I hate to get morbid here but after watching Philadelphia recently, I got to thinking about all the recent films that involve disease and death… Film history is full of wonderful films about disease, illness, outbreak and recovery. Some are documentaries, other are based off books or plays, and yet, still more are pure fiction. Disease is the stuff of great dramatic stories.
One of my most recent favorite new indie films Shame. Shame profiles the life of a sex addict and, although it is a work of fiction, it is remarkably realistic. The movie writer and director interviewed hundreds of sex addicts before creating the film. Shame also comes out at an interesting time. Sex addiction is a controversial topic. Some people believe it is a real addiction like gambling addiction or crack addiction. Others say it is a behavioral issue stemming from a mental disease (P.T.S.D., depression) but not an addiction unto itself. Skeptics will say it is just an excuse for people to behave immorally. Regardless of your feelings about the validity of sex addiction, Shame is an excellent independent film.
Love and Other Drugs follows the story of a hotshot salesman, Jamie (Gyllenhaal), who finds himself quickly climbing the ladder in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. His charm serves him well in career and with the ladies. Enter the free-spirited Maggie (Hathaway) who catches the eye of Jamie. Being a victim of Parkinson’s, she has issues with accepting this disease which results in her being something of a standoffish character that doesn’t like to be tied down. When the two meet though, chemistry is definitely evident. Seemingly having both met their match, Maggie isn’t as easily persuaded by Jamie’s advances and sees right through him, though is intrigued by his charm. Likewise, Jamie is lured in by Maggie’s unflinching resistance and how she seems to just understand him.
For those who can remember back to the early 1980s and the start of the AIDS epidemic, there was something vaguely surreal about seeing the warnings on our television screens and the reports put out by the media. Was this all just hype, we were left wondering? Could this new disease really be that bad? Should we all be rushing off for a confidential HIV test? Since then, of course, the grim reality of the destructive forces of HIV and AIDS has hit home, with millions dying. Today, many more are living with the HIV virus thanks to vastly improved treatments. While for some, the media reports have undoubtedly hit the mark in terms of encouraging more responsible behavior to curtail the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV); for others it has been the extremely poignant movies like Philadelphia that have been produced which have caused them to think twice.
Most recently, “Contagion” is a movie that follows a group of people through a virus outbreak that threatens mankind and could kill millions. The virus is unknown and anyone who carries it will die within a few days of being infected. Doctors from the world over attempt to find a cure for the lethal disease as people lose control and become more and more desperate.
I’m just scratching the survace here but you can see that filmakers have found ways to make great dramas and thrillers centered around disease and suffering.
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