Angels in America (DVD)

I am writing this after having watched 'Angels in America' on HBO for perhaps the tenth or twelfth time since it was first aired earlier this year. Every time I watch it I see something new or understand a different aspect of the film than I did the last time. It is so rich with humor, pathos, deep thought, questioning, rage, understanding and generosity of spirit that it never ceases to take my breath away. I imagine I will still be watching it--frequently--years from now as a result of having the DVDs available to own. I would have bought them at any price, but to have them priced SO CHEAPLY by Amazon makes it impossible for me to imagine not owning them. I have been waiting since I first saw the film on HBO for the DVDs to be released.I have always been a fan of Al Pacino and of Meryl Streep, but I don't think it's an exageration to say that nothing Pacino has ever done before prepares you for the intensity of his performance as Roy Cohn. It is beyond superb. I have to believe that every actor hopes to reach this level of performance one time in their lives, but very few are ever able to do so. I think it defines acting, as I have never been so moved by an evil character in my life. As for Meryl Streep, well, I have seen her in other roles which moved me profoundly, and I am never surprised that she astounds us with almost every performance. But her performances in this film are earth-shattering. Almost every actor in this film is astonishing. James Wright is so remarkable I cannot believe he is not better known outside the New York theater.There is so much compassion in this film. Compassion for each and every one of the characters as well as for humanity in general, which means of course that Tony Kushner is not only a genius--but the heart and conscience of a generation. I am so impressed by this man's mind, his heart and his great loving soul that thinking about what kind of person he must be brings tears to my eyes.The direction of this film gives me a level of respect for Mike Nichols that I never suspected. I have always enjoyed and admired his films, but this is so far beyond what I expect from him, that I want to go back and see all his other films again to know if I have been missing something, or if he has just surged with age to a place way beyond where he seemed to be.There are problems both with the play and the production, as others have mentioned. These include places where things don't 'work' or just seem weaker than other parts. In a way they are more obvious because of the strength of the rest of the film. However, it seems worse than petty to dwell on these minor points or moments in a film of such quality. It's like dwelling on a mosquito bite on the body of a Goddess.Which brings me to perhaps the most important aspect of this film. This country is so divided and hostile today that I find a work of art like 'Angels in America' has even more relevance than it did when it was written. It is exactly Kushner's compassionate view of both the worst of humanity and the best of humanity that distinguishes this work, along with his honest portrayal of flaws in the thinking and the behavior of both sides of the 'Great Divide'. [Being less compassionate than Kushner, only my most generous heart--and not any part of my mind--manages to include Roy Cohn in the 'human' category--and even then only because of Kushner's portrayal of him--before seeing this film I could think of Roy Cohn only as the devil himself]. This is not to misinterpret his politics and sympathies which are clearly liberal...but he chooses to humanize rather than demonize those with opposing views. And he has very sympathetic characters point out the flaws in the liberal 'mythology'. The piece has liberal politics but it is not a liberal tract by any means.Kushner examines the aspects of his characters and of Americans in general, that unite them in their humanity. He also illustrates those aspects which demean and divide them--greed, fear, vindictiveness, hypocrisy, arrogance and self-absorption all make their appearance. Yet rather than demonize the characters, these weaknesses serve to show their shared complexity, their shared humanity. In his compassion, Kushner forgives even his most evil characters, and is hopeful even in despair. He portrays the complexity of human nature rather than playing to win his arguments by appealing to ignorance through simplifying the issues in question.For those reviewers who say they did not understand this film, I find it hard to believe they really watched it. My husband's favorite movie is "Dumb and Dumber" and he watches inane reruns of situation comedies that were moronic the first time around. Yet he was the one who saw 'Angels in America' first and taped it for me and insisted nightly when I returned from a business trip that I stay up and watch this movie instead of doing what I would normally do on a 'work night' [which is NOT watch TV]. He then recommended it to all of our neighbors and friends and loaned his precious video to people who didn't have HBO. Usually VERY quiet, I saw him ask each person who returned the film what they thought about it. Since he is a deeply SECULAR man, I've never seen him proselytize for a movie before.People say this is a film about AIDs and about homosexuality, and on some level it is that. But much more it is about love, compassion, tolerance and AMERICA. It is so much about the miracle of AMERICA in its theory, its myths, and its beautiful and awful reality. It is also a love song to New York, (a description usually used to refer to Woody Allen movies) but to the spiritual rather than the physical New York.Lastly, 'Angels in America' is about faith and religion, and how one's faith and/or religious beliefs can enoble or limit the scope of one's life. It is about the spiritual vs. the religious and the places where these worlds come together, and how they also exist apart. It is a truly great film.

