocated… unrequited.  I threw my energy into my career because I needed a voice.  I was bullied from the age of 6 to 16.  As soon as I went through puberty, I became very tall and made jokes, and suddenly everybody became my friend… but it was a little too late.  I was 6 when it started… I didn’t understand – I just knew that I was very isolated.  I went from being not particularly traumatized from the age of 0 to 5 to starting school and realizing I was being ostracized.  I had many more friends who were girls than boys.  The bullying had absolutely everything to do with my sexuality.  It completely and utterly identified me as a “boy-girl” – I was called “poof” and was teased with a girl’s nickname.  I was completely and utterly identifiable as homosexual.
 
So I started school, and I was bullied and bullied… and what I was being bullied for was the very thing that I was.  What happens when you’re bullied is you try and become what the other person wants you to be.  I didn’t go, “F**k you!  Yeah, I do quite like boys.  F**k you!”  I was like, “Yes, I’m a bad person…”  So, your self-esteem for ten years during your formative years is absolutely shattered, to be honest with you.  And, I tried to talk with my parents, who kind of didn’t really engage in it because they come from a very different time.  They were like, “Well, stick up for yourself!”  In fact, I am very keen to get involved in Stonewall’s work [Stonewall: An LGBT rights organization based in the UK, named after the Stonewall Inn where the 1969 Stonewall riots began].  I’ve been reading all the reports about homophobic bullying in schools, so I made a commitment in my head to get involved in that subject because it affected me so much, and I always wanted to do something important as well as making films.

SJ:

It often happens that people who experience bullying will try to find that voice later in life – some way of expressing themselves in a safe space, where they’re accepted or even embraced, through their career or their creative projects…

RL:

The thing is the voice I found was nothing to do with being gay.  I don’t know if I would have made a gay film 10 years ago, or even associated myself with one, because I was probably still damaged from the fear of “Oh my god, this is going to end up in a negative scenario…”  Now I have absolutely no issue.  I mean there’s nobody I’m not out to.  I don’t walk up to someone and say, “Hi, I’m Richard and I’m gay,” but if someone asks me, I don’t hide it.  But, I have to say, the bullying does still affect me… I still have to take a moment before I admit it.

SJ:

So, when did you start engaging in the queer community?

RL:

I was brought up in Surrey, went to college in Bournemouth, then moved to London and all my friends were straight.  When I went to my first gay bar I was very frightened.  I went to my first gay pride when I was probably 22 or 23.  I couldn’t believe it.  I had a very mixed reaction to it, and one reaction was, “God, how many people are there who are either gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgender or supportive?!”  Most of them frightened the hell out of me, to be honest with you, because I didn’t know how to be who I was without it resulting in some kind of negative reaction.

SJ:

I assume there wasn’t much gay visibility in the media when you were growing up?

RL:

There were people like Mr. Humphries in Are You Being Served.  There was Larry Grayson.  But, these people were never identified as gay.  I didn’t know Larry Grayson was gay, but he was gay.  So, my parents’ version and my own version of who I would become was this man in a suit with glasses on a chain round his neck, but it didn’t relate to me.  There weren’t any role models.  And I think that’s been part of my problem as an evolving human being.  The damage that you suffer from that ostracization still happens… you still feel now.  This relates to Englishman, but if I go into a bar full of “clones”… full of “bears”… I find it really threatening, not because I think I’m going to be raped but it’s the feeling of being an outsider – it’s the ghetto within a ghetto.  That’s why I loved Brian Fillis’ screenplay for this film…

SJ:

Yes, it’s heartbreaking to watch the scene where Quentin walks into a gay bar after all those years, and he’s eventually asked to leave because he doesn’t fit in with that crowd.  It’s tragic that people who have already been rejected by mainstream society are excluded from what ought to be their safest space, but the sad truth is that prejudice exists within every community.

