Parting Glances

Michael and Robert are two men living in Brooklyn, spending their last day together before Robert leaves for a work posting in Africa. Through that day part of Michael's mind is elsewhere, with his former lover Nick. Nick has AIDS, and Michael cannot manage to stop showing up for him. Bill Sherwood does not build AIDS into a catastrophe narrative. The characters eat, argue, go to a party, get jealous. The illness is in the room without taking over the film's tone. In 1986 that stance stood almost alone; this is among the first American features to treat AIDS directly and without flinching. Steve Buscemi, as Nick, is in his first major role. Sherwood died of AIDS-related causes in February 1990, and Parting Glances remained the only film he completed. Who it's for: Viewers who like American independent cinema, queer film history, and drama told from inside ordinary life. Who it's not for: The budget shows in the image and the sound, and there is almost no plot. Part of the film's standing comes from its historical position.