''Resident Alien'' is a 1990

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the life of British writer and actor

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of h ...

. directed, produced and edited by

Jonathan Nossiter Jonathan Nossiter (born 1961) is an American filmmaker. Early life and education Nossiter was born to a Jewish family Dean Silvers Dean Silvers is an American film producer, film director, screenwriter, attorney and author. Personal life Dean Silvers was born in Brooklyn, New York and currently resides in Manhattan, New York with his wife, Marlen Hecht, and their two so ...

. ''Resident Alien'' was Crisp's first documentary; it was followed by ''

Naked in New York ''Naked in New York'' is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Daniel Algrant and starring Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, Ralph Macchio, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, and Kathleen Turner, and featuring multiple ce ...

'' in 1994 and '' The Celluloid Closet'' in 1995. It was premiered at Berlin Panorama (part of

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

) in 1991.

Synopsis

At age 72, Crisp became an

Englishman in New York "Englishman in New York" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Sting, from his second studio album '' Nothing Like the Sun'', released in October 1987. Branford Marsalis played soprano saxophone on the track, while the drums were played by ...

. John Foster'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 Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

(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 one of wit and of suffering.

Cast

as himself *

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

as himself - Singer *

as himself - Actor *

Holly Woodlawn Holly Woodlawn (October 26, 1946 – December 6, 2015) was an American actress and Warhol superstar who appeared in the films '' Trash'' (1970) and '' Women in Revolt'' (1971). She is also known as the Holly in Lou Reed's hit glam rock song " Wal ...

as herself - Performer/Actor *

Fran Lebowitz Frances Ann Lebowitz (; born October 27, 1950) is an American author, public speaker, and actor. She is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York City sensibilities and her association with many p ...

as herself - Writer *

Michael Musto Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. He is best known as a columnist for ''The Village Voice'', ...

as himself - Gossip Columnist *

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

as herself - Performance Artist *

Anne Cumming Anne Cumming (the pen name of Felicity Anne Cumming Mason, 14 December 1917 – 28 August 1993) was a British translator, public relations officer, polyamorist and writer. Early life Cumming was born in Walton-on-Thames in 1917, to parents How ...

as herself - Hostess *

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures, Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked his ...

as himself - Playwright *

McDermott & McGough McDermott & McGough consists of American visual artists David McDermott (born 1952) and Peter McGough (born 1958). McDermott & McGough emerged from the downtown New York scene of the 1980s. They are known for their work in painting, photography, ...

as themselves - Visual Artists * Franco the Great as himself - Street Artist

Reviews

Christopher Null Christopher Null (born September 7, 1971) is an American writer, journalist and entrepreneur. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 ...

for rated the movie 2.5 stars out of 5 and "Ok". He stated that the "film that is ostensibly about why a strange little man decides to uproot his life and move" to New York, but it provides no answers. "Savagely amusing and warm." The Washington Post. "Perceptive and thoroughly engaging." The LA Times.

Home media

The

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release of the film appeared on 27 September 2005 for Region 1. A new DVD edition was re-released in the US in 2006 by

New Video New Video ( stylized as NEWVIDEO) is an American independent entertainment distributor and collector of independent digital content. The company works with independent producers, filmmakers and television networks to curate content for many ty ...

References

External links

* 1990 films 1990 documentary films 1990 LGBTQ-related films Documentary films about New York City LGBTQ historiography in New York City Films directed by Jonathan Nossiter Films set in Manhattan 1990s English-language films 1990s American films American LGBTQ-related documentary films English-language documentary films {{LGBT-documentary-film-stub