And the Band Played On

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for opening discussions with students
Review: I teach high school biology in Los Angeles. One of the California state standards for the course is to teach them to about AIDS and its effect on the immune system. The first time that I taught the material, I realized that my students lacked insight into the history of the disease. The next time the subject came up, I showed them this film. While some of the subject matter may be considered risky, this is the most accurate historical film about AIDS available, and it definitely pertains to Biology. I highly recommend this film to Biology teachers, as well as parents who want to raise well-informed children. If we forget our past, we are doomed to repeat it. Awareness is raised by this film, and can be discussed on multiple levels afterwards. What a great film!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't get into it
Review: I tried to watch this film, and I stayed with it all the way through, but I found it to be drawn out and depressing. I'm not belittling the AIDS crisis, but this movie didn't do anything for me. The only part that really caught my eye was the end when they played a touching Elton John song and they showed clips of famous people and others who had died from the disease, and the AIDS quilt. You'd do better to read the book that this movie was based on. A more interesting film about AIDS, I thought, was PHILADELPHIA.

Rating:
Summary: AndThe Band Played On
Review: I watched the movie in it's entirety. This showed how the blood industry and the politicians and the owners of the Bath Houses
were willing to care more about the money they would lose testing
the blood supply and closing the Bathhouses than saving lives and
fighting for the right thing. It shows the selfishness of Dr.Gallo and the misconduct that was involved. They didn't even
test the donors before letting them donate blood. Thus, people
who recieved transfusions got sick and died as a result of an
infected donor. The end tribute where all of the victims of aids
were remembered along with a touching musical tribute from Elton
John, and also they showed the AIDS quilt, commemorating those
who lost the battle of AIDS.

Rating:
Summary: AndThe Band Played On
Review: I watched the movie in it's entirety. This showed how the blood industry and the politicians and the owners of the Bath Houses
were willing to care more about the money they would lose testing
the blood supply and closing the Bathhouses than saving lives and
fighting for the right thing. It shows the selfishness of Dr.Gallo and the misconduct that was involved. They didn't even
test the donors before letting them donate blood. Thus, people
who recieved transfusions got sick and died as a result of an
infected donor. The end tribute where all of the victims of aids
were remembered along with a touching musical tribute from Elton
John, and also they showed the AIDS quilt, commemorating those
who lost the battle of AIDS.

Rating:
Summary: Educational
Review: I've seen this movie several times so when my daughter showed interest from viewing the DVD cover, I watched it again with her. We don't realize how little our children actually know about such concerns as AIDS/HIV until a movie like "And the band played on" explains it. My daughter was amazed at the years of research and detective work involved before this disease was even given a name. The actors did a brilliant job portraying the many involved especially Lily Tomlin and Matthew Modine. I'm glad this movie won awards because it made more people watch this riveting non-fiction masterpiece and hopefully, made more people aware of facts they otherwise didn't know. To me, the most moving part of this film is the last scene showing the blanket which travels the world and the lovely voice of Elton John singing in the background.

Rating:
Summary: If You Know Someone
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: PHENOMENAL & MOVING
Review: In 1978, the first cases of a mysterious viral pneumonia began appearing, and people started dying. No reasonable cause of death could be found. By 1980, gay men in the United States started dying of pneumonia and skin cancer, and a trend started to emerge. No one wanted to fund research to save a few gay bathhouse patrons, and the CDC was forced to investigate the disease with a skeleton crew, minimal funding, and quietly. Their hard work uncovered the possibility that this was a sexually transmitted disease, but no one wanted to close the bathhouses. They discovered it was transmitted through the blood supply as well, but no one wanted to spend the money to screen blood. Ronald Reagan was still refusing to acknowledge the disease publicly, and no one wanted to believe that AIDS was a problem. It wasn't until women and children started dying that the public finally started to take notice, and notice they did. Less than 10 years after the first cases were isolated in the United States, over a million would be afflicted with the disease.

This is the story of those first years, from the first stunning revelation that there was a common link to those early cases to the isolation of the virus and the development of a screening test for it. It's about the politicians that didn't want to risk political suicide by getting involved with a "gay" disease, about the doctors and health professionals who worked night and day for years to find the cause, and most importantly it's about the people who's lives were cut short by this killer.

What might sound dry and plotless in print is actually an engrossing, fascinating, emotional movie. The entire story moves along well, and never seems to drag too long at any point. What could have been a confusing film is made very easy for the layperson to understand. It doesn't pull any punches, and few people will walk away without feeling some sense of rage at how many lives were needlessly taken away in their prime because of ignorance, red tape, prejudice and money.

