Review of How to Survive a Plague (2012) by Roman R — 10 Feb 2013
An impassioned examination of the AIDS activism movement that also serves as a snapshot of the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On a technical level, the usage of archival and period-shot footage is terrific, and save for the sparse modern-day "talking head" interviews, this almost feels like a period documentary.
The most interesting aspect of the film (for me) is the way it illuminates the fractures and factions that developed within the activist community itself; that alone could have probably sustained its own documentary.
The film does become more than a little tedious during its midsection, to its detriment (you can only see so many protests and demonstrations before they become repetitious and lose some of their impact), in addition to being incredibly preachy (but honestly, if there were ever subjects that warrant that, this would probably be one of them), but it does eventually get back into the groove for the final moments.
It's good, but not the nonfiction masterwork I've heard some call it.
This review of How to Survive a Plague (2012) was written by Roman R on 10 Feb 2013.
How to Survive a Plague has generally received very positive reviews.
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