3 Needles

3 Needles
by Thom Fitzgerald

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DVD details

Actor: Asckt, Caroline Aspirot, Mabel Adams (II), Nontombi Bovana, Shawn Ashmore
Director: Thom Fitzgerald
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Afrikaans (Original Language); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Xhosa (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 127 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Wolfe Video

DVD Reviews of 3 Needles

DVD Review: I liked this movie.
Summary: 4 Stars

This was a very interesting take on people in different lives, HIV, and AIDS. It's very interesting. I would recommend watching it.

DVD Review: Moving film.
Summary: 5 Stars

I just stumbled upon this film last night on Showtime, I hadn't heard of it, but was totally impressed. The cinematography is beautiful, the acting is great, the writing is thoughtful. I was surprised to find so many negative ratings for this film. Maybe it's because "3 Needles" breaks the mold of so many Hollywood films, but that's part of its appeal for me. What is "boring" for one, is contemplative and authentic for another.
The multicultural orientation of this film is another plus in my book, it utilizes five languages (maybe some people don't like reading subtitles).
"3 Needles" also sheds light on issues of sexism, AIDS, exploitation, etc., while also shedding light on how resilient and kind people can be.

There's a scene with a pornstar helping his sick father bathe. Routine moments of elder care like that, which are usually hidden away in our "old folks" homes, will disturb some viewers who fear their own ageing process. I found it to be a touching moment, and like so many scenes of this film, it was captured with great skill.

This film, and many others, are being shown as part of World AIDS Day. "Link TV" and "Sundance" have also been airing programs related to this disease. AIDS is something of a mystery The River : A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDS, but there's no doubt that it is having a devastating effect, particularly in Africa. In this era when reactionary forces are fomenting bigotry and empathy impairment, the nuance and internationalism of "3 Needles" is a much appreciated antidote.

I'd also recommend:
The Advocate
Angels in America
On Our Own Terms Moyers on Dying 4 Volume Set
5 Heroes of AIDS in Africa
Lifecycles: a story of AIDS in Malawi
And the Band Played On
Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope

DVD Review: star-studded isn't a guarantee
Summary: 2 Stars

I've learned that a star-studded cast doesn't mean that the movie will be great. *3 Needles* was a nice attempt on the issue of AIDS. However, this movie failed to connect with the viewers...well, at least, with me. I think it had to do with the 3 stories being too short for character development and allowing us to connect with these people.

The first story deals with a pregnant Chinese (Liu) who shells out $5 dollars per donation. However, she turns around and sells blood illegally. She's doing this all at the command of her husband, who is dying of AIDS.

The second story focuses on a gay Canadian porn actor. He cheats the mandatory blood tests by using his dying father's blood. When the father dies, the mother discovers her son's sero-status. Upon discovery, she does something unpredictable that will grab your attention until the end. This is perhaps the best story of the three.

The last story is about 3 nuns who come to South Africa to care for the afflicted as well to save their souls. Somehow, the afflicted locals are led to believe that to rid of their disease, they must have sex with a virgin. In here, the virgins are the children. Enraged, the nuns have asked a local and powerful white man to put a stop to this horrible practice. He does but it comes with a price.

The problem with these stories is that their climax/peak is weak. Each of their conclusion are even weaker. It feels like it stopped abruptly. Totally forgettable.

DVD Review: Mostly Pathetic Attempt
Summary: 2 Stars

Although this movie is filled with good actors, it falls very short of a captivating, inspiring, or intelligent story on the AIDS crisis.

I was not fan's of any of these actors or the director, but due to the story subject I was willing to give it a try. The best story was the intial full story ripped from the headlines about AIDS being passed onto innocent Chinese rural citizens. What I was surprised at was that they do not touch on the cover up.

After an initial sad, but very truthful story the movie goes quickly downhill from there. The second story is an idiotic and selfish story, that puts in a twist, but doesn't pay off and only is weird. I felt no sympathy for any of the characters in that second story.

The third story show's the writer and director's total misunderstanding of Catholic theology, nuns, and their views. Then essentially makes a saint out of a Nun who pimps herself out to a rich western business man for the sake of the dying AID's children to make her out as some saint. It ends up being a sad and idiotic moral to a very real crisis in Africa.

This story is not like Babel other than being a losely connected story in various countries. Babel shockingly showed human connection through pain, but this story instead shows nothing of the sort. Instead, it uses a very real crises as a backdrop to some interesting story telling and outright mischaracterization of a faith and promotion of some Unitarian feel good afterschool hogwash.

DVD Review: "You Killed Me For Eight-Hundred Dollars"
Summary: 4 Stars

Thom Fitzgerald has created a haunting, near-perfect work. This piece is divided into three segments:

"The Fortitude of the Buddha":
A mere forty-five minutes in length, this is a potent vignette of a rural Chinese village soon ravaged by AIDS. Lucy Liu plays the role of Jin Ping, a blood smuggler. She travels from village to village collecting blood from its impoverished residents. Initially her presence in this small town is a boon. At five dollars a donation, the residents can purchase seed, livestock, and other agricultural necessities. But, this blessing soon turns dark. Perhaps most painful is watching Jin Ping's internal struggle ... she is aware that her practices are infecting innocent, economically challenged people but cannot stop because she is under the brutal control of her dying husband. The first of the three installments concludes on a quai-triumphant note. This segment is clever and educational. It can easily be viewed and understood by a young adult.