The cast in this movie is out of this world, and there's not a single weak performance in the bunch. It's one of those movies where, each time a new character comes onscreen, you say "Hey, that's so-and-so!". Matthew Modine plays a CDC doctor who wears his heart on his sleeve, part of the CDC team that searched inexhaustibly for the contagious factor in AIDS, or as it was called at the time, GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency). Other members of the team include Richard Masur and Glenne Headley, who spend their own money to fly all over the country, interviewing victims and trying to trace the causes of the disease. Sir Ian McKellan gives an expectedly stirring performance, as a gay man who spends years battling beaurocratic red tape to get politicians to fund AIDS research, only to find out that he himself has the disease. B.D. Wong is great as his long-time companion and best friend. Lily Tomlin is one of the highlights of the movie, as a back-breaking, shut-up-and-get-it-done-now type. Steve Martin gives one of his stronger performances as the brother of a high-society closet homosexual. Richard Gere, who is sort of hit-and-miss in his movie roles, is moving and believeable as a Broadway choreographer afflicted with AIDS. Alan Alda is an absolute treat, playing the self-important Dr. Callo, the American doctor who tried to claim sole discovery of the virus that causes AIDS as well as the test to detect it. Part of the movie revolves around his refusal to acknowledge or work with the French scientists who truly did discover the virus, and the urge to run up to the TV and slap Alan Alda is almost irresistable! There are at least 20 more actors and actresses in this movie that you'll recognize instantly, it's that great of a cast.

I can't say enough about this DVD! I originally saw it back in the 90s, when it first aired on HBO, and it stuck with me through all of these years. I finally found it here on Amazon on DVD, and just watched it: I was afraid that I might have been remembering it as better than it was, but it didn't disappoint me in the least! This film will keep you on the edge of your seat, staring at the screen in rage, sadness and awe from beginning to end.

Rating:
Summary: PHENOMENAL & MOVING
Review: In 1978, the first cases of a mysterious viral pneumonia began appearing, and people started dying. No reasonable cause of death could be found. By 1980, gay men in the United States started dying of pneumonia and skin cancer, and a trend started to emerge. No one wanted to fund research to save a few gay bathhouse patrons, and the CDC was forced to investigate the disease with a skeleton crew, minimal funding, and quietly. Their hard work uncovered the possibility that this was a sexually transmitted disease, but no one wanted to close the bathhouses. They discovered it was transmitted through the blood supply as well, but no one wanted to spend the money to screen blood. Ronald Reagan was still refusing to acknowledge the disease publicly, and no one wanted to believe that AIDS was a problem. It wasn't until women and children started dying that the public finally started to take notice, and notice they did. Less than 10 years after the first cases were isolated in the United States, over a million would be afflicted with the disease.

This is the story of those first years, from the first stunning revelation that there was a common link to those early cases to the isolation of the virus and the development of a screening test for it. It's about the politicians that didn't want to risk political suicide by getting involved with a "gay" disease, about the doctors and health professionals who worked night and day for years to find the cause, and most importantly it's about the people who's lives were cut short by this killer.

What might sound dry and plotless in print is actually an engrossing, fascinating, emotional movie. The entire story moves along well, and never seems to drag too long at any point. What could have been a confusing film is made very easy for the layperson to understand. It doesn't pull any punches, and few people will walk away without feeling some sense of rage at how many lives were needlessly taken away in their prime because of ignorance, red tape, prejudice and money.

The cast in this movie is out of this world, and there's not a single weak performance in the bunch. It's one of those movies where, each time a new character comes onscreen, you say "Hey, that's so-and-so!". Matthew Modine plays a CDC doctor who wears his heart on his sleeve, part of the CDC team that searched inexhaustibly for the contagious factor in AIDS, or as it was called at the time, GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency). Other members of the team include Richard Masur and Glenne Headley, who spend their own money to fly all over the country, interviewing victims and trying to trace the causes of the disease. Sir Ian McKellan gives an expectedly stirring performance, as a gay man who spends years battling beaurocratic red tape to get politicians to fund AIDS research, only to find out that he himself has the disease. B.D. Wong is great as his long-time companion and best friend. Lily Tomlin is one of the highlights of the movie, as a back-breaking, shut-up-and-get-it-done-now type. Steve Martin gives one of his stronger performances as the brother of a high-society closet homosexual. Richard Gere, who is sort of hit-and-miss in his movie roles, is moving and believeable as a Broadway choreographer afflicted with AIDS. Alan Alda is an absolute treat, playing the self-important Dr. Callo, the American doctor who tried to claim sole discovery of the virus that causes AIDS as well as the test to detect it. Part of the movie revolves around his refusal to acknowledge or work with the French scientists who truly did discover the virus, and the urge to run up to the TV and slap Alan Alda is almost irresistable! There are at least 20 more actors and actresses in this movie that you'll recognize instantly, it's that great of a cast.

