The Lazarus Effect (HBO, Premieres Monday 5/24 at 9/8 Central)
(Directed By Lance Bangs)
May 24, 2010
Web Exclusive
The Lazarus Effect follows four HIV positive individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa and their transformation from frail, near-death emaciation into fully functioning human beings thanks to the effects of ARV (Antiretroviral) drug treatment. The filmmaker (director Lance Bangs) is thankfully hands off here, allowing the subjects’ stories to be told in a manner devoid of voiceover narration or maudlin background music. It’s austere, and keeps a film that could have easily crossed into manipulative exploitation grounded in exposition. It also recalls a conversation U2’s Bono, also an Executive Producer of the film, once had with Bill O’Reilly on the O’Reilly Factor, defending Western humanitarian efforts to combat HIV in Africa, saying, “If a man’s dying on the side of the road, you don’t ask him how he got there, you just help him.” The Lazarus Effect doesn’t ask how these people got there either. It presents them as they are, without offering facile judgments, and for 40 cents worth of drugs a day they essentially rise from the dead, invoking the title of the film. That fact isn’t just striking, it’s sickening, yet the film feels oddly celebratory. There’s no commiseration, just pragmatic recognition, which in of itself resonates and galvanizes (www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-lazarus-effect/index.html)
Author rating: 8/10
Average reader rating: 8/10
Current Issue
Issue #72
Apr 19, 2024 Issue #72 - The ‘90s Issue with The Cardigans and Thurston Moore
Most Recent
- Mitski Shares a New Video for “Star” (News) — Mitski
- Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth) (Review) — David Bowie
- Challengers (Review) —
- Premiere: Eric Schroeder Shares New Track “The Kind of Wound That Never Heals” (News) — Eric Schroeder
- Thurston Moore Shares New Song “Rewilding” (News) — Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth
Comments
Submit your comment
July 6th 2011
5:12pm
Whoah this weblog is wonderful i really like reading your articles. Stay up the good work! You know, a lot of people are hunting round for this information, you can aid them greatly. perdre du poids vite
July 19th 2011
3:27am
Another worthy movie that captures the plight of individuals and reaches the heart