MovieChat Forums > The Normal Heart (2014) Discussion > A traumatic, sad, yet sweet documentary ...

A traumatic, sad, yet sweet documentary dealing with the subject.

posted 11 years ago by Dollhouse_89
7 replies | jump to latest

I saw How To Survive a Plague, We Were Here, and just pretty much every documentary or fictional film that deals with the subject of AIDS. But this documentary, Silverlake Life: The View From Here, was disturbingly sad. I guess because it truly showed the final days of two people in love dying from this disease.

It overcame me.

-The many, many doctor visits they each endured where they're never given any good news.
-Seeing mundane activities that most people consider a chore become total obstacles.
-Watching one of them literally deteriorate from the beginning until the end and fading away mentally and physically.

It's very much about what the disease does and how two lovers/best friends live with it and through it together on a daily basis.

I watched it on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjGVT4BUG-w

I really, really suggest watching it. I'll never forget it. I warn you it's NOT pleasant. It gets pretty in-your-face with the medical stuff and the death.

[–] candacbap-88-377616 11 years ago

Thanks for the link, I will watch it. A Normal Heart brought back memories that I wish I didn't have. I've seen far too many with AIDS go from the appearance of being healthy to their last breath. It is heart wrenching to witness it. I had a lifelong friend, who remained in the closet, ask me if I was afraid to touch him because of what he had. He was near death at that time.

I feel it's very important to remain aware of this disease and remember that it still exists.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Dollhouse_89 11 years ago

Yea please do.

I am very young (25) and I didn't live through the early days of the epidemic, but out of everything I've checked out this gave me the closest thing to understanding. Truly understanding. And I'm still probably not even close to seeing the real impact that AIDS did and still does have on people.

It was almost too real for me. Its not the best as far as structure (editing and whatnot). It's pretty ameteur and not the most cinematic experience compared to more sophisticated documentaries because it was done by a dying man and completed by a friend. That added to the rawness for me though. It felt verrry voyeuristic like I stumbled upon some home movie and I most certainly covered my eyes about twice.

Gave me the heebie fnckin jeebies. Crushed my soul and warmed my heart.

[–] weaselprince71 11 years ago

I remember watching Silverlake Life when it first aired on PBS; I would have been not quite 22 at the time, and I had exactly the same reaction you describe. On some level it must have terrified me deeply -- but then again, by 1993 the virus had been identified and there was at least some general agreement as to effective protective measures, so things clearly weren't anything like as bad for me as if I'd been born, say, ten years earlier (i.e., into roughly the same age cohort as The Normal Heart's younger characters). I often feel as if I'd barely slipped in on the luckier side of some arbitrary demographic "line" where a few years might easily have made a life-or-death difference.

Given that fact, I'm almost ashamed to admit that Silverlake Life is the closest I've gotten to observing the disease, and its effects on individual lives, up close and personal. But it definitely belongs near the top of the list of AIDS-related cinema and journalism. It's harrowing to watch, devastating to think about, and one of the most moving things I've ever seen.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] benjamin-marie1 10 years ago

I could not find the exact word to express my feelings regarding this movie: upsetting, beautiful, heartbreaking of course but i think, this film you 'take the guts' even if it is not beautifuls words is what i feel every time i watch NORMAL HEART'

[–] Dollhouse_89 10 years ago

on Hulu:
http://www.hulu.com/search?q=Silverlake+Life%3A+The+View+from+Here