Engel in Amerika

Simply the best piece of American Cinema/Television I have ever seen!! Superb acting by the entire cast, fantastic and clever script, magnificently filmed, a pure joy from start to finish.

I am amazed how well such an excellent stage presentation has translated to film. This will become a classic. All of the awards that it has received are fully deserved.

It has captured the essence of what being gay was in the 80's with all its fears, problems and excitements. But it is more than just a gay document, it speaks of life generally in the 80's, of everyones fears and hopes in such an affluent time. The depiction so real (even in the surreal sequences) so insightful of that period.

Totally remarkable.

I wish I could put into words how deeply touched I was by this movie/ miniseries. It has haunted me since I first saw it in December. I taped it when it was shown all together on HBO Signature and purchased the playscript book. And I have the soundtrack which is so beautiful.

I loved this work. It made me think, it made me laugh, it made me mourn. The concept of God abandoning Heaven just made me weep. The utter resolve Prior displays before the Council was so uplifting...and then Hannah's desire to have them all bathe in the Fountain of Bethesda and be healed. So touching.

Each character was such an intrigal part of the delicate equation. The awards/nominations were/are all richly deserved. (SAGs are on 2/22.)

Patrick Wilson positively floored me. I'd never heard of him before and was slack jawed by his range, his depth and his delivery. His vocal inflections, modulations, etc are incredible. And, his "look" was perfect. As a straight, active (practicing) LDS woman , I can tell you that he could have been dropped into any Church meeting and he would have blended right in. Kudos to the wardrobe/hair & make-up department. Of course, though Joe's particular struggle is not representative of every man in the Church, all individuals have burdens we must handle. I could really relate to that.

The rest of the cast were equally fantastic. You know, even if the character was being despicable...you appreciated the talents and efforts of the person portraying them.

I could gush forever about this. Bravo to Tony Kushner, Mike Nichols, and the incredible cast.

There are films that are so good, so good, that are almost a miracle. That's the case of this extraordinary miniseries, "Angels in America", which proves that TV-movies don't have to be inferior, technically or artistically, to any other big production. It was good that Tony Kushner's adaptation of his Pulitzer-winning stage play was turned into a 6-hour miniseries, otherwise much of it would've been lost in a 2 and half hour movie.

"Angels in America" is a stunning epic about the AIDS crisis in 1985, around a group of people haunted by the disease. Kushner even included a real character, the hateful right-wing fixer Roy Cohn (Al Pacino - Cohn was also played by James Woods in another acclaimed TV-movie, "Citizen Cohn", in 1992). The 6 hours are always interesting, often sad, sometimes funny, never depressing. The ensemble cast is just wonderful and I couldn't pick one favourite - Justin Kirk (the real lead and the one who, sadly, got less awards, what's a shame by the way), Mary-Louise Parker, Meryl Streep, Pacino, Emma Thompson, Jeffrey Wright, Patrick Wilson, Ben Shenkman and James Cromwell. "Angels in America" is one unforgettable cinematic experience, everything that a film should be - films don't get better than this. It's hard to point out the "guilty", but let's give special credit to the veteran Mike Nichols ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "The Graduate"), who made another modern masterpiece the following year: "Closer", based on a Patrick Marber's play. Since his debut in "Virginia Woolf", Nichols proved he could turn a play into a great film like no other. "Angels in America" is one of his finest works. Unmissable. 10 out of 10.

"This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all. And the dead will be commemorated, and we'll struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come".

I saw a pre-screening of this and was trying to keep low expectations, due to all the surrounding hype. But it certainly lived up to all the acclaim, the expectations from such high-caliber actors, and the myriad of awards (Tony's, Pulitzer, etc.) that the play received.

HBO has once again backed/produced a breakthrough piece of entertainment, on the same level (and maybe above) The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Wit, et. al. But it would be nice for the public to able to see this on the big screen, as it has such grandeur at times.

I won't go into too much detail of the plot as it's still being aired, but do yourself a favor and check it out. And contrary to some reviews, it is still relevant. Not because things are still the same now as they were in 1985 in regards to politics and AIDS and homophobia (although in some ways they are), but because humans still still struggle with relationships, pain, disease, death, religion and hope. It would be like saying "Schindler's List" isn't relevant today because the Holocaust is over and Hitler is dead.

Take the time to view this one of the several times HBO runs it. Give yourself time to watch it distraction-free and enjoy!

Set in 1980s New York and subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," the six-hour ANGELS IN America concerns a group of largely gay men who find themselves caught up in series of disasters that range from love to religion and from politics to philosophy--and most specifically caught between the rising tide of AIDS and a generally unsympathetic society.

In the midst of this, AIDS patient Prior Walter begins to have a series of visions, which may be fever dreams, medicine-induced hallucinations... or, most unnerving of all, real. His long dead ancestors rise to speak to him, the floor cracks open to reveal a burning book--and at the conclusion of the play's first half a beautiful woman with majestic wings crashes through his roof. She is the Angel of America. He is, she tells him, a prophet, and she has come to bring him a message for mankind.

Intertwined with Prior's other-earthly experiences are oddly parallel lives. Joe and Harper Pitt are a deeply dysfunctional couple doubting their faith in the Mormon Church, Joe a closeted homosexual, Harper a Valium-addicted and mildly psychotic woman given to visions as strange as those of Prior Walter's. And as further counterpoint historical figure Roy Cohn (1927-1986), among the most sinister figures of 20th Century America, finds himself taunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he drifts toward his own AIDS-induced death. The characters swirl in and out of each other's lives and dreams, playing to stereotypes and yet defying them, arguing politics and philosophy and love and death--and it is fascinating stuff.

Although the play stunned 1990s audiences, most considered it utterly unfilmable due to both length and content. But this HBO-produced, Mike Nichols-directed version not only captures the power of the original, in some ways it improves upon it. Playwright Tony Kushner has adapted his work to the screen, rearranging certain problematic scenes and bits of dialogue to better effect, and certainly no one could argue with the cast, which is absolutely stunning in a series of multiple roles.

With a mad swirl of irony, intense drama, outrageous humor, and unexpected twists and turns, ANGELS IN America is almost sure to hold your attention--particularly if you recall the Ronald Reagan years well enough to recognize the truly bitter allegory the film offers on what many consider his largely absentee second term. Truly a must have, multi-layered, bearing repeated viewings, beautifully directed, performed, and filmed.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer