Set in 1980s NYC, this six-hour epic concerns a group of mostly gay men who are caught up in a series of disasters that range from love to religion, from politics to philosophy, and especially the AIDS epidemic in a generally unsympathetic society. AIDS patient Prior Walter (Michael Gambon) has some visions in which his dead ancestors rise to speak to him, the floor cracks open to reveal a burning book, and a beautiful woman with majestic wings crashes through his roof. She is the Angel of America, she tells Prior he is a prophet, and she has come to bring him a message for mankind. Joe (Patrick Wilson) and Harper Pitt (Mary-Louise Parker) are a dysfunctional couple doubting their faith in the Mormon Church, Joe a homosexual, Harper a valium-addicted and mildly psychotic woman with hallucinations as strange as those of Prior Walter's. Roy Cohn (Al Pacino) and Joe Pitt are in the closet: Pitt out of shame, and Cohn to preserve his power. Meryl Streep is terrific in her three roles, there is superb acting by the entire cast, with a wonderful and clever script magnificently filmed. It captures the essence of what being gay was like in the 1980s.
This adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play was subtitled "A Gay Fantasia On National Themes" which is an accurate description of this ambitious and compelling epic. "Angels in America" is an HBO TV mini-series with a runtime of 360 minutes about a group of New Yorkers confronting AIDS, homophobia, life, death, and the divine in the Age of Nazi Reagan. HBO broadcast the film in various formats: two three-hour parts that correspond to "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika", as well as six one-hour "chapters" that correspond to an act or two of each of these plays. The first three chapters ("Bad News", "In Vitro" and "The Messenger") were initially broadcast on December 7, 2003 to international acclaim, with the final three chapters ("Stop Moving!", "Beyond Nelly" and "Heaven, I'm In Heaven") following. "Angels in America" was the most watched made-for-cable movie in 2003, receiving much critical acclaim. It not only won a record 11 Emmys, it won practically every award it possibly could.
Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay adaptation of his stage play, Thomas Newman composed the music score, and Mike Nichols directed.
This adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play was subtitled "A Gay Fantasia On National Themes" which is an accurate description of this ambitious and compelling epic. "Angels in America" is an HBO TV mini-series with a runtime of 360 minutes about a group of New Yorkers confronting AIDS, homophobia, life, death, and the divine in the Age of Nazi Reagan. HBO broadcast the film in various formats: two three-hour parts that correspond to "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika", as well as six one-hour "chapters" that correspond to an act or two of each of these plays. The first three chapters ("Bad News", "In Vitro" and "The Messenger") were initially broadcast on December 7, 2003 to international acclaim, with the final three chapters ("Stop Moving!", "Beyond Nelly" and "Heaven, I'm In Heaven") following. "Angels in America" was the most watched made-for-cable movie in 2003, receiving much critical acclaim. It not only won a record 11 Emmys, it won practically every award it possibly could.
Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay adaptation of his stage play, Thomas Newman composed the music score, and Mike Nichols directed.
