You might be tricked by the “mini” sign at IMDB at first, but please don’t be. If you will check the duration field a bit lower on the page, you will find a magnificant number of 352 minutes, which is almost 6 hours. Yup. “Angels in America” is not exactly a movie. It is a 6-episode series (approximately 1 hour each) done by HBO. It is not a movie, but it is as close as the television program can get. It’s a film.
And not only it’s just a film, it’s really great one. It is one of the best films that I have seen in the last 10 years. Maybe even in my whole life…
This is a story about few people in New York City at the end of the 20th century. Some of them are homosexual. Some of them have AIDS. There are some angels and mormons around. There is a great drama going on.
Having said that this movie is one of the best I have seen, I can be a little bit more concrete:
- It is one of the best dramas that I have ever seen.
- It is one of the best films on religion and belief that I have ever seen.
- It is one of the best films on homosexuality that I have ever seen.
- It is one of the best films on AIDS that I have ever seen.
- It is one of the best films on general philosophy that I have ever seen.
A really excellent story is supported by acting of such talants as Al Pacino andMeryl Streep. Outstanding performances were delivered by Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeffrey Wright. Others did pretty good too.
There was some really amazing photography and unbelievable camera work. By the way, if anyone has seen this movie and can tell me how they could possibly do those mega super huge zooms, please do so. I have no idea at the moment.
Anyway, the film does score a pure, clean and hard 10 out of 10 in my book. The only complain that I have is a slightly longer pauses when the phylosophy kicks in. There are ideas and thoughts that not everyone of us think over that often. Feeding those at a speed of light is not a very good idea, since people in the audience get lost. Olga and I were both losing the grip several times by ideas provided by different characters in the same dialogue. Now is there anything wrong with that? Depatable, but it’s there.
I will for sure watch it at least once again to give more attention to details. I also would like to have it on DVD in my home collection. Now the question is why Hollywood is not making films like that?