And the Band Played On (1993)

This is a HBO movie about the first few years of the AIDS epidemic in America. Dr. Don Francis (Matthew Modine) is an immunologist with experience with WHO in Africa. He joins the CDC to investigate the new disease. The gay community in San Francisco led by Bill Kraus (Ian McKellen) is divided about the mysterious deaths and the fear of the new Reagan administration. Dr. Robert Gallo (Alan Alda) is the arrogant American virologist who discovers the first human retrovirus in competition with his French counterpart to lay claim and credit for the discovery.This is a big vast complicated story. The beauty of this movie is its ability to maintain the narrative. It is a compelling watch despite the wide ranging story and the variety of characters. It is really a horror thriller at its core with AIDS as the bogeyman. The cast is deep and talented. When Gallo enters the picture, this movie transforms into a personality clash. There are many outstanding performances including Alan Alda, Saul Rubinek and the easily dismissed Matthew Modine. It would be a mistake to forget about Modine who must embody the frustration of the audience. This is a well made understandable movie of a complicated issue.

I have never watched a film that covered so much information the way that this film had. Based on years of dedicated research. Questions were now answered. Myths were put to rest and facts and not fiction was distributed to the public. I thought I knew about the early years of AIDS how wrong I was. And The Band Played On gives its viewers insights both in the medical field and into the lives of the countless people it infected and affected. It takes us down a path where young, old, poor and rich feel the deadly affect of being diagnose with HIV or AIDs in the 80's.Watching this film I became somewhat disheartened by the way the scientist fought over who would receive credit for finding the HIV virus. It is sad to know that while millions of lives were ending, politicians and some of the medical professions did not find it very important to tests the blood supplies until some one prominent was diagnose with AIDS. True to life the film delivers knock out performances by Ian McKellian, Alan Alda, Matthew Modine, Lilly Tomlin, Richard Gere, Anjelica Houstan, Phila Collins and well the lists goes on.I applaud every one who made this movie. I loved it so much I went out and bought it. This is a must see!

Well told history of the beginning of the AIDS crisis in America and the world. It showed the slow and inept response of the Republican lead government. The performances are brilliant. Ensemble cast brings a complicated story, to fruition by showing that AIDS is not merely a disease to study underneath a microscope, but a social typhoon that changed society as a hole. I think they should show this movie in high schools. An influential movie that stops and makes you think. I thought that Alan Alda's portrayal of Dr. Robert Gallo was a great departure from his normal "MASH" fare, I found a new respect for Matthew Modine after seeing his portrayal in this movie. Swoozie Kurtz is only on screen for a brief time, yet she pulls you into her characters desperation, sadness, and anger, at being kept in the dark by her own Dr's. Her Dr's never tell she has AIDS. The stigma of AIDS still stands today. I hope to one day live in a world when AIDS has been eradicated.

This movie tells a remarkable story about the beginnings of the war on AIDS. It is wonderfully acted and directed and serves as an excellent primer for those who do not know the history of this deadly disease. It also angered and saddened me to see that this could have turned out so differently. If the politicians hadn't been so bigoted and the researchers (one in particular) hadn't been so desperate for accolades, the testing and warnings could have started years earlier and so many lives could have been spared. This is a very honest account of what happened when AIDS first appeared and how a handful of people refused to give up the struggle to to understand and fight it. I highly recommend it.