How to Survive a Plague

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PridePosterStudios We must never forget this moment in history and those who weren’t afraid to battle for our rights. Act up. Fight back. Fight AIDS. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/12/24 Full Review Thomas M The best documentary movie ever made! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/26/22 Full Review Audience Member How to Survive a Plague gets its title from the film's standout moment, near its midpoint, when AIDS activist and writer Larry Kramer shouts down two quarreling activists with one word: "PLAGUE!" "40 million deaths is a fucking plague," Kramer tells them, admonishing them for their incivility. It's a wake-up call to those around him, but it also startles this film's audience out of an archive-induced stupor. How to Survive a Plague is many great things, but it's also a bit repetitive in its first half. The way director David France elects to tell this story-mostly via grainy 1980s video camera footage-is essential, but it also keeps you at arms length for longer than it should. It was Kramer's impassioned call that did it for me. Everything that followed hooked into me like I was a fish after a worm. And maybe that moment will do the same for you. Maybe it'll happen at a march on Washington when an older woman opens a small chest that contains the ashes of a loved one and a young man dumps his dead partner's ashes on the front lawn of the White House. Or maybe it'll be when one of our heroes, covered in skin blemishes, loses his sight. At some point over the course of How to Survive a Plague, you'll find yourself emotionally overwhelmed and totally involved. You'll find yourself stricken by sorrow, anger. You'll find asking for France's forgiveness for nearly giving up during the film's weaker points. And you'll find yourself admiring this searing film as a total package, for that lengthy, grinding opening is merely setting you up for a total blindside of a catharsis. The questions the film asks don't, can't have answers, but listening to the film's heroes ask them is enough to break your heart. Could they have done more to secure an effective medicine sooner? Their case is one of survivor's guilt, and you'll want to jump through your screen and reassure them, remind them they saved countless lives. But the film also brings up (indirectly, perhaps) questions about the effectiveness of their tactics. ACT UP is the group at the heart of the film, and they stage peaceful but boisterous sit-ins (even a "kiss-in") to give their cause a voice. A few years into the fight, a separate group called TAG (Treatment Action Group) begins working directly with drug companies and governmental agencies that were at odds with ACT UP. To say this approach infuriated some would be an understatement, but to say it was ineffective would be a bald-faced lie. Those allied with TAG were at the forefront of the greatest HIV/AIDS-related breakthrough in history. The reason many of the film's heroes are still alive today was, in a lot of ways, directly related to the cooperative approach of TAG. That's not to say ACT UP didn't have its moments of triumph and success. On the contrary, there's strength to be gained from its members' persistence. The film and its director, too, should be commended for being persistent. France overcame the trappings of the archival documentary and turned out something profound and powerful. http://www.johnlikesmovies.com/how-to-survive-a-plague/ Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member I feel like this documentary is walking on thin ice with its political context, but I still believe it is a worthwhile adventure into the action group that saved millions when no one else would. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member How to Survive a Plague paints and intimate and compelling picture of the activists who demanded justice and inspired healing during the American AIDS epidemic. While it suffers from inconsistencies in pacing, the story HtSaP has to tell is as important and moving now as it has ever been. It's not just about AIDS, it's about the power of organizing to save lives. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member The narrative of this documentary is told through video footage of meetings and protests from 1987 to 1995. Throughout the human side of the epidemic shown as the members of ACT UP slowly fade into a gaunt death. The US government had all but refused to increase funding, and so these condemned men became makeshift scientists and drug-smugglers in an effort to survive. While the science of this movie went a little over my head, what resonates is their effort to not be ignored while another life is lost every 4 minutes. The fight for human dignity is overwhelming. As is the power of strong-willed group activism which can help push an ignored issue to the forefront and saved millions of lives. While it's obviously not the most sunny documentary there is an uplifting power in seeing people fight for survival. It also gives the viewer a chance to reflect on the modern struggle of LGBT and medical rights, giving perspective to how much we have (and have not) progressed in the past 3 decades. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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