"The Passion of the Christ":
Set in Canada, this segment addresses the fundamental flaws in the adult entertainment industry. Shawn Ashmore (X-Men) plays Denys, an adult-film actor afflicted with AIDS. Young and living at home with his parents, Denys steals his dying father's blood to pass his mandatory AIDS screenings. This triggers an AIDS crisis within the film industry. Following his father's death, mother and AIDS-stricken son are left broke. The mother (Stockard Channing) purchases a life-insurance policy for herself and then begins seeking-out the virus for herself. The results are horrific to say the very least ... a bizarre expression of a mother's unconditional love (maybe!) The conclusion is the young actor being confronted by one of his victims. She looks him in the eye an utters, ""You killed Me for eight-hundred dollars." This segment contains strong dialog, adult situations (in strip clubs and on film sets). It is not appropriate for the majority of young people. Nonetheless, it does serve a purpose in showing the viewer the shocking trend of people deliberately seeking the virus.

"The Innocence of the Pagans":
An all-star cast! Set in a South African nation, Novice Clara (Chlo? Sevigny), Sister Mary (Sandra Oh), and Sister Hilde (Olympia Dukakis) have traveled to Africa to "save souls from purgatory" and assist with AIDS afflicted patients. The novice and sisters are appalled to learn that the local men plagued with the AIDS virus believe that having sex with a virgin will rid them of the disease ... and the small children of the area are the victims of this falsehood. Their attempts to bring knowledge and relief to this area are thwarted when the men are jailed for child rape ... with the children "off-limits," other "vessels of purity" are sought. The end result is crushing. Adult language and situations may make this unsuitable for less mature young-viewers so use discretion when screening it with young people.

Each of these segments can easily stand-alone if you wish to use any one for educational purposes. The weakest of the trio is "The Passion of the Christ." While Fitzgerald succeeds in garnering sympathy with "Buddha" and "Pagans" ... "Christ" leaves the viewer repulsed ... and while this approach can be valuable, it strikes a discord with the rest of this fantastic film. Stockard Channing nearly rescues this segment, but it is so repugnant that even her spectacular devotion to role cannot help.

Nonetheless, this is film well-worth your attention. It will leave you speechless.

Description of 3 Needles

In China, Ping (Lucy Liu) is a pregnant young woman running a black market blood collection scam that creates a mini-epidemic in a rural village. In Montreal, Denys (Shawn Ashmore) is a porn actor hiding his positive HIV status in order to continue working and supporting his mother (Stockard Channing), who herself goes to extreme lengths to provide for the family's future. And, in Africa, Sister Clara (Chlo Sevigny) is a young novice nun driven to convert the rapidly dying Africans to Catholicism before it's too late who makes a desperate bargain with a corrupt plantation owner to help prevent the spread of HIV in the region.

Good performances by an impressive cast, some beautiful cinematography, and a relatively light touch on a heavy subject (AIDS, which is never once mentioned by name) help make 3 Needles an absorbing, provocative viewing experience. Writer-director-producer Thom Fitzgerald's 2005 film assays a global view of the pandemic, similar to Traffic's approach to the drug trade and Babel's slant on the interconnectedness of human events 'round the world (although 3 Needles is considerably less affecting than those two efforts). Using five different languages (Afrikaans, Mandarin, Xhosa, French, and English), he take us to three continents. In China, a pregnant woman (Lucy Liu) pays peasants who donate their blood (which she then sells illegally), in the process starting an mini-scourge that virtually wipes out an entire village. In Montreal, a porn actor (Shawn Ashmore) cheats on a blood test; when his mother (an excellent Stockard Channing) discovers he's HIV positive, she's driven by outrageous fortune to react in some very strange and unpredictable ways. Finally, three nuns (an unlikely combo of Olympia Dukakis, Sandra Oh, and Chloe Sevigny) set out to save souls "condemned to purgatory" by their disease; but when Sister Clara (Sevigny), who's still a novice, tries to save actual lives as well, she makes a startling bargain with the devil to do it. While much of this is quite poignant, it's to the film's credit that little or none of it is handled with excessive sententiousness, self-pity, or tragedy for its own sake. Actually, there's a good deal of gentle humor, not to mention some absolutely gorgeous shots (including Montreal in autumn and the overall geography of the unnamed coastal African country where the final scenario takes place). And the ultimate message, delivered by Dukakis in voice-over, is hauntingly simple: "Why have we not joined together at last to fight this virus?" Bonus material includes interviews, deleted scenes, and a couple of AIDS documentaries. --Sam Graham

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