How to Survive a Plague, 2012.
Directed by David France.
SYNOPSIS:
The story of two coalitions — ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) — whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
This is the story of two groups of activists, ACT UP and TAG, whose passion, dedication and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
The film begins in the mid-1980s at a time when death from AIDS-related diseases was relatively unusual but beginning to dramatically increase. This documentary was produced from over 700 hours of archive footage shot by the activists as they charted their fight for better scientific research against a backdrop of indifference, hostility and greed.
You have to know that a story like this can never be an easy watch yet somehow I still wasn’t prepared for what I saw. This film is 110 minutes of anger, distress and upset – and more often than not becomes very difficult to watch. Not because death is constantly looming in the distance. Not because of the pain that some of these people went through. But because you can’t help but become upset that so many had to die for anyone to take decisive action.
When the film begins, people are already planning how they can make a stand to raise awareness of the devastation that AIDS brings. They start with simple marches in New York and over time progress to storming into meetings, barricading doors and, in one very funny protest, covering a man’s house with a giant condom.
As the story is being told we see moments of humour, pained and angry faces and sobering reminders that people are dying from this affliction – the most powerful reminder being a ‘death toll’ that periodically appears and lets us know how many men and women have lost their lives as the years go by.
As the time goes on, we see the various setbacks and struggles that these groups suffer as they continue their fight. We watch as they fight the Catholic church over the issue of condoms, shield themselves against billy-club armed police and defend themselves against Senator Jesse Helms’ anti-gay rhetoric.
We also watch on as they struggle with in-fighting amongst themselves as the pressure of their cause escalates. This culminates in a startling scene in which one man screams at the now silenced crowd “Plague! We’re in the middle of a fucking plague, and you behave like this?”. It’s a scene that lingers on in your memory for a long while afterwards.
The film isn’t about one or two big scenes though; it’s unrelenting with its facts and we continually meet scores of people who are brutally honest about their condition, many revealing that they think they will die soon. They barely shed a tear however, they just seem to be spurred on to get the proper research conducted so that after they’ve passed, others can be saved.
The one time you do see an outpouring of emotion is an incredibly choking scene in Washington DC in which protestors pour the cremated ashes of lovers and friends who’ve fallen victim to AIDS over the White House lawn. While an incredibly powerful protest, you again find yourself wondering at how far these people have to go to have their voices heard.
All in all, this is an incredibly heavy film that doesn’t pull any punches and is one of the most honest and balanced documentaries that I’ve ever seen. It’s a film that doesn’t sugar coat any aspects of the fight against AIDS and, while being incredibly graphic and upsetting, is also a remarkably uplifting tale of the art of survival.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Ozzy Armstrong is a Stargate and Rocky superfan. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published November 6, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
