Buddies

This 35 year old film seems "unpolished" by today's standards (higher resolution, better acting & production values) ...but the movie still works.

The acting isn't great, but good enough. The setting appears a bit sterile and sanitized ...at times more like a play rather than a movie. But we are still able to connect emotionally with the characters and enjoy the narrative.

A meaningful film and a great time capsule!

I would have given this a higher rating 30 years ago.

Buddies (1985)

*** (out of 4)

This ground-breaking drama centers around Robert (Geoff Edholm), a New York City man who is in the hospital dying of AIDS. One day David (David Schachter) comes to visit him as a "Buddy" and the two of them quickly build a friendship, although David knows the story only has one ending.

BUDDIES was one of the very first films to deal with AIDS and homosexuality and it was directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr. who was actually suffering from the virus while making this picture. In fact, the director would end up dying of AIDS a few years after this film and I think his ghost is hanging all over this picture.

I say his ghost is hanging all over this picture because the film really does come across as a first-hand account of what it was like to have this virus during the 80's and what it was like waiting to die. The film is certainly very depressing and it's rather raw in the way it takes a look at a life cut short and I think it's clear that the director was working out his own demons here.

As I said, the film is exceptionally raw and there are some brutal moments on hand here. As good as this film is, at the same time it's pretty hard to recommend it since the thing is so depressing as I'm sure most people aren't going to want to watch someone slowly dying. The film is about loss, the film is about not wanting to die and it's about regret. It's certainly not a very cheerful movie but at the same time it's so well-made that you can't help but get caught up in its emotions.

Both Edholm and Schachter are good in their roles. I wouldn't say either of them are great as there are a few weak moments in the performances but for the most part they hit all of the right notes and I'd argue that both of them help add tot he rawness of the picture. I thought both of them had a great relationship with each other and as the friendship builds you really do feel it.

BUDDIES isn't the easiest film to sit through but there's no question that it's an important picture and one that deserves more attention than it has gotten over the years.

I have been vocal before how many in the media and governing political parties spread misinformation and lies about Aids in the early 1980s.

Conservative and religions groups had a vested interest in labelling Aids as a gay only disease. Thousands of hetrosexuals, intravenous drug users, haemophiliacs contracted Aids/HIV because they thought they would be safe. It would not affect them.

Buddies released in 1985 very much as this in the heart of this movie. Gay men with Aids were denied help from government funding. Having to rely on charity.

Robert Willow (Geoff Edholm) is in hospital dying of Aids. His life as gay man was difficult, ostracised from his family when he came out.

David Bennett (David Schachter) is a young gay man in a relationship and with a supportive family. He has volunteered to be a hospital buddy and he is nervous about it.

David and Robert are contrasting personalities. It shows up when they discuss Gay Parades. It is not David's things, he wants to keep his personal life private. Gay activism is not his thing.

Over time they get close and learn to understand each other. This includes David showing an interest in gay politics.

By making David a typesetter who is researching about Aids. It allows writer/director Arthur J Bressan Jr to explore the political implications for Aids. Robert gets angry to learn that Aids is meant to be God's revenge from some anti gay groups.

As in the British television series It's A Sin shown in 2021. Robert dies without his friends being with him. A hospital mix up meant, David could not be contacted.

Buddies was a small scale film made on a very low budget. It only played on the independent film circuit.

Both Edholm and Bressan jr later died of Aids. Because of the the time it was made, it is an important document of that era. Hollywood would later revisit the themes in Longtime Companion in 1989.

A gay man (in a happy monogamous relationship) becomes a buddy with another man dying of AIDS. They slowly become closer and closer...

I was one of the few people to actually see this in a movie theatre back in 1985. It played at a VERY small art house cinema and was the first film ever made to deal with AIDS. It was written and directed by a gay man (Arthur Bressan Jr.) who, sadly, died of AIDS two years later.

It was shattering. At the time I was a closeted gay man with no gay friends and knew nothing about AIDS. This movie really opened my eyes. It didn't scare me from coming out though--it does have the gay, HIV- couple who clearly love each other. The acting was great and it all built up to a powerful climax that left me crying (I wasn't alone--everyone else in the theatre was in tears also).

This is a powerful, depressing film but it should be required viewing for everyone! It's also sad that Bressan is no longer with us. He had the courage to make this film and it is well-written and directed. This has disappeared completely since 1985 and was overshadowed by "Longtime Companion" in 1990. That's too bad--I'd love to see this again.

Powerful and moving. A 10.

A film I happened to see late at night on Channel 4 (UK) while channel hopping a few years back. My attention was grabbed within minutes. Its the most moving and realistic film to deal with the way AIDS affects lives. This film does not rely on Hollywood sentimentality. No big budget scenes and special effects. In fact the quality was almost that of a home made movie. But then again, the film was meant to put you so much closer to the actors and the story. So what better way that apparently watching someones home movie? It works. See how people are forced to questions their own prejudices, sees how others live and how their values and beliefs may not be the same as yours, but are just as valid. If you get to the end and never have at least the starting of a tear in your eye at any point, then you heart must truly be made of stone. Wish I knew if it was available on DVD or even VHS somewhere.