BUDDIES

I like this film very much! It is quite heartbreaking, really, but shows the friendship between two men - Robert, aged 32 and dying of AIDS, and someone who starts to visit him in hospital through the 'buddy' scheme, called David. They are quite different in personality, David being more restrained, quieter, even though he is 25 and living in New York. Gradually they get to know each other and we are taken inside the mind of a man who has so much energy for life, so much idealism. I thought the acting by Geoff Edholm, as Robert, was very moving. The other actor is also very good, but doesn't have to draw on quite such emotion in such close-up , while speaking. Although sad, there is a lot to take from the film, and it is visually rather lovely in some ways - the grain of the film, the sunlight in the room, simple framing of images, the connection of image with emotion. Other characters are heard but not really seen, which is effective in maintaining the intimate focus. The director Arthur J. Bressan Jr., had made porn films and other gay features, which is reflected in the sexual frankness of this one - a far cry from any other mainstream films of the time - both liberating and truthful. There is real heart in this film - it is a further sadness to learn that Edholm and Bressan both died of AIDS in the 80s, making this re-release quite special, perhaps unhoped for! It comes with a booklet as well as the extras, i.e. quite a lot of trouble has been taken over it.

reminded me I was glad I didn't come out then but only recently - so tragic so many beautiful lives were lost and the general amount of indifference was shocking. In USA 21000 people died between 1981 and 1986 with little acknowledgment form state and Church (except one Church) This is a amazing story very sensitively done and an important historical representation - so sad both director and actor died later of said TRADEDY. Incidentally Princess Di did a lot to help attitudes in UK though. Straight or gay should see this and is suitable for both to see.

Read the reviews below. They review the cinematography and history of the cast and film-makers better than I can This superb testament gained hardly any showings when it was first released in the mid-1980s. I am glad it has been re-released and is now widely available. Lest we forget a holocaust left unfought because of prejudice. An horrendous loss of life and a terrible way to treat people dying tortured deaths.

ewwwww........

The first film to deal with the AIDS epidemic in 1985 by ex porn director Arthur J Bressan Jnr.It tells the story of a volunteer "buddy" called David and Robert who is hospitalised in the latter stages of AIDS.Both are gay but have different life experiences, David has a partner and is accepted by his parents whereas Robert has been abandoned and disowned by his family and everyone else on his AIDS diagnosis.The film shows the developing relationship between them.It's an amazing film and a stark reminder of just how bad things were at the time. The film begins and ends with a poignant scene of a computer screen printout line by line of number name and date of people who died of AIDS up to the time of the film being made.Sadly the director succumbed to AIDS in 1987 and Robert [Geoff Edholm] died in 1989 making this film all the more poignant.Can't recommend it highly enough. I purchased it via download so I can't comment on the extras available on the blu ray and dvd versions but they look great and I'm sure add extra insight and poignancy to the viewer.

This is a beautiful and very touching film, made in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. It portrays very simply the journey a man with AIDS and his 'buddy' make together, and the flourishing of their friendship. The two actors (there are others but we don't see them, though we hear their voices) portray their characters very movingly and skilfully, and the film transported me back to New York in 1985, a time which now seems like the distant past, but a time which must not be forgotten - do watch this beautiful and important film. I have no idea why the blu-ray is currently priced at £117 - hopefully the price will come down so that more people can see this film. I loved it.

Depressing

thats all I can say. wow. please watch

Ho ricevuto il dvd nei tempi indicati e ben impacchettato. Esso corrisponde alla descrizione e soddisfa le mie aspettative.Comprero' ancora da questo venditore.

Following a recommendation by a veteran activist friend for the 1985 indie USA feature film "Buddies" (historically "the first dramatic movie about AIDS."), I bought through Amazon Australia the (region free) Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray+DVD (the film's first digital release), and it is a powerful, very well-acted, beautifully scripted, directed and edited vital piece of cinema. The story is of a 25 year old gay male volunteer "Buddy" and his assigned hospital-bound just slightly older friend, who is in the last stages of living with AIDS, and before effective anti-retroviral meds could offer hope of recovery. I love that this film is sex-positive and about love, compassion, activism and joy in life, as well as the cruelty of bigotry, stigma, and of government indifference. It is astonishing that Buddies was filmed in only 9 days. Arthur J Bressan Jr was the gifted writer, producer and director - and within 2 years he had also died from AIDS related illness. His film could never be forgotten by any viewer, and ranks among the best films and video which have documented the struggle and helped people living with HIV and AIDS, and all those who care for and support them. The fully restored edition (scanned at 2K from 16mm film stock) aired as the opening for the Brisbane Queer Film Festival on 7th March. "Buddies" well justifies the high definition transfer and format - with lovely colours, and film grain which is obvious in many scenes - but as part of its character and never distracting. There are valuable extra features on these discs, including informative and entertaining 2018 interviews with co-star David Schacter and with film historian Thomas Waugh. Waugh sees Bressan as a great film-maker, and Schachter says of Buddies that "It was the First - and it was blunt, and bleak and NOT hopeful. It was SOMETHING." The Blu-ray's high definition also allows us to read the newspaper clippings of reviews which are included in the "Archive still and article gallery". This Blu-ray/DVD is a prime example of what will always make a hard copy digital edition of a well packaged film superior to a stream-only edition.

I used to be an AIDS "buddy" back in the 80's. The film brought back the shame and horror that PWA's were forced to endure. Knowing that the film was made at the time all of this was past the president to even dignify with a mention of the Plague that was occurring on his watch. It was made more poignant knowing that the director and one of the leading men would succumb to the Virus within 4 years of it's release. Being the first film to be released dealing with AIDS, without the gloss of the studios' An Early Frost, and Longtime Companion, made it all the more raw and real. Sterling performances and caring direction reminded me of what it was like to live with the tragedy of the times.

I have been aware of Buddies' existence since the 80s, but finally had a chance to watch it, thanks to the new Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray release.It was difficult to go into it without expectations and/or fears, hoping it would good, almost daring it not to be.At first I thought the dialogue sounded scripted, but not horribly so. The character of David (David Schachter), the buddy, had odd reactions to the things that Robert (Geoff Edholm) said. It looked, to me, like the reaction was simply a setup to allow Robert to give a speech in order to educate the audience.That may very well be the intention, but, luckily, I let go of all my "judgments" and let these likable, endearing characters tell their stories, and I watched their relationship develop in believable and touching ways.Yes, there are the teachable moments where Robert informs the audience about AIDS, but this film was the first--it had a lot of weight on its shoulders. Writer/director Bressan juggles those responsibilities well. There is education, but it doesn't feel (too) didactic at all. This is first and foremost the story of two men and their growing friendship. And, as stories go, this one got me.

This is a wonderful find -- an important early AIDS movie (the first!), that gives a sense of what it was like to have AIDS and to be a caregiver for someone with AIDS in the early to mid 1980s, before there were medical treatments and even before ACT-UP had created an organized sense of resistance. You get some nice connections to the early gay movement (gay liberationists from the 1970s), as well as some divisions that seem to be eternal (between the out gay sexually liberated activist and the conformist bourgeois gay who doesn't want to make a big deal of his sexuality). It's also kind of interesting just as a slice of life of the 1980s: answering machines instead of cell phones, for instance. Very moving, especially if you lived through that era.