Last Men Standing
- Director: Erin Brethauer; Tim Hussin
- Writer: Erin Brethauer; Tim Hussin
- Producer: Erin Brethauer; Tim Hussin
CGiii Comment
“They had the remarkable luck to survive AIDS, and the brutal misfortune to live on.”
That line alone tells you that this is a hard watch.
To live your life with the darkest of clouds hanging over you will take its toll. To witness friends, lovers and partners shrivel and die, waiting for your time to come...takes it toll. Why should survival be as bitter-sweet as this?!?
AIDS/HIV is no longer frontpage news and those left in its wake, the survivors, have been forgotten...this film serves as a reminder to their existence and as an exposition as to how the system has washed their hands of them...with a keep-taking-your-medicine and all will be fine.
When a war comes to an end, the clean-up must begin...during the 80s and 90s, the survivors were treated diabolically...surely, in today's climate, humanity should prevail...when a life is spent dodging the bullet and results in a life dodging suicide, loneliness and eviction...that clean-up has failed! Where are the support systems for these men?!?
A surprising film. An important film. A deeply moving film.
Trailer...
Last Men Standing Trailer from San Francisco Chronicle on Vimeo.
The(ir) Blurb...
More than half of those living with HIV/AIDS in the United States are older than 50, many of them gay men who never expected to survive the dark days of the epidemic, let alone live 30 years beyond their diagnoses. As this moving documentary reveals, their survival has been both a blessing and a curse.
Set in San Francisco, Last Men Standing features eight HIV-positive men age 55 to 70, who let us into their lives where depression, suicidal thoughts, physical pain and loneliness are common threads and where financial worries are forcing some of them to leave the increasingly expensive city they call home.
But the men also experience moments of gratitude - volunteering, sharing dinner with loved ones, walking in yet another Pride Parade, and in the brave act of letting go.