At age 73, writer and melancholy master of the bon mot, Quentin Crisp (1908-1999), became an Englishman in New York. Nossiter's camera follows Crisp about the streets of Manhattan, where Crisp seems very much at home, wearing eye shadow, appearing on a makeshift stage, making and repeating wry observations, talking to John Hurt (who played Crisp in the autobiographical TV movie, "The Naked Civil Servant"), and dining with friends. Others who know Crisp comment on him, on his life as an openly gay man with an effeminate manner, and on his place in the history of gays' social struggle. The portrait that emerges is of one wit and of suffering.
as Self
as The Bum
as Man on Street
as Street Performer
as Street Performer
as Self
as Dinner Hostess / Writer
as Writer
as Writer
as Self - Actor
as Professor
as Writer
as Singer
as Gossip Columnist
as Talk Show Host (archive footage)
as Gay Activist
as Self - Publisher
as Pornographer
as Self
as Cabaret Performer
as Playwright
as Performance Artist
as Painter
as Gallery Owner
as Sculptor
as Filmmaker
as Painter
as Painter
as Painters' Friend
as Painter
as Performer / Actor
as Self
