Angels in America is a 2003 American HBO miniseries based on the play by the same name. Mike Nichols directed. Set in 1985, the film revolves around six disparate New Yorkers whose lives intersect. At its core, it has the fantastical story of Prior Walter, a gay man living with AIDS who is visited by an angel. The film explores a wide variety of themes, including Reagan era politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic, and a rapidly changing social and political climate.
| Angels in America | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
| |
| Written by | Tony Kushner |
| Directed by | Mike Nichols |
| Starring | Al Pacino Meryl Streep Patrick Wilson Mary-Louise Parker Emma Thompson Justin Kirk Jeffrey Wright Ben Shenkman |
| Theme music composer | Thomas Newman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Originallanguage(s) | English Hebrew Aramaic Yiddish |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Celia D. Costas |
| Editor(s) | John Bloom Antonia Van Drimmelen |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Running time | 352 minutes |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | December 7, 2003 – December 14, 2003 |
It is 1985, Ronald Reagan is in the White House, and AIDS is causing mass death in America. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Louis, his lover of four years, that he has AIDS; Louis, unable to handle it, leaves him. As disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Louis. Joe Pitt, a Mormon and Republican attorney, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the United States Department of Justice. Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to preserve his power and image. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, causing her to hallucinate constantly (sometimes jointly with Prior during his fever dreams) and she longs to escape from her sexless marriage. An angel with ulterior motives commands Prior to become a prophet. Pitt's mother and Belize, a close friend and drag queen, help Prior choose. Joe leaves his wife and goes to live with Louis but the relationship doesn't work out due to ideological differences. Roy is diagnosed with AIDS early on and as his life comes to a close he is haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg. As the film continues, these lost souls come together to create bonds of love, loss, and loneliness and in the end, discover forgiveness and overcome abandonment.
Al Pacino as Roy Cohn
Meryl Streep as Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / The Rabbi / The Angel Australia
Patrick Wilson as Joe Pitt
Mary-Louise Parker as Harper Pitt
Emma Thompson as Nurse Emily / Homeless woman / The Angel America
Justin Kirk as Prior Walter / Leatherman in park
Jeffrey Wright as Mr. Lies / Norman "Belize" Ariaga / Homeless man / The Angel Europa
Ben Shenkman as Louis Ironson / The Angel Oceania
James Cromwell as Henry, Roy's doctor
Michael Gambon as Prior Walter Ancestor No. 1
Simon Callow as Prior Walter Ancestor No. 2
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