I think one would have to born of a certain age by now (2016), at 50 years old or older, to truly appreciate this film. The early AIDS days were horrific which is one reason this memoir is so touching for our generation.
It's also a touching love story in its own right which was portrayed honestly and without political bias toward anger, angst, rage and frustration which seem so common among earlier "gay films".
AMDJ
Are you saying to appreciate this film, I need to be 50 years or older? I'm 17 and I watched this film about two months ago and I honestly did not understand why it had a 7.2 on IMDB. This is coming from someone who has seen plenty of movies. Well over 1000. And I really thought this movie was underrated. There wasn't a lot to complain about. The acting was superb, the story wasn't atrociously cliche, it wasn't a story that's really been done on film before (at least not with a same sex couple). I feel like there aren't a ton of exceptional lgbt films out there that really stand out. I've seen Broke Back mountain which is a very emotional film although completely different from what Holding The Man has to offer. Altogether this film left me feeling sorry for the main character, and bit emotional because I can relate with some of it. Life doesn't work out how we plan. Things happen that change us and those we are close to. And at times it can be unbearable. But this movie, I found, captured a sacred love between two men. It was rivetting, enjoyable, and uplifting. I wish more movies could capture the epitome of what this movie so vividly projected. That's not to say there weren't parts that I didn't like. But no movie is perfect. I do like a lot of other movies way more than this one. There's also a lot worse films out there. And I think this movie deserves a higher rating.
shareI understand what you are saying. I'm 32, though I was alive when the AIDS crisis was going on I had no clue because it wasn't something talked about. Now as an adult who has suffered the loss of close friends I can only imagine just how awful and terrifying those days must have been. Losing not only your friends but your entire community and not knowing what it was that was killing everyone. I am grateful that I didn't have to experience anything like what gays went through in the 80's.
shareI had just turned 18 in 1981 when I read in Time Magazine that a new form of cancer had been found and that apparently only gay people suffered from it. I was crushed by the "harsh reality" that not only did I have to deal with/hide the fact that I was a gay man (I still hadn't come out and was terrified people would find out about my homosexuality) but that now there was a new FORM of cancer that simply "chose" to kill gay people. I remember feeling devastated. But it also changed me and my generation forever. It helped us to realise that we were reaching a turning point and that there was no turning back.
This sensitive and beautiful movie manages to recreate a little bit of what it was like to be gay in the late 70's and in the 80's/90's and the fear and devastation that AIDS brought upon families and friends.
Kudos to the actors, director and crew.