Document of the tragic beginnings of AIDS from when it was considered "gay cancer" and started to spread throughout the gay community (it was reputed to be especially set off in bathhouses where sexual transmission between numerous partners was the norm) killing at an alarming rate but not recognized by our government or provided proper funding for scientific research, even though it was clearly an epidemic deserving of attention. There's an emphasis on the frustrations of those working at the CDC in Atlanta (Matthew Modine, Saul Rubinek, Glenn Headly) and how a French lab is at odds with a renowned scientist's (Alan Alda; this actor is always good at playing snobbish, condescending assholes with a superiority complex) over who can "name" the AIDS virus as their own discovery (although you wouldn't think they were rivals if Alda's Dr. Gallo's "we are all getting along swell" behavior in front of the media was any indication). The film traces the virus to a flight steward with over 70 + lovers all over the world. He's interviewed by Richard Masur (part of the CDC team trying to uncover the meaning behind the virus and its origins), who successfully builds a history of where the virus starts and how it spread from the main person.
And the Band Played On is a real behind-the-curtain look at those affected by AIDS and the scientists/community so desperately wanting to understand it so its damage (or at least a method to halt its quick effects from killing those with it so soon) can be deterred. Ronald Reagan spent a considerable amount of time, when President of the United States, not even mentioning it or recognizing AIDS in the media. That frustration in Modine just to get funding so he and his team could understand the damned virus is palpable enough, but to see Alda's ego getting involved and increasing the difficulty further must enrage those who lost friends and family to AIDS. And the absence of even an electron microscope and proper lab facilities for the Atlanta CDC team shows the extreme lack of initiative by the government to study and deter AIDS establishes that so much time, important and valuable, lost in the combat against this virus is illustrated really well. A tremendous cast with the likes of Donal Logue, Richard Gere, Bud Cort, Swoosie Kurtz, and Ian McKellen as victims of the AIDS (each contributing to the fight and research against it, or abused by it), as well as, Angelica Huston, Richard Jenkins, and Steve Martin in parts revolving around the epidemic. The sheer magnitude of the ravages of AIDS is shown in "updates" as, on occasion, the director provides us with the numbers of cases reported and the victims of it. Important film that says that human beings, regardless of sexual orientation, age, or color, fell (or fall) prey to AIDS for a number of reasons, not just homosexual sex. Modine, a fine actor, excels in the lead. There's an epic scope to the film as it covers a lot of ground. The politics involved get major focus; not to mention, blood distribution led to transfusion patients getting AIDS, but the enforcement of regulatory checking of the blood for the virus needed to be addressed. This is an impassioned outcry for those undermined by the virus, and the precious lives lost because of it.
Review of And the Band Played On
