Mike Nichols/USA/2003; R4 (2-disc)
Warner Bros/HBO, NZ$39.95 | Reviewed by John Spry

THERE HAVE been many portrayals of Angels in cinema over the past hundred-odd years, but possibly none more enigmatic and original as the entity Emma Thompson portrays in this moving tribute to a group of people caught in a web at once unseen but always present in their lives. My immediate thoughts turn to the omni-prescient Angel played by Bruno Ganz in Wim Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire when the subject of Angels come up, and I found myself revisiting this film after viewing Angels in America.

Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, Angels in America is both written and adapted here by Tony Kusher. This television mini-series is expertly directed by Mike Nichols and features performances that are among the best given by Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Jeffrey Wright as well as a host of other incredible talents both in front of, and behind the camera.

This mini-series is set around the end of the 1980s and the start of the 1990s in New York City, and has all the political and social commentary one might expect from that particular period in US history. The plot revolves around characters that either have contracted the AIDS retro-virus, or have been (or will be) both directly and indirectly affected in someway by the illness. This story is by no means original and there have been many factually based films made about the AIDS epidemic, (with the sheer length and information passed to the audience) I could not help but think immediately of the 1993 HBO film ...And the Band Played on directed by Roger Spottiswoode, which gives an overview of individual's lives and the process of attempting to solve what the disease was at the outset of what became known as AIDS. This series not only covers the effects of the illness and the way in which the people that become infected succumb to the virus, but also illustrates how families that cross social, economic and religious boundaries deal with this infectious illness themselves. As well as these points, there is an exploration of the idea of identity both sexual and social, and what happens to people when they either accept a given (perhaps societal) truth or, try and live with the lie. There are extreme cases of both in the series and many examples are thrown into, and become part of the narrative structure of each of the episodes.

There is least one strand of the plot that is effectively based in fact and involves a public figure well known in the America of the 1980s, as well as one of the most infamous Court Cases in US history. The Court Case is the Rosenberg Case where the US accused a husband and wife of spying and stealing government secrets for the USSR during the 1950s "Cold War" period. One of the prosecutors in the trial was Roy Cohen, who as part of the mini-series contracts AIDS and is haunted by the spirit of Ethel Rosenberg, the wife of the accused, until his death. The other side of the equation is Prior Walker, who contracts AIDS and is left alone by his Jewish partner who cannot abide sickness and feels lost for different reasons. Throughout Prior's sickness he has visions (real or not?) of a winged Angel appearing to him (played by Emma Thompson) who becomes more passionate about her visits and the purpose for Prior to be in the position he is in. I will not give away the plot any further so as to not spoil any surprises that lay in store for the viewer.

There are many other threads of characters lives and they slowly become intertwined to the point that the very nature of their existence is in doubt (especially in the many dream sequences); all of this at a time in the US where corruption and greed was rampant, combined with a decade that is synonymous with a White House that is justly known as the 'Reagan Era'. As Cohen draws his last breath, the torch is handed from one generation to the next and we glimpse an early 1990's ideal of a family that has abolished the nuclear stereotype and embraced a new dynamic in familiar relations.


THE MINI-SERIES – now available on DVD – is presented in widescreen 1.78:1 but enhanced for widescreen TVs, and is spread evenly over two discs into two episodes: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika. The picture and sound is sharp and clear as should be expected of a television series so recently produced. There are no extra features, but the quality of the text is such that there is little need for any kind of filler material.

The benefit of having quality people working behind the camera gives the impression that this text would not look out of place on the big screen. The cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt and the direction of Mike Nichols gives us two artists at the top of their game both technically and narratively. Goldblatt, after shooting mostly "B" films such as Batman and Robin (1999) and Lethal Weapon (1987), has Conspiracy (2001), Angels in America and Closer (2004) as his last three projects; Nichols, after such disappointments such as Wolf (1993), last directed Wit (2002), Angels in America and Closer. Together, they show they have what it takes to produce films (or television series/films) that have much to say about betrayal, life, death and other timeless human narratives in original ways that portray humanity at its best and its brutal worst.

Angels in America is a true television event that once started, is difficult to turn off; in fact, a story that you do not want to end. Narratively it is inventive while staying within an understandable frame of reference, while all the characters are given their own space to grow and interact with their own world while coming into the sphere of influence of others within the story. While most people that have a cursory knowledge of the late 80s and early 90s political climate will find the details of Reaganite ground troops (and their opposition) interesting, it will open another world for those who know nothing of this period in history. It is a time that changed the outlook of segments of society and gave way to a new age of understanding, especially segments of society marginalised by the dominant hierarchy. In any society, it is the marginalised segments that first take the brunt of any change or shift in a paradigm, but sooner or later the dominant or rest of society suffer from the same effects. It is interesting to note that these effects make the characters feel certain emotions and it is fundamental to how they react in terms of their societal, sexual and political status. The ending of the series takes place many years after the final scenes, and shows the audience a group of characters that for the most part, are very well adjusted in opposition to the rest of society who are struggling to keep up with the times.