And The Band Played On (1993)

In 1981, an epidemiologist (Matthew Modine) working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention becomes aware of a disease that is plaguing gay men and undertakes a detailed investigation to find the cause. Based on the non fiction book by Randy Shilts and directed by Roger Spottiswoode (TOMORROW NEVER DIES). Over 25 years since its release, this remains a spellbinding and compelling film on many levels. It works as a detective story and a race against time to find the killer but the killer is not a human but a virus. It reveals the behind the scenes politicization of the disease as an egotistical American researcher (Alan Alda) attempts to squash his French counterparts from getting credit for discovering the virus rather than him. It details the apathy of bureaucracies like blood banks and even the gay community itself in fighting against bathhouse closures which allowed the disease to continue to spread. It's not a documentary but filmed as if it were a documentary. The only section that felt weak was the Ian McKellen and B.D. Wong storyline which seemed contrived and out of place. Doing a dramatization of Shilts' massive research opus was a formidable task and Arnold Schulman's screenplay does it justice. The enormous cast includes Anjelica Huston, Richard Gere, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Phil Collins, Richard Jenkins, Glenne Headly, Swoosie Kurtz, Richard Masur, Saul Rubinek, Rosemary Murphy, Charles Martin Smith, Tcheky Karyo, Patrick Bauchau and Nathalie Baye.