RL:

Well, look at human beings – we’re tribal.  This is one of the things that people will not accept about human beings.  It’s completely unrealistic to assume we should live as one.  The police are tribal – that’s a tribe against a certain form of society or people who feel a particular way.  Once you accept that we’re tribal, people should then understand, empathize and dissolve boundaries.  Once you accept that we’re tribal and you accept our herding instinct in our evolution of species, you can make absolute moves towards shaking hands with the other tribe rather than being suspicious.  People should accept it.

SJ:

That’s why An Englishman in New York and Torch Song Trilogy are now 2 of my favourite queer films – because of their truth and honesty.  They feature strong queer characters who have to come to terms with the realities of the world they live in.  Many filmmakers are still afraid of telling the truth, even though it’s actually extremely important to show how diverse the gay community is – that we’re as vulnerable, fickle and weak as we are strong, determined and brave.

RL:

Well, the whole point is it’s not prejudiced to admit that there are gay people who irritate you!  People can irritate you, regardless of how they dress, who they sleep with or what colour they are.  Similarly, there are lots of people who you can love and relate to.
 
If you look at the diversity of things I’ve directed, they all have a very similar common ground which is about truth, about uncovering the heart of something, characters' emotional truth.  You know, Life and Lyrics was a kind of teenage hip hop film, set in a world sometimes where homophobic or misogynistic references exist. It’s got a sort of British 8 mile about it really.  The film included some rap battles and we made the decision that the film was to have no homophobic or misogynistic lyrics.  It was about a guy who didn’t have the confidence to be what he wanted to be and that was the important part of the story.

SJ:

As you now become well-know in the queer community and on the film festival circuit, how do you feel about being referred to as a “gay” director?

RL:

I don’t mind, actually, because my hero in directing for years and years since he did the Wedding Banquet (1993) was Ang Lee – he made a gay film. The next film I’m supposed to be doing is a straight film set in 1850 about a really abusive marriage between a man and woman [Emma Thompson’s new project Effie].  The comedy I’m doing is about a straight couple.  It’s is about a grandfather, a daughter-in-law and a grandson, all of whom are straight.  There happens to be one brilliant lesbian character in it.  Selecting film projects is about the material – the human condition.  You make a film because of its heart, because of what you connect with.  If I was sent a brilliant script that I loved and it was about gay issues, I would certainly want to make it.

John Hurt reprises the role of Quentin Crisp in An Englishman in New York (2009)

Richard Laxton:

“I would never have done it without John Hurt, because I don’t see the point
– he is so much the epitome of Quentin Crisp on the screen.”

SJ:

An Englishman in New York was featured at the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival and can be seen on British TV later in the year (December 28,2009 on ITV1)…

RL:

Yes, ITV will screen it on TV. We wanted to get a theatrical release round the world, but we won’t because of the rights issues. In America, it’s already been pre-sold to LOGO… which is great as they are so behind the film.

SJ:

How did you get involved in Englishman?

RL:

I was just making a TV film about Tony Hancock, Hancock and Joan (2008). So, they rang me while I was on set and said, "Everyone wants you to do this film. Can we send you the script?" I remember I was shooting in a studio and then that night the script got biked round. They said, "We want to shoot some of it in January in New York." I opened it and went, "My god, this is an amazing opportunity." I had a lot of questions about it. I was really struggling with whether I wanted to follow Civil Servant, which felt like we were being asked to make the sequel to The Bible. I wasn’t available to shoot it in January and it turned out John Hurt wasn’t available. So, I met with them and talked about it. I had 3 months working with Brian Fillis and the producer Amanda Jenks on the script. I met with John very early on to see if we would get on and to talk about it, and I said, "These are the reasons why this film should never be made, and these are the reasons it should be made." The big question I had was, "Why not make a documentary? Why make a drama?" As a drama, we have a unique opportunity to show the bits of somebody that documentary could never do. For example, the scene where Quentin walks through with his hair down – I kept saying, "What does this guy look like when he gets out of the shower? What does he look like? Let’s take all of the stuff off this man and work out who he is." I wanted to strip this man bare.

