This was the first big Brazilian drama that HBO worked on, and it’s a five-episode miniseries that lasts almost five hours in total. It’s a really emotional and political story set in Rio de Janeiro during the late 1980s, and it does a great job of showing what that era felt like while the country was dealing with the HIV/AIDS crisis. Since the world feels so divided today, the show is a beautiful reminder of how queer people can find power by standing together when things are hard. The story is actually based on real things that happened, specifically about flight attendants who smuggled AIDS medicine from the US into Brazil in the 80s. It works as both a history drama and a strong political message. The show is mostly about three people: Nando, his best friend Lea (they both work as flight attendants for Fly Brasil), and Raul, who is a performer and an activist. A lot of the story happens at a club called Paradise, which was one of the few open gay clubs back in the 80s. Nando is a h...
Growing up in 70s in New Zealand, homosexuality was generally viewed as an aberration. But still mostly men found ways to find a sexual partner. And even in those less tolerant days, there were people who had happy stories to share. As Paul moved from NZ to London to film making to multiple trips around the world, he recounts and even tracks some of these men to give interviews for this documentary. While on the surface it’s a highly personal tale of one man’s liaisons, in the course of the telling, the tale encompasses profound societal and legal changes from the 1970s to the present day, and how quickly that history fades if we don’t keep the memory alive. The interviews are interesting individually, and are edited together in a narrative that holds your attention through to the end.
A competently made and fun documentary that struggles somewhat to find its focus. A much as the interviews were fun and personal, I was able to enjoy it and find a personal connection. There were years when I used to keep a list of men that I was hooking up with, so I got a little bot of chuckle myself seeing a documentary like this. Through interviews we hear stories about religion, AIDS, clubs, partying, sex, relationship, love, monogamy, pretty much everything. I would recommend this just as a harmless documentary trying to bring a spunk with a general exploration of gay history since the 70s, the film struggles to quite stick the landing and live up to the genuinely moving material it's working with. (6/10)
Comments