BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

bkoganbing Angels In America may not have the cast of thousands that epic films are supposed to have. It has the length, but more to the point it has the heart. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is still very much with us, AZT is still the preferred method of treatment and control, but we can thank God and a lot of concerned activists that it is not the rare item reserved for the privileged few as we see here.This epic takes it cues in structure and format from such big screen films as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and later on Crash. A select group of individuals, all fictional but based on people that Tony Kushner knew no doubt. I spotted a few in their I knew including flashing glimpses of myself in passing. That made for some uncomfortable viewing at certain points, but it was appreciative.One real person is here and possibly in a couple more generations people will look at Roy Cohn and ask could such a monster exist? I'm here to say he very much did exist. The Jew who turned his back on his own people, the gay man who refused to admit it to himself because he saw his people as weak and oppressed. These people exist, I knew a gay man who absolutely refused to admit his same sex attraction, he's still with us involved in right wing homophobic groups. And as for his Jewishness he renounced that religion and converted to Russian Orthodox. Talk about self hatred. These people are very real and in positions of power they are deadly.Roy Cohn is played here by Al Pacino and Pacino gives us one bravura performance as the dying monster who gets for himself the precious and at that time rare AZT to prolong a miserable existence. He's the self hating gay who moves with the elite who use homophobia obtain and retain power. Cohn first got public attention as one of the prosecutors in the famous atomic spy case. With what we know now there's no doubt Julius Rosenberg was guilty as charged. What Ethel's role in the case remains murky, she was a devoted wife and a believer in Julius's Marxist ideals. The government however wanted a confession from Julius and Cohn sought to get one. He held Ethel's life in the balance and neither Rosenberg would give up their crime or their accomplices if there were more. The bluff was called and Cohn with the zeal of a rabid dog pushed for her execution.In his miserable last hours on earth Cohn resisting the grim reaper is visited by Ethel Rosenberg and who could blame her for exacting some sadistic torment of Cohn. Her spirit is one of many played by Meryl Streep who took her cues from Alec Guinness from Kind Hearts And Coronets. With two great players like these, these moments in the film are choice.Others in the cast are Ben Shenkman another Jewish gay man involved with Justin Kirk who has come down with AIDS. There's Jeffrey Wright playing a black gay man who is nurse to both Pacino and Kirk. Shenkman works in the xerox room of a white shoe law firm that Cohn has his hooks into and his fair haired boy there is Patrick Wilson, a Mormon married to Mary Louise Parker but who has some same sex attractions.This is quite a mix of characters and away from Pacino and Streep my favorite moment is Shenkman who has broken under the strain of the health issues around Kirk got himself involved with Wilson. When he goes to the law library and reads some of the decisions, the inhumane decisions that Wilson has written for his senile judge for whom he is a clerk, the rage comes forth. He shames Wilson, but in a large degree he expiates his own sins.Pacino as Cohn, Streep as Rosenberg and many others and the rest of this stellar ensemble have created a masterpiece. This will last for centuries as a monument to the many who died, many whom I knew and loved and those who survived and fought to retain dignity and hope.