SJ:

So, you actually had quite a lot of input in the script…

RL:

One always gets a say. This script [pointing to the script for another film] is written by a wonderful writer Angela Pell. We’ve gone through 6 drafts and I’m now about to do a 6 hour meeting in a minute, going through all my notes. And with the Emma Thompson film Effie, we’ve been through 5 or 6 drafts of her script. Traditionally, there’s a director’s draft, but if you like working with writers and you like writing, you can get involved in the drafting

SJ:

How did you handle the casting? John Hurt reportedly commented, "In a sense, I thought it would be wrong not to do it," so I assume he was approached very early on. But, what about the decision to invite Cynthia Nixon to play Quentin’s good friend and co-performer Penny Arcade? And, what an extraordinary performance by Jonathan Tucker…

RL:

I was approached at the end of 2007, and then worked in earnest in January/February with 3 months on the script. Then we started working out how we’re going to do it. John was approached before me. I would never have done it without him, because I don’t see the point. He is so much the epitome of Quentin Crisp on the screen. So, once he said he was interested, we then met, and then we asked, "Can we do this together?" If we hadn’t got on, it wouldn’t have worked – it would have been a disaster.

I desperately wanted, as did John, to be surrounded by an American cast playing American. A British cast playing American would never have worked. We had a list of people who might be good.

I’ve always been a fan of Cynthia’s because I think she’s got a lot of weight behind her – conviction – and this character had to have that. There were various people that we talked about and then I just said, "Well, let’s offer it to her." I know that she was interested and hungry to do other things outside of Sex and the City. So, she read it, she watched 2 things I directed, and then we had dinner and talked about it.

Jonathan Tucker was somewhere in LA. We did a lot of meetings via Skype and talked about it. I said, "This is the guy who plays Patrick Angus." We worked very hard in rehearsals. I talked about my own experiences to him actually, because there’s the scene in the bar where Patrick goes up to the guy he thinks is cruising him, and that’s something every gay man I know has been through. We went out to the gay bars. We stood there and went, "That’s what he feels when he’s being rejected." We were in this bar in New York with these ripped guys with torsos like action men. And I said, "Watch this, because I don’t fit into their world. Watch me, and this will be the sensation of what it’s like." And when eventually I asked for a drink, the guy went [running his eyes up and down disapprovingly]. There was no sense of, "Hi, how are you? Yeah what would you like?" I didn’t fit in, and by somehow mixing with me, he thought he’d catch the disease of not being fit or not being his world. It’s horrible… That moment in the film is so personal to me. I had to get that moment right. So, he did all that, and then he went to another much darker, harder bar as I recall it.

SJ:

Has the cast seen the film?  How did they respond?

RL:

Actually, Jonathan and Swoosie Kurtz haven’t seen it, but they’re coming over to New York for the Tribeca Film Festival at the end of April. Cynthia’s seen it – she said she was very proud to be part of it and said it was wonderful. John’s obviously seen it and was very moved. Denis O’Hare was really moved and wrote me a really beautiful email.

SJ:

How did you feel when you finally saw it on the big screen?

RL:

I never sit through screenings. When we were in Berlin (for the world premiere at the Berlinale, February 2009), for some reason I got myself into the position where I sat down. And I thought, "Well, I’m not going to be the person who walks out of my own screening." So, I sat on my hands for the whole thing, going, "Oh my god… No-one’s laughing, no-one’s crying, everyone’s bored, this is embarrassing…" It was horrible. It’s like someone looking at your art A-level homework! It went incredibly well and of course I was just suffering from director’s screening anxiety!

SJ:

Especially because it’s a film which is so close to your heart…

RL:

Well, they always are though… They become in your bones. Everything I’ve done at the time has been absolutely in my bones, which is, I think, the only way you can be passionate about it.

Richard Laxton:

“Quentin’s philosophies were about being who you are and the right of the individual
– and that's what people related to.”

SJ:

John Hurt was quoted as saying he didn’t think Englishman would have the same cultural or social impact as Civil Servant. Do you agree?