I can't say enough about this DVD! I originally saw it back in the 90s, when it first aired on HBO, and it stuck with me through all of these years. I finally found it here on Amazon on DVD, and just watched it: I was afraid that I might have been remembering it as better than it was, but it didn't disappoint me in the least! This film will keep you on the edge of your seat, staring at the screen in rage, sadness and awe from beginning to end.

Rating:
Summary: A sorrowful tune
Review: In the midst of the growing crisis of the AIDS epidemic, one journalist who witnessed the development and destruction wrought by this disease firsthand put together a regular series of columns chronicling what he felt was important for history not to forget. Appearing locally in San Francisco (perhaps ground zero for the epidemic, or certainly one of the first major sites to suffer) and then nationally in the likes of 'Rolling Stone', Randy Shilts' commentary grew into the text 'And the Band Played On', which follows the history of the AIDS crisis from many perspectives.

In reducing this massive tome to a reasonable-length feature, HBO pictures and Aaron Spelling (yes, Spelling, best known for Beverly Hills: 90210 and the like) had to devise a way of making it interesting and compelling for the small screen (this was a made-for-television film). They opted to follow the career of Dr. Don Francis, an epidemiologist with the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, and his team as they fought to uncover the mystery of the disease, and then had to fight to get public and official recognition of the problem.

Played by Matthew Modine, Francis gives a real sense of the frustration and confusion that faced the medical establishment in the early days of the disease. Coming at the time of a great conservative political revival on both sides of the Atlantic, a disease that seemed to affect undesirables, moral degenerates particularly (or so the popular sentiment ran), was unlikely to get any public assistance. Ian McKellan (who had yet to come out publicly as a gay man) played the political activist Bill Krause, who realised that he was fighting a difficult uphill battle during the Reagan era, when even his own Democratic party didn't want to embrace the gay community.

Perhaps the most interesting portrayal in the production is that of Alan Alda, who plays the enigmatic and controversial figure of Dr. Robert Gallo, discoverer of the first human retro-virus (which had, at that time, no disease to attach to it). Gallo's back-and-forth ego battles with the French researchers at the Pasteur Institute and with the CDC (and Dr. Francis in particular) may have caused delays and difficulties in finding adequate ways of identifying infections and virus-positive persons. The book goes into much more detail than the film about the 'which-virus-is-it?' controversy (HIV was not the first virus to which AIDS was attached). Gallo took exception to the way he was portrayed in the original film; in the updated video release there is addenda that addresses some of the issues.

The chilling decisions of hospital boards and from the troubled gay community, making decisions unwise in retrospect (and perhaps known to be unwise if politically untenable at the time) lend an air of concern about the way in which disease in general is handled in modern society. The ideal of public health concern is shown to be largely at the mercy of business and political decisions. The equally-chilling realisation that this was a disease with a potentially 100% mortality rate is an important aspect.

It almost falls into the realm of dark humour that, once there were laboratory allocations and some small budgetary allowance that it was thought that this disease would be identified, contained, and possibly cured within a matter of a few years, if not months. Now entering the third decade of the epidemic, one wonders at the misplaced optimism, and worries about what other, worse diseases are lurking around the world.

This made-for-television film is remarkable because of the number of big names that turned out for relatively small parts - Lily Tomlin, Phil Collins, Richard Gere, Steve Martin - many actors and actresses lent their support to this project as a public service, accepting only minimum union fees if any payment at all. The premiere was in Washington, D.C. before an audience which included members of Congress and government and industry leaders.

The film ends with a montage of video clips and stills of prominent people who had died of AIDS - the number of people is staggering, made apparent by the modern phenomenon of the AID quilt, a grass-roots project designed to keep the memories of each victim alive. This is the Butcher's Bill, a term coined by Nelson as he fought Napoleon, who asked what the daily death toll was. HBO films also produced an Academy Award winning documentary, 'Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt', which I highly recommend as a supplement to this film.

While AIDS is no longer the automatic, immediate death sentence it once was, it is still a serious disease that has a high mortality rate, and is enormously expensive to treat and combat. But, the medical community is beginning to learn something. I hope you will take the time to listen to the story, which is an important one, put in compelling format.

Rating:
Summary: Should be required viewing
Review: The chilling history of the bureaucratic red tape that impeded progress in the early days of fighting the spread of the AIDS virus. This is another of HBO's excellent movies based upon real events, like "Citizen X".

Matthew Modine heads an all-star cast. This movie will make you angry and depressed at the same time, but that shouldn't steer you away from watching it. The story is probably as important as any other story facing the world today.