sashank_kini-1 There is much multiplicity in Angels in America, all of which may be difficult to decipher in the worthiness and wordiness of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer winning script. There are political, theological and cultural allusions that are expressed in lengthy dialogs, sermons, monologues etc that you may find hard to allocate to the purpose of the play. What is simpler to understand is the questions about morality, musings about death, isolation and betrayal, problems of identity crisis and the universal feelings of love, compassion, empathy, responsibility, unity and impermanence. You constantly witness characters questioning their beliefs, breaking down, losing their sanity, finding a revelation and then living with hope that they find their true place and purpose in the ever-evolving life. Prior Walter is an openly gay man who's the first in the film to be inflicted by the disease. His Jewish gay partner Louis, who already has a track record of abnegating responsibility, slowly distances himself from his lover despite loving him dearly. Prior accuses Louis of not believing truly in what he preaches, and finds support in his best friend and ex-lover Belize and the hospital nurse. He also begins to experience startlingly realistic hallucinations where he encounters unknown people, ghosts and angels, who proclaim that he is a Prophet who can cure the world's miseries if he wishes. Another man Joe, a Conservative Mormon lawyer begins discovering his second skin when he realizes that his coldness towards his wife stems from his repressed homosexuality, which he had always ignored as it went against his religious beliefs. His wife Harper, as a result of emotional isolation and fears, lives in comfort and friendship of imaginary friends who, akin Prior's hallucinatory encounters, give answers to the questions that remain vague or unanswered in reality. Joe's mother,aptly referred to as 'Mother Pitt' is an ordinary Mormon wife who, although is upset by her son's revelation, finds that her womanhood innately shows the qualities of empathy and compassion to be more flexible towards changes around her. Joe's mentor is Roy Cohn, the famous Conservative Jewish lawyer who strongly shows anti-communist and racist attitudes and ignores moral and ethical issues in doing what he believes is right for US. The contemptible, churlish, unconscionable brute is another victim of AIDS, which he contracted through sexual relations with men; yet Roy does not believe he is a homosexual, terming the tag only for those 'whom nobody knows and who know nobody'. His confrontation with his past sins materializes in the form of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, a Jewish woman whom Roy had convicted using undue power for espionage.Distance, death, desertion and isolation are recurring themes in Angels in America. The opening monologue of the rabbi itself is an example of distance: we see Louis and Prior sitting together a few rows behind the other members of their family as the rabbi is sermonizing at Louis' grandmother's funeral about the brave woman's voyage to America. The two gay men are separated from the rest for their homosexuality while the Rabbi expresses his conservative view on religion. There is a haunting image about death some scenes later when Louis broaches the subject of desertion to the rabbi: after the conversation, we see an extremely long shot/view of the almost unending graveyard, with numberless black gravestones. Mike Nichols, the TV movie's director makes his camera float into and away from the subjects, and poetically captures the magic realism of the story. The colors in the film also capture the character's emotion or essence, and sometimes you may see the whole image going startlingly red or brilliantly blue or find a major color dominating the background, like a dull yellow background around Mother Pitt when she arrives home and gets a call about her daughter--law or shades of green on Mother Pitt and Prior during their conversation at the hospital. There is, in short, a lot we get to see, and I haven't come to burning ghosts of Prior's ancestors and his shared dream with Harper yet! Despite the complexities and the multitudinous implications in the play, you are always connected to the humanness of the characters and excellent. Highly engaging performances.Angels in America runs for six hours, but I have no problem seeing it again. There are things I know I've missed, meanings still not fully understood, questions still running in my mind, characters whose brilliance I haven't fully relished. It's really a play written which seems to have be written when the playwright himself was exploring USA, and all his ideas explode into Angels in America. It's well worth your time.Read the unabridged 'Angels In America' sized review at http://sashankkini.wordpress.com/

shaunandria I had no idea what to expect when I started watching and then recording the series! I loved every minute of it! It was a most humble journey, which was probably very painful for some, but strong, emotional and unbelievable for others. I found myself riveted to the television, which doesn't happen often! The fact that this has been aired so long after the subject itself hit the headlines, and we as a nation have evolved with knowledge and help, has meant that Angels was in it's own time an incredibly controversial film, that we can look back with hindsight and be thoroughly disgusted with our attitudes towards the 'gay' communities. I personally feel that it would most definitely benefit a second viewing. Well done to all who were involved.

angelofvic One thing to remember if you're thinking about watching this -- and it is one of the gay classics -- is that it has uneven patches. But when you're just about fed up with a patch that is senseless, tedious, or irritating, suddenly it gets good again. And of course in totality, the whole thing gels and feels complete and meaningful and uplifting.One great thing about the film is that it encompasses a wide variety of characters. It's not confined to a tiny group of gay friends, one or more of whom might get sick. In this regard, it succeeds much better than even "Rent" does.So do take a look at it if you're interested in gay-related cinema or AIDS-related themes. Just realize that, however, it probably won't be quite what you expected. But, in that, it might actually turn out to be better than you expected!