Longtime Companion
- Director: Norman René
- Writer: Craig Lucas
- Producer: Lydia Dean Pilcher; Lindsay Law
CGiii Comment
It is an important film...whether you like it or not.
One of the first films to deal with the collision that the gay community faced.
True, it is dated - it looks like the 80s, it is the 80s - and that is when it all started.
Remember: no-one had a clue what was happening and this film simply shows the ignorance that everyone was experiencing.
Brave and revealing for its time - what a terrifying time it was.
To all the souls...RIP
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Perhaps the first film to put a human face on the AIDS epidemic, Longtime Companion follows the lives of a small circle of friends from the first mention of the disease in the New York Times in 1981. First referred to as "Gay-Related-Immune-Disorder," we watch the effect of the disease as it devastates the lives of our protagonists. Jumping between Manhattan and Fire Island, vignettes carry us from the it-couldn't-happen-to-me mentality of the early days of the disease to the invasive effect it has had on all of our lives, today. The title of the film comes from the New York Times' refusal to acknowledge homosexual relationships in their obituary section during this period. Instead, survivors were referred to as "Longtime Companions" of the deceased.
Cast & Characters
Campbell Scott as Willy;
Patrick Cassidy as Howard;
John Dossett as Paul;
Mary-Louise Parker as Lisa;
Stephen Caffrey as Fuzzy;
Tanya Berezin as Office Manager;
Welker White as Rochelle;
Michael Piontek as Office Worker;
Joyce Reehling as Office Worker;
Bruce Davison as David;
Mark Lamos as Sean;
Dermot Mulroney as John;
Michael Schoeffling as Michael;
Brian Cousins as Bob;
Marceline Hugot as Soap Opera Reader