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Longtime Companion (1990)
In Norman Rene's sensitively-told, independent ensemble
AIDS film about the devastating effects of the epidemic (regarded
first as a mysterious "cancer") told in vignettes involving
seven gay New Yorkers - it was the first major feature film to deal
explicitly with AIDS - two earlier limited release films that also
dealt with AIDS were Buddies (1985) and Parting Glances
(1986):
- the story of white Manhattanites in the 80s decade,
including David (Bruce Davison in an Oscar-nominated performance)
as the lover of a deteriorating AIDS patient, soap opera scriptwriter
Sean (Mark Lamos); the scene of David's loving, calm advice to
his dying partner and 'longtime companion' Sean: ("It's OK,
you can go. Let go now, baby. It's all right. Don't be afraid.
I'm here...You let go of everything. Don't hold on...Let go. Just
relax, let everything go. Let go. Let go...I know you're tired.
Just let go. I've got ya. Now nothin' bad's gonna happen. Let go
of everything. Don't worry. Let go. All your pain. Just let it
all go. Just let go. There you go")
- the famous closing "Fire Island Fantasy" in
which the three surviving friends Willy (Campbell Scott), Alan/Fuzzy
(Stephen Caffrey) and Lisa (Mary-Louise Parker) strolled on an empty
Fire Island beach when Willy wistfully mused: ("It seems inconceivable,
doesn't it... there was ever a time before all this, when we didn't
wake up every day wondering who's sick now, who else is gone?...I
just want to be there if they ever do find a cure") - as bluegrass
singer Zane Campbell's haunting Post-Mortem Bar was heard
in the background
- the heart-breaking fantasy of the joyous reunion/party
of the three survivors and their dead loved ones, when all of the
dead reverted back to their healthy selves for a few moments and
were greeted by the threesome before cutting back to them on the
beach alone, as Willy repeated: "I just want to be there" -
the film's last line
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David to Sean: "Let go"
"Fire Island Fantasy"
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