RL:

Absolutely, because at that point no character like that had ever been depicted on TV. It was 1975, and that film was about Quentin Crisp’s struggle with the world. This film could never do that. This was about his relationship with himself via his behaviour in a world which originally he was ahead of and now was running ahead of him. And, I had to make that very strong decision when I got involved, because there’s no point in trying to copy it, do the same thing – it’s never going to work. So, you take a man who goes to a city where he’s absolutely accepted, and then work out what happens when he’s got nothing to fight against, because he thinks, "Ah, I’ve won. Now, who am I…?"

SJ:

Englishman depicts how greatly Quentin was revered in the States and embraced by New York in his later years. His agent works to keep him there, and at one point, Quentin comments that he finally feels a part of society. However, it’s implied that he had lost popularity in Britain and had been left behind by the mainstream gay community, which found his eccentricities increasingly difficult to relate to. Belonging to or being rejected and isolated from mainstream society is a theme repeated throughout both films, particularly in Englishman.

RL:

The end scene of Civil Servant is exactly similar to the beginning scene of this film, which is in England, when someone calls him a "poof" and threatens to smash his face in. After Civil Servant came out in 1975, Quentin actually went to live in New York in 1981/2 permanently. He came back and forth, but we took a little artistic licence with that for the use of storytelling, because of course to tell the story, we had to make it look like he left and escaped. And your admiration dries up. He just felt much more embraced in New York and I think he was very fascinated by movies as a kid. I think he saw it as a film set. What we tried to then say in the film is "When you mess up on the film set, what happens when the lights go off and the camera stops rolling? What happens to you when you say AIDS is a fad? How does that affect you?" Then we have that scene where Quentin says, "Why do people insist I am lonely when I am not?" I shot that in a way which I absolutely wanted the audience to think about it. The interviewer in Berlin kept saying, "I think he was lonely. He so was… He was totally lonely," but John Hurt said, "No, he said he never was." And I just sat there and thought, "I know what I think – let the audience interpret and decide."

SJ:

What a debate! Englishman is a very sympathetic portrayal of Quentin and his struggles. However, as you mentioned, his controversial claim that AIDS was a "fad" caused him to be further marginalized from the gay community. Why was it important for you to bring that up in the film?

RL:

Well, 2 reasons. One, because I kind of wanted an example of some of Quentin’s behaviour where he actually said something which had a ramification. Basically his joie de vivre, his personality, would allow him to be wittier and wittier and wittier and wittier… but what happens when you just punch below the belt? It’s an interesting thing to explore because A) he has a very good reason why he said it, and B) AIDS had not become a massive epidemic at that point – at that point, Quentin was thinking, "Don’t make a drama out of a crisis." In fact, it was a crisis and it was a drama, but that came 2 years after that. We (Brian and I) wanted a device in the film to show that this man gets abandoned by the world which gives him his identity – that is, his audience.

SJ:

What I found particularly moving was watching how Quentin successfully broke down boundaries between different worlds, simply by nature of the person he was with his openness and his philosophies.

RL:

His philosophies were about being who you are – they weren’t about being gay or straight, or black or having yellow spots. They were about being who you are and the right of the individual – and that’s what people related to. So, when Civil Servant came out, it affected men and women who were in marriages or situations where they were absolutely completely dulled. In New York, which was always a place about expression and a city bursting with energy – he was absolutely at home with the notion of "Be who you are and walk with your head held high."

SJ:

Quentin seemed to show no prejudice at all and is disturbed when he sees prejudice in others. What do you think made him so successful in acting as a link between the gay and straight worlds, which very few people are able to do?

RL:

That’s because he wasn’t banging the "gay drum." He never talked about "Oh, I really fancy him and I really fancy him." He didn’t turn up to people’s dinner parties and go, "Oh, she’s pretty in the corner, what’s his name?" He turned up and went, "How lovely, thank you very much." He was who he was, and if asked, he would give his opinion and his philosophies. He says at the beginning of this film that the reason he went out and wore make-up and dressed flamboyantly was because he had to be seen to be homosexual and to be a part of life. It’s like whenever you suppress a part of society, the bit that manages to rise to the surface will always blow bigger than if you hadn’t tried to suppress it in the first place. With people, if you push something down, the opposite will happen larger. It’s a way of survival – it’s about evolution, the human condition and surviving in society.

