Film Analysis

Janel Swallia

English 102 035W

November 12, 2012

Film Analysis Final Draft

And the Band Played On Analysis

And the Band Played On is about when the AIDS virus first began to happen and what the government did in reaction to it. This film begins with showing the audience the main character, Dr. Don Francis, near the Ebola River. It shows the first outbreak of the Ebola virus as a way to set the mood for the film. The element to be focused on most in this film is how little the government was involved to this epidemic and how little funding the Center for Disease Control was getting at the time. This also happens to be one of the main Millennium Developing Goals, a collective group of goals to be solved by 2015, that being to combat HIV/AIDS. The main focus will be to analyze how little the government had been involved during this crisis and how the element of hope is key here.

In the beginning when the Ebola scene is happening, it shows Dr. Francis being grabbed by an Ebola infected woman. She then proceeds to throw up on him, and it causes Dr. Francis to go outside only to see mounds of dead bodies. The hopelessness of this situation is almost overwhelming, and one can see how drained the characters faces look. “This scene sets the tone for the rest of the movie - a disheartening view of the raw truth of fatal diseases, and how the government reacts to such outbreaks.” (Detpns) Dr. Francis shortly after then returns to the U.S. and this is when the first AIDS cases are being reported. This unknown disease is being spread and the characters are helpless to it. Dr. Francis seems to be the only one who keeps up his feelings of hope. It is because of him that the film does not seem to be a complete loss. He has strong convictions as a doctor, meaning that he feels that it is his duty to help his fellow man, and continues to only want to help the victims of this new disease. His boss and many other doctors and physicians however, only care about the politics of the situation and are only trying to find ways to gain money from the government.

The government is shown to not really care for the work the Center for Disease Control, or CDC, is doing. The elections are happening during this time, and all they really care about is over funding the Department of Defense. The CDC is struggling with its funds, and this brings up more feelings of despair. One woman in this film Selma Dritz helped lighten the mood when it was getting to dark. Though she is a very strong woman with very strong convictions she helps make the audience feel like things will be okay with her light and snarky attitude. The government does not do a very good job trying to fight AIDS in the beginning. People are dying all over with it, and the government is refusing to even screen the blood transfusions. It was not until Dr. Francis had made a scene during a meeting that they even started to consider doing anything. Tony Scott of the Daily Variety helps visualize more of what is actually happening in this film, “Hospitals turn away the sick, blood banks won't spend the money to screen blood. Self-promoting individuals and interest groups are shown ruthlessly defending their positions; federal government indifference is noted with selective shots of President Reagan.” (Scott)

Hope is what keeps the characters functioning and it shows how just having a small amount of hope can help move things along in the right direction. Because of that they were able to accomplish small victories and help make the government see that it needed to do something for its citizens. The government is depicted in this film as not really caring about the people dying as individuals and it is shown that they care more for profit and saving money for “better things” then to spend it on research for such a terrible virus. This film helped show that no matter how big a situation may seem, there is always a way to overcome it.

Works Cited

(1)  Scott, Tony. “And the Band Played On TV Reviews.” Variety. Lois Freeman-Fox. Variety Media, 30 Aug. 1993. Web 12 Nov. 2012

(2)  Garykmcd. “Plot Summary for And the Band Played On.” IMDb. N.p. Web. 12 Nov. 2012

(3)  Detpns. “A Summary of the Film and The Band Played On.” Yahoo! Voices. 6 Dec. 2006. Web. 12 Nov. 2012

Spottiswoode, Roger, dir. And the Band Played On. 199