Angels in America (miniseries)
| Angels in America | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Written by | Tony Kushner |
| Directed by | Mike Nichols |
| Starring |
Al Pacino Meryl Streep Patrick Wilson Mary-Louise Parker Emma Thompson Justin Kirk Jeffrey Wright Ben Shenkman |
| Theme music composer | Thomas Newman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English Hebrew Aramaic Yiddish |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Celia D. Costas |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Editor(s) |
John Bloom Antonia Van Drimmelen |
| Running time | 352 minutes |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | December 7 – December 14, 2003 |
Angels in America is a 2003 American HBO miniseries directed by Mike Nichols and based on the play by the same name written by Tony Kushner. Set in 1985, the film revolves around six desperate New Yorkers whose lives intersect. At its core, it has the fantastical story of Prior Walter, a gay man living with AIDS who is visited by an angel. The film explores a wide variety of themes, including Reagan era politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic, and a rapidly changing social and political climate.
HBO broadcast the film in various formats: two 3-hour chunks that correspond to Millennium Approaches and "Perestroika", as well as six 1-hour "chapters" that roughly correspond to an act or two of each of these plays; the first three chapters ("Bad News," "In Vitro," and "The Messenger") were initially broadcast on December 7, 2003 to international acclaim, with the final three chapters ("Stop Moving!" "Beyond Nelly," and "Heaven, I'm in Heaven") following.
Angels in America was the most-watched made-for-cable film in 2003, garnering much critical acclaim and multiple Golden Globe and Emmy awards, among other numerous accolades. In 2006, The Seattle Times listed the series amongst "Best of the filmed AIDS portrayals" on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of AIDS.
It is 1985, Ronald Reagan is in the White House, and AIDS is causing mass death in the Americas. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Louis, his lover of four years, that he has AIDS; Louis, unable to handle it, leaves him. As disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Louis. Joe Pitt, a Mormon and Republican attorney, is pushed by right-wing Roy Cohn toward a job at the United States Department of Justice. Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to preserve his power and image. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, causing her to hallucinate constantly (sometimes jointly with Prior during his fever dreams) and she longs to escape from her sexless marriage. An angel with ulterior motives commands Prior to become a prophet.
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