Rent I Am a Camera (1955)

3.2 of 5 from 61 ratings
1h 35min
Rent I Am a Camera Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
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Synopsis:
Based on the novel 'Goodbye to Berlin' by Christopher Isherwood (author of 'A Single Man' and whose Berlin Stories also inspired 'Cabaret'), 'I Am a Camera' reminisces about life in Berlin during the 1930s. A young and naive author (Laurence Harvey) befriends a lively and totally amoral English girl, Sally Bowles (Julie Harris). The two form a close friendship and he thoroughly enjoys her outrageous behaviour. Together they indulge in the freedom and decadence offered by Berlin at the time, but as support for Nazi fascism rises, the city as they know it begins to vanish.
Actors:
, , , , , , , Jean Gargoet, , , , , , , , Zoe Newton, , , ,
Directors:
Producers:
John Woolf, James Woolf
Writers:
John Van Druten, Christopher Isherwood, John Collier
Studio:
PARK CIRCUS
Genres:
Classics, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Collections:
A History of Gay Cinema: According to Hollywood, Drama Films & TV, Getting to Know..., Introducing a British Film Family
BBFC:
Release Date:
08/11/2010
Run Time:
95 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
None
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
Bonus:
  • Trailer
  • Photo Gallery
BBFC:
Release Date:
23/05/2022
Run Time:
98 minutes
Languages:
English LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Peter Parker on Christopher Isherwood
  • Interview with Journalist and Film Critic Anna Smith
  • Stills Gallery
  • Trailer

More like I Am a Camera

Reviews (1) of I Am a Camera

Proto-Cabaret. - I Am a Camera review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
25/07/2023

The first screen adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical Berlin stories which would be more famously made into Cabaret. Julie Harris reprises the role of Sally Bowles which won her a Tony in the Broadway production. And her star performance is the best part of the film. Laurence Harvey as a prudish Isherwood is the main shortcoming.

This is such a cleaned up revision that it undermines the purpose of the original book, about a group of British expats living self absorbed, insouciant lives in decadent Berlin, oblivious to the rise of fascism. The film even evades Isherwood's homosexuality, which was the reason his circle was there at all. The possibility that Sally is a borderline sex worker is also omitted.

But there are tantalising episodes when the drama plugs in and turns on. There's a sensational scene when Sally and Christopher take a week's rent to a luxury restaurant which she blows in an instant. When her fatuous, hedonistic delusions come into focus. And Harris gives us a glimpse of what might have been.

Eventually, Isherwood addresses the Nazi threat as Hitler is about to come into power. Most of the film is pitched as a comedy. But, no matter how diluted the divine decadence- or limiting the lack of location footage- it is still a curious portrayal of a fascinating, careless subculture at a crossroads in history. 

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