Picking up an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary earlier this year, David France’s directorial debut How to Survive a Plague finally makes its way to British cinemas, as a film all set to enlighten and distress audiences in equal measure. Though powerful and inspiring – this feature, documenting the immense struggle to find a cure of the AIDS virus, makes for bittersweet cinema, as a film bereft of any potentially happy ending. Though now a manageable condition, the millions who lost their lives ensure this piece remains poignant throughout and, ultimately, terribly upsetting.
Beginning in the 1980s when the AIDS epidemic swept across the world, we see how this feared disease was once a guaranteed life sentence, without any medication to combat it, and more worryingly, with little signs of any scientific advancements. Predominantly affecting the gay and lesbian communities, the disease triggered homophobic behaviour amongst many, with vitriolic abuse...
Beginning in the 1980s when the AIDS epidemic swept across the world, we see how this feared disease was once a guaranteed life sentence, without any medication to combat it, and more worryingly, with little signs of any scientific advancements. Predominantly affecting the gay and lesbian communities, the disease triggered homophobic behaviour amongst many, with vitriolic abuse...
- 11/4/2013
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
A Hitchhiker’s Guide: France’s Documentary a Masterful Ode to AIDS Activism
By focusing on the birth of the Activist group Act Up in 1987, when the United States was already six years into the AIDS epidemic and the crisis was still being largely ignored by the powers that be, documentary filmmaker David France uses this as a jumping board into a massive and overwhelming subject. With How to Survive a Plague, he manages, largely through actual film and media compiled from the period, to streamline the history of the ongoing AIDS crisis, homophobic informed politics, and gay rights while honoring the history of the brave souls that challenged the system in an arduous battle that finally developed a manageable and helpful treatment to those infected. This heartfelt and moving documentary, opening in a particularly hopeful period of time in the ongoing struggle for Lgbt American citizens to obtain equal rights,...
By focusing on the birth of the Activist group Act Up in 1987, when the United States was already six years into the AIDS epidemic and the crisis was still being largely ignored by the powers that be, documentary filmmaker David France uses this as a jumping board into a massive and overwhelming subject. With How to Survive a Plague, he manages, largely through actual film and media compiled from the period, to streamline the history of the ongoing AIDS crisis, homophobic informed politics, and gay rights while honoring the history of the brave souls that challenged the system in an arduous battle that finally developed a manageable and helpful treatment to those infected. This heartfelt and moving documentary, opening in a particularly hopeful period of time in the ongoing struggle for Lgbt American citizens to obtain equal rights,...
- 12/12/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Review by Barbara Snitzer
This movie is an excellent, engrossing, and necessary document to an important period of history.
Living in New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was familiar with Act-up. At least I thought I was.
Act-up is the acronym for the Aids Coalition To Unleash Power, an organization founded by gay activists to pressure the powers that be to help them fight the deadly disease ravaging their community. Their accomplishments have benefited every citizen of the United States, gay and straight, and they deserve our recognition and gratitude.
After watching this movie, I felt old and sad. Old because I remember how frightening AIDS was. I remember learning of the deaths of artists I had just discovered, like the fashion designer Patrick Kelly and disco diva Sylvester. I remember exactly where I was when I heard Freddie Mercury had died. Having dated some “confused” guys,...
This movie is an excellent, engrossing, and necessary document to an important period of history.
Living in New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was familiar with Act-up. At least I thought I was.
Act-up is the acronym for the Aids Coalition To Unleash Power, an organization founded by gay activists to pressure the powers that be to help them fight the deadly disease ravaging their community. Their accomplishments have benefited every citizen of the United States, gay and straight, and they deserve our recognition and gratitude.
After watching this movie, I felt old and sad. Old because I remember how frightening AIDS was. I remember learning of the deaths of artists I had just discovered, like the fashion designer Patrick Kelly and disco diva Sylvester. I remember exactly where I was when I heard Freddie Mercury had died. Having dated some “confused” guys,...
- 10/19/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Before I get into discussing How to Survive a Plague, I just want to say that every gay man needs to see this film. Full stop. There's a reason why it's on our list of the 25 Greatest Gay Documentaries. It's a fundamental part of our community's history and an essential chronicle of a transformative social movement that simply cannot go unseen. See it.
In the late 1980s a group of angry, frustrated, and exhausted people in New York City gathered to discuss what to do about the worsening AIDS problem. Many of them had contracted HIV themselves and refused to accept the death sentence it equaled. They were frustrated that six years into the epidemic, which had thus far claimed 20,000 reported lives, the White House had yet to even directly acknowledge the crisis. The coming together of the group - mostly gay people and their allies, who were tired of...
In the late 1980s a group of angry, frustrated, and exhausted people in New York City gathered to discuss what to do about the worsening AIDS problem. Many of them had contracted HIV themselves and refused to accept the death sentence it equaled. They were frustrated that six years into the epidemic, which had thus far claimed 20,000 reported lives, the White House had yet to even directly acknowledge the crisis. The coming together of the group - mostly gay people and their allies, who were tired of...
- 9/17/2012
- by brian
- The Backlot
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