As is

Based on a play by William M. Hoffman, this made for television feature length film was originally produced for Broadway by The Circle Repertory Company and The Glines. Reflective, confronting, compassionate, and experimental in treatment and language “As is” deals up-front with the issue of AIDS in its early days, documenting the different phases from all angles, from the victim through to the lover, the friends, the family and the health carers. Through a montage of scenes, multi-layered, past and present, we witness the story of Rich (Robert Carradine), a Manhattan-based writer who discovers he has a pre-AIDS condition, subsequently finding himself being ostracised by one and all. Alienated and surrounded by fear and paranoia Rich has to mentally come to terms with AIDS and the ignorance which exists amongst the general population, including the medical fraternity, about this new disease. His friend and ex-lover Saul (Jonathan Hadary) is there to support Rich through the emotional stages of fear, anger, denial, cynicism, death vs the will to live, and finally, acceptance. Colleen Dewhurst is outstanding as the hospice worker who through her monologues to the camera tells us what it’s like caring for AIDS patients, her emotional attachments and her anger and frustration with this disease called AIDS. Although acted and directed in a theatrical style, “As is” still is an exceptional film, informative and compassionate, and particularly interesting from an historical viewpoint. Cast also includes Joanna Miles, Allan Scarfe.