And the Band Played On.

Production and year: USA 1993 Genre: Drama Director: Roger Spottiswoode Screenplay: Arnold Schulman, based on the novel by Randy Shilts Music: Carter Burwell Cinematography: Paul Elliott Cast: Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Patrick Bauchau, Nathalie Baye, Richard Gere, Phil Collins Medical topic: the AIDS epidemic, the history of the discovery of the HIV virus Description: A pandemic at the turn of the 20th and 19th centuries? Is that possible? Yes, it happened and is really happening! It started with some African monkeys and... a certain Air Canada flight attendant... Then there were further infections, mainly among gay men in the U.S. and Europe. The symptoms astonished and terrified doctors at all the major medical centers. Severe infections previously unseen, such as pneumocystis pneumonia, rare cancers like Kaposi’s sarcoma, and generalized inflammations with causes difficult to identify were killing tens, hundreds, and thousands of patients. A race against time began to discover the cause of this mysterious disease. This film chronicles that struggle. Its backdrop is the rivalry between French and American scientists over who would be the first to find and identify the pathogen causing the epidemic. In 1983, almost simultaneously, the Frenchman Luc Montagnier and the American Robert Gallo announced their success to the world—the isolation of a previously unknown virus, which they named LAV and HTLV-III, respectively, and which is now known as HIV. From that moment on, efforts to implement effective treatment could finally begin to bear fruit... Spottiswoode’s film is interestingly made, and during production, numerous film and media personalities supported it with their participation for a modest fee. It shows just how deeply the AIDS epidemic affected humanity. It’s worth watching for its many medical nuances and intriguing storyline. P.S. We were shown this film in medical school as part of our infectious diseases course!