Cast: Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Patrick Bauchau
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Screenplay: Randy Shilts (book), Arnold Schulman (teleplay)

Synopsis: The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it. [1].

Review:

The film “And the Band Played On” is a haunting portrait of the lives affected by AIDS in the initial outbreak, taking us through the history of when the first outbreak of AIDS was known, and carries forward into the present day of the film (1993). The film describes the early days of the CDC with limited funding, limited understanding of the virus, bureaucratic difficulties with blood banks and local bath houses, and the effects the AIDS virus had on the homosexual community. Over the span of five years, the film takes us through numerous lives that are affected by the initial outbreak of AIDs giving is an empathetic picture into the lives of those suffering from the disease. The haunting musical score gives us insight into how people were feeling during this time when the AIDs virus was not well understood, people were dying, and everyone was looking for answers.

The film juxtaposes the struggles of the CDC in identifying the virus with the political air of the time with the election of Ronald Reagan and the reelection. I believe that they were trying to associate the struggle with funding with that of conservatives because AIDs was considered a gay disease early on, but I believe the reality was more akin to the fact that people really did not understand the virus and the devastation that it imposed at the peak of the cold war with U.S.S.R. Priorities were in a different place at the time regardless of administration. Overall, I found the film to be a great dramatic narrative that nicely outlined not only the early days, but also of the fight over the patent for the retrovirus rights. I thought this subplot was very interesting from a patent litigation perspective and since have researched what happened at that time since intellectual property is one of my areas of interest.

On a related note, there were recent legal proceedings in California in regards to homosexual marriage. Proposition 8 (“Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment”) was passed in November 4, 2008. The state Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, but did not overturn previous same-sex marriages. The California Supreme Court ruled, in Perry v. Brown, that sponsors of Proposition 8 have the right to defend the initiative in court, allowing the case to be heard in the 9th circuit of appeals (that they have legal standing to challenge). U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear challenges to the 9th Circuit Court finding that California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Appeal dismissed by Supreme Court, the appellants being found to lack legal standing under federal law. As of today, Proposition 8 is defeated in the courts, and same sex marriage is allowed in the state of California.

 References:

  1. “And the Band Played On.” IMDb: The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com-Amazon.com, 1990-2014. Thurs. 22 May 2014. < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106273/?ref_=nv_sr_1 >.
  2. “And the Band Played On.” Rotten Tomatoes.com, 2014. Thurs. 22 May 2014. < http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/and_the_band_played_on/ >.
  3. “And the Band Played On.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Thurs. 22 May 2014. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_the_Band_Played_On_%28film%29 >.
  4. “Same Sex Marriage in California.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Thurs. 22 May 2014. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_California>.