I was fortunate to travel to New York City in November 1994. I saw a number of things on Broadway since I knew I was not likely to return anytime soon (as I haven't). One of the things I managed to see was "Angels in America." I knew it had won a Tony Award in 1993 as well as a Pulitzer Prize and I knew that it was Tony Kushner's lengthy play in two parts, his "Gay Fantasia" about the AIDS epidemic.I saw Part I "Millenium Approaches" at a Saturday matinee and went for an early dinner afterward, returning to the theatre to see Part II "Perestroika" that night. It was an amazing day. The dialog was riveting. I laughed uproariously at the witty lines and found tears in my eyes at other times. I'd never seen a play with as much to say and with such a delightful premise. A lot of what happened was pure fantasy and it made a wonderful nonliteral vehicle through which ideas could be presented and discussed and profound questions asked.Nearly 10 years later, the DVD version of HBO's adapation reached me and just a few days ago, I spent yet another Saturday watching both parts of "Angels in America."I cannot praise the adaptation enough. Cinematic values were topnotch. The acting was superb. And 95% of the original play remained intact, thanks to the fact that Tony Kushner adapted the screenplay himself from his original live play.Most of it has worn well with time, though many of the ideas presented, though still of great importance, are no longer as fresh as they once were. Too bad it took 11 years to bring the play to the screen, but infinitely better late than never.I gather a number of people were bored or offended in some way by this play. So I would caution potential viewers NOT to bother with "Angels in America" if:1. You think a fantasy can't present ideas and questions.2. If you don't have a sense of humor in the face of the AIDS epidemic.3. If you need to hold gay men and lesbian women as bad and wrong in order to validate your own negative experience of self.4. If you're so far to the right politically that a liberal viewpoint -- or any viewpoint markedly different from your own -- strikes you as unpatriotic and subversive.5. If you're very conservative in religious interpretation and you need to take everything literally -- specifically, if you think that a fantasy involving angels who are sexually stimulating and the idea of an absent God is anything other than a literary device.6. If words bore you and listening to dialog puts you to sleep.Really, there are other DVD's to rent or purchase and if this is going to bother you, well, life is just too short to be miserable and blame it on others.As to the subject matter and those unfortunate people who think this movie is HBO's version of "Touched by an Angel" or something, well, the original play made headlines, won a Tony award on TV (with a scene re-enacted on the awards show), won awards and was much discussed. A movie title will seldom tell you much about the plot of a film, so you might want to look something up if you missed the publicity the first time around.Three cheers for HBO, for Tony Kushner, and for a superb ensemble of actors. The number of Emmys won by this production says it all. Excellent, amazing, superb, surprising, extraordinary, worthwhile. Not for everyone, I suspect, but three cheers to HBO for doing something not designed for the uncaring, the easily bored or offended.

I love it!I will look at this excellent movie year after year.It's a 5 Stars movie.

Una miniserie di sei puntate basata su un testo teatrale. Tradotta in italiano ma mai trasmessa perché in Italia "certi" argomenti non si trattano. Visionario e catastrofista, forse profetico. Negli anni 80 appariva una strana, nuova malattia, l'immunodeficenza acquisita (Aids) che fu subito demonizzata, a ragione perche causò milioni di morti. Film frammentario, con interpreti superbi (Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson..) L'America e il mondo sull'orlo della Apocalisse. Attuale perché l'Aids, apparentemente oggi tenuto a freno dai farmaci ma non sconfitto, era ed è solo uno dei motivi che spingono il mondo attuale verso l'estinzione. Un po' lungo e dispersivo alla fine ma i temi trattati, l'inquinamento globale, la corruzione, l'odio, l'amore, la solidarietà, la vendetta sono di un'attualità agghiacciante. Da vedere assolutamente.

Great quality DVD

In Spain we are used to see movies dubbed in spanish from Spain. We are not used with the actors original voices but, listen Al Pacino speaking in latin spanish is very very weird for us. Is for this reason that I rather watch this movie in original sound reading the subtitles. So I'm getting more used with the american english sound.Otherwise, I would watch dubbed in spanish Positive, always positive.

J'ai dû voir la série complète au moins 5 ou 6 fois depuis que je l'ai découverte, et je l'ai passée à plusieurs amis qui en ont été enchantés.Meryl Streep est, comme d'habitude, fabuleuse, ainsi que Emma Thompson et tous les acteurs vraiment. Les thèmes sont encore d'actualité, certains acteurs incarnent plusieurs personnages, ce qui semble donner de la profondeur à la série.Au final, un excellent moment, des rires, des larmes (ou du moins des moments émouvants) et, tiens, je le re-regarderais avec plaisir.