[.ca] And the Band Played On

Amazon.com Essential Video:
A superior, made-for-cable film, this Home Box Office adaptation of Randy Shilts's chronicle detailing the emergence of AIDS in America and the fight against bureaucracy and society for a cure is a taut, outrageous, and affecting true-life drama. Matthew Modine (Birdy, Married to the Mob) is featured as a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control at the time when the first reports of a disease plaguing the gay community were heard. Modine and his colleagues embark on an investigation that resembles a compelling detective story as they try to track the source of the disease and discover a cure. Their efforts are thwarted by an ambivalent government and a turf war between French physicians and a celebrated American researcher (Alan Alda) who seems to place his own glory above the dead and the dying. Featuring heartfelt performances from a stellar cast including Richard Gere, Glenne Headly, Anjelica Huston, Steve Martin, Ian McKellen, Saul Rubinek, and Lily Tomlin, this impassioned film stands as an impressive and important document of one of the darkest eras in modern human history, and a tribute to the spirit of those who sought to save lives. --Robert Lane

And the Band Played Good.:
'And the Band Played On' is an excellent film about the true story of the discovery of the AIDS virus from the late 1970s' into the 1980s'. It has an All-Star cast that bring delight to the screen. More interesting than 'Philadelphia'.

Lies and lying liars who tell them!:
I actually got this from a blog from Dean's World (Dean is a liberal) who nailed the problem with this movie: "Reagan had an excellent record on gay rights issues--to the extent that anyone at that level of office in that day and age could be said to have such a record, anyway, since he had publicly supported gay rights measures and, while he did ally with some conservative Christian forces, never once backed any anti-gay legislation and was always personally gay-friendly. While it's true that there were things his administration could have done better about the early AIDS crisis, this is true for just about everyone in the 1980s--gay rights activists, local and national elected officials of both parties and at all levels of government--responded poorly. If any of you saw that execrable HBO movie And The Band Played On, you should be aware that it gave a horribly politically slanted accounting, but the book it was based on, And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts, was a much fairer and more damning book. Shilts would never have approved that attrocious movie. The book is must-reading, for Shilts (who was gay, lived in San Francisco, and himself eventually died of AIDS) documents in excruciating detail how local government officials, gay rights activists, judges, and career civil servants in many cases conspired to keep the plague from being recognized and to prevent government from even getting involved. Shilts was unsparing in his indictment of everyone at all levels and in both parties, and if he was sometimes harsh on the Reagan administration, he was usually even harsher with others, including gay rights activists he personally knew and who were responsible for preventing government from taking direct action to stop the plague in its tracks. It's great reading. And a good supplement, by the way, is David Horowitz' autobiography Radical Son, because in the last half of the book Horowitz talks about how he befriended Randy Shilts and saw himself how radical left-wing gay activists fought tooth and nail to prevent government from taking any action to stop the plague or even recognize that a plague was spreading. And how gay men who tried to act against it were often attacked as liars and traitors and sellouts to "the fundamentalists." It's powerful reading. Oh, and by the way, there is also a consistent rumor floating around parts of the gay community that the Reagan administration wanted to put AIDS victims into concentration camps. Just so you know, that too is a myth. It's remarkable what some people think they know that simply isn't true."

What about region 4 in Australia?:
I have just ordered this DVD movie thru Amazon. Unfortunately, in Australia, this movie is not available to purchase for private sale in either a DVD or VHS format. This is not the only movie that is unavailable down under, but was the first on my list to purchase thru Amazon. That says it all.

If You Know Someone:
If you have younger friends who were not there while millions died buy this DVD and let them see it. I worked for some time with a youth group and we watched this DVD together. I had to pause it dozens of times to explain what was happening. The younger people up to age 30ish simply have no understanding of this horrific epidemic. Believe it or not I think every school in North America should have this DVD as a class project. I work closely with the AIDS community today and find it difficult to see 16 to 28 year olds now testing positive. This movie gives out a lot of information and the list of people in it will get anyone of any age to watch it... and then watch them cry at the end. This DVD is a gift of life for a friend you may love.

A+ for AIDS Awareness and Education, and Its Social History:
This movie is a fabulous and highly factual. Somebody wrote areview here and posted from a so-called liberal website (Dean's World) a piece refuting some of the movie's factuality. "Dean's World" is a website that supports and promotes "AIDS skepticism" and Dr. Bialy's "False HIV/AIDS Hypothesis"(AIDS dissidents question the link between HIV and AIDS, arguing that the former is not necessarily the cause--and certainly not the sole cause--of the latter.) and its pharmaceutical treatment. As well, the spread of AIDs and the amount of infected people is questioned on that website. Posts such as this show how relevent this movie is today, not just as an historical documentary, but for understanding persistant, apologetic attitudes concerning the terrible treatment that early AIDS patients endured and the ignorance that persists in endangering lives. "And the Band Played On" is an essential movie for anyone trying to understand our recent social and medical history. It is a moving, and thought-provoking documentary.