Bernard and Doris (DVD)

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What is it about wealthy divas gay men are attracted to? What makes them worship at the alter of Bette Davis or Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna or Joan Crawford? "Bernard & Doris," an embellishment on the real story of heiress Doris Duke and her butler Bernard Lafferty, doesn´t bother to try to answer the question. Instead, it decides to play fast and loose with history, including Duke´s actual age, not to mention the specifics of their relationship.

In 1986, Duke (Susan Sarandon) is sent a new butler after she fires the previous one-for serving cold cantaloupe, of all things. This man, Bernard Lafferty (Ralph Fiennes), falls into the role when he helps Duke to bed after she drinks too much. Over the course of the next seven years, he becomes a trusted servant and the two develop a circumspect relationship, ultimately culminating in Lafferty being named executor of the Duke estate upon her death in 1993.

Director and producer Bob Balaban brazenly admits in the commentary track "Bernard & Doris" is a invention. The rationale, according to him, is no one can actually know what happened between the titular characters through their time together so, using the available information, a story was constructed linking them. Actually, the script was completed before Balaban got involved with the production. But, as long as we´re fudging the truth, why stop with the film? Some liberties are always taken with so-called true stories; that much is a given. But when at least half the finished product is fictional? Moreover, it doesn´t provide any historical document of their lives together, only a patchwork of the real and fictitious.

I can´t entirely blame the filmmakers for this. Duke never wanted media attention nor the label of celebrity; therefore, it stands to reason much of the inter-personal information died with Bernard in 1996, three years after she did. If there is no first hand (or other accounting of the years) available and the story is still deemed to be important enough to tell on screen, what is a filmmaker to do?

Connect the dots as best they can, with the available historical documentation. This quibble aside-and an astounding disregard for other facts-"Bernard & Doris" turns into an enjoyable little film, thanks to the two leads. Moving very quickly without captions or subtitles to denote the passing of time, the entire relationship´s lifespan is covered, perhaps too quickly for some tastes. But writer Hugh Costello hits all the important notes, including the gradual acceptance of Lafferty. At first, Doris can´t be bothered with knowing his name. Then, she continually gets it wrong (Rafferty, as she calls him). It is only at this point does Bernard become a real person to her. The moment his name is uttered correctly from her lips, it is as if the ties which would bind them forever form in front of our very eyes. On that count-creating something more than an employer-employee relationship-the film excels.

With two lesser actors, there might have been a problem with the story revolving exclusively around these two people. Each and every scene serves to strengthen (or destroy) the connection between the two and, as such, contains either Fiennes or Sarandon (or both). We don´t get to know any of the other servants or ancillary characters in any meaningful way. They are simply pawns to move in and out of the drama unfolding around Bernard and Doris.

Sarandon, donning a wig through much of the film, looses herself in the role, seeming to relish the chance to ham it up for the screen. It should be noted, though, Doris is never over the top or a caricature. Eccentric, yes. Extravagant, of course. Perhaps even a bit full of herself. Her polar opposite in both character and attitude, Fiennes comes close to playing a shell of a man, someone haunted by his past yet still striving to be better than he was before. He isn´t a confident man, at least at first, and Doris instills confidence in him by taking an interest in the man, as opposed to just "the butler."