this was once tragically (and unceremoniously) booted off my top 4, but in light of recent events, i found myself reaching for it again.
as one of the very first narrative feature films about the AIDS crisis, 'buddies' documents a catastrophe as it occurs. it follows david, a young gay man who volunteers to be a 'buddy' to robert, an older gay man dying of AIDS alone and abandoned in a hospital room. their budding (see what i did there!) friendship is explored predominantly through intimate conversation, as well as camera shots which show their faces in full, tender detail, whilst capturing peripheral characters only as backlit silhouettes. this functions to symbolise how the world has turned its back on them; within the societal context, 'them' being the queer community and AIDS patients.
the bare-bones structure, with often long, unbroken sequences of the two men talking in a small room, is both the film's greatest strength and constraint. the pacing can at times feel static, and the wider social (particularly racial…), political and familial forces that shaped the AIDS crisis hover at the edges rather than being directly addressed. 'buddies' is, however, most remarkable in the way it humanises the AIDS epidemic. it never fails to make me cry, and knowing that both the lead actor (geoff edholm) and director (arthur j bressan jr.) later died from AIDS-related complications adds another heartbreaking layer.
watching this now, in the shadow of the U.S. trump administration declining to commemorate World AIDS Day on december 1, the film feels painfully topical. i truly think it is a lesson in empathy we all desperately need.
this was once tragically (and unceremoniously) booted off my top 4, but in light of recent events, i found myself reaching for it again.
as one of the very first narrative feature films about the AIDS crisis, 'buddies' documents a catastrophe as it occurs. it follows david, a young gay man who volunteers to be a 'buddy' to robert, an older gay man dying of AIDS alone and abandoned in a hospital room. their budding (see what i did there!) friendship is explored predominantly through intimate conversation, as well as camera shots which show their faces in full, tender detail, whilst capturing peripheral characters only as backlit silhouettes. this functions to symbolise how the world has turned its back on them; within the societal context, 'them' being the queer community and AIDS patients.
the bare-bones structure, with often long, unbroken sequences of the two men talking in a small room, is both the film's greatest strength and constraint. the pacing can at times feel static, and the wider social (particularly racial…), political and familial forces that shaped the AIDS crisis hover at the edges rather than being directly addressed. 'buddies' is, however, most remarkable in the way it humanises the AIDS epidemic. it never fails to make me cry, and knowing that both the lead actor (geoff edholm) and director (arthur j bressan jr.) later died from AIDS-related complications adds another heartbreaking layer.
watching this now, in the shadow of the U.S. trump administration declining to commemorate World AIDS Day on december 1, the film feels painfully topical. i truly think it is a lesson in empathy we all desperately need.