SJ:

In the process of making the film, what messages did you personally hope to get across?

RL:

There were a number of messages. One of them of course was about the right of the individual. One of them was to shatter the illusion that all gay people fit into the gay world. I wanted gay men watching this film to feel comfortable about sometimes not fitting into some parts of the gay world. It’s absolutely not something we’re allowed to feel. You can look at gay culture, press, bars and think, "I don’t fit in here." It’s the same as being gay in the straight world. So, I wanted people to feel the right to go, "I am who I am, and it’s fine." And that’s why we introduced the relationship between Denis’ character Phillip Steele and Quentin. Those two couldn’t be more different, but they form a real connection, honesty and intimacy by the end of the film. The other thing is to talk about old age. I wanted to throw a spotlight on an older character. There is something about the wisdom and dignity in the elderly which we don’t respect at all in modern society – certainly in the UK. It was so important for Quentin to be a hero even in that last scene of the film – he says, "Stay right where you are. Give your name and serial number and wait for society to come to you."

SJ:

Quentin certainly had something special to offer in his old age. Even when he was unwell and ready to die, he continued to do the shows, so you get the feeling he knew himself how important it was for him to pass on his wisdom until he literally couldn’t do it any more…

RL:

Yes, in fact, probably the good thing about people getting old is you learn from them… I think old people are dismissed in our culture completely, because of celebrity and pressure not to age.

SJ:

One poignant theme is Quentin’s belief that "There is no Great Dark Man." What is the "Great Dark Man" about?

RL:

It’s about idealism. It’s absolutely about why marriages and relationships break down – because the media has sent us, through advertising, through Hollywood, through an awful lot of outlets, an idea of this world which we can’t possibly reach, so there’s nothing but disappointment. The "Great Dark Man" is an escape fantasy – it’s a thing which you hold on to as your fantasy when you’re growing up. I think "There is no Great Dark Man" is absolutely true. And when you meet the "Great Dark Men" who exist, ironically, they’re messed up. Like us all, they have their baggage, their insecurities and they are fallible.

SJ:

Are we talking about love or an idealized partner?

RL:

I don’t think we’re talking about love – we’re talking about desire and validation and sexual excitement, and unobtainable dreams. I think if you’re talking about love, it’s something very different. And, I would say the moment that Quentin shows the most love is when he turns round to Phillip and says, "Can you help me, Phillip?" and uses his first name for the first time in the film.

SJ:

One of the most touching moments is when Quentin’s realizes how severely Patrick Angus is crippled by his own disillusionment about the "Great Dark Man," and then helps him find the direction he desperately needs…

RL:

At that point, Quentin’s hearing his own words quoted back to him and watching someone completely faltering… What he wants you to understand is that the love of a "Great Dark Man" is not the solution to your problems – it’s what’s causing your problems.

Richard Laxton:

“Don’t damage your own worth because of what you think other people are,
and what you think they expect you should be.”

SJ:

Do you have a message for the readers?

RL:

For people reading this who aren’t aspiring filmmakers, I would say, "Don’t damage your own worth because of what you think other people are and what you think they expect you should be."

SJ:

That’s very Quentin Crisp…

RL:

For filmmakers: It’s hard work, but just go for it, just keep trying to be true to the stories you want to tell and how you connect with the human condition and therefore to an audience

SJ:

The queer youth of today would really benefit from having more role models with Quentin’s degree of wisdom and sincerity. Do you think there will be a revival of Quentin Crisp where younger generations can learn about what he stood for?

RL:

Well, I hope so. I was actually thinking of showing this film in schools, but I don’t know how a young audience will react to it. If I was about to come out now, who would my role model be? I don’t know…