On A List of Movie Reviews
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And the Band Played On (1993)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
6/20
6/20:
Having first seen And the Band Played On on HBO in 1993, it's still a compelling movie with a first-rate cast.
Sometimes, a bunch of all-stars get together to do an important film. This is one of them. The performances are excellent. My
favorite is Richard Gere which may feel like two minutes long, but it's powerful (in case if you're wondering, it's based on
Michael Bennett, the director of A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls). The other is Jeffrey
Nordling as the French-Canadian airline steward (that's Gaétan Dugas who was a certified mass murderer because he knew
what he had but went on having sex, regardless). Matthew Modine is outstanding as usual.
The movie was based on the 1987 book of the same name by Randy Shilts who was gay and passed away from AIDS at 42 in 1994.
The most interesting is the sleuthing part because back then nobody knew why people were mysteriously dying despite seeing
lesions on their bodies. Ronald Reagan failed to address the AIDS crisis, making no official mention of it
until 1987 which was one year before the conclusion of his second term. It's among the important reasons why he'll
never be thought of as a great U.S. President. The announcement of Rock Hudson's diagnosis completely changed everything, but
it only happened because he was a big-name star.
The other that's of interest is the selfish acts by Dr. Robert Gallo because he was focused on taking credit
for the discoveries in AIDS research so he could win the Nobel Prize. It eventually went to the French scientists in 2008 while
Gallo was excluded. Nonetheless, it's a good performance by Alan Alda. By the way, why does he always play a bad guy in films?
Of course, politics come into play because of one and only one thing: money.
Caused by HIV, AIDS is currently under control in the United States. Up to 50,000 people are infected annually. That's
not bad when it was used to be 130,000 in 1985. The number of new infections has been stabilized since the mid 90's. Those who
are identified early tend to live longer due to better treatments compared to those with a late diagnosis. To this day, I'm
surprised that Magic Johnson is still alive.
However, the situation is dire in Sub-Saharan Africa where almost 24 million people are infected with AIDS. A lot of
people think the disease started during the early 80's and perhaps the late 70's, but HIV first emerged in Africa during
the 60's. Transmission was slow until the following decade when people started to carry it overseas, and then, the epidemic
started to be full-blown. Initially, people thought AIDS was a gay disease and thus laughed it off, but tainted blood
transfusions and the fact that the heterosexuals, virgins, and children were contracting it changed the ball game.
All in all, Roger Spottiswoode has done a great job of putting a human face on the AIDS crisis in And the Band Played On.