Review of We Were Here (2011) by Ian D — 13 Sep 2012

Eye-opening, dejecting and sad, highly informative and respectful of both its subjects and the sensitive subject matter at hand, We Were Here is a well put-together documentary about the early days at the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic -- early 1980s San Francisco, California.

Told from the vantage point of five individuals who lived through and survived the harrowing decimation -- Ed Wolf, Guy Clark, Daniel Goldstein, Paul Boneberg and Eileen Glutzer -- the film chronicles their personal stories or triumph, woe and desperation that resulted from various political and social stances of the time.

No matter the depth(s) of one's knowledge regarding the early days of the so-called "Gay Plague", We Were Here is a riveting documentary for anybody wanting to know more about the struggles of the gay community at this time and even those of America as a whole.

That so many people stood aside within the government or a medical or religious communities because they were never going to be affected (OR effected) by this highly selective disease is/was shocking.

One of the five "we's", Eileen Glutzer was a kind-hearted nurse who realized that NOT enough was being done for these "pariahs" and so she doubled-down her efforts to make those in local government aware of the dire problem.

We Were Here is a personal documentary about these five individuals and what they encountered and who they lost. It does not go into how the epidemic was overcome by an eventual cooperation of a vast number of citizens who brought awareness and respect to the AIDS community by culling the early startling numbers to a less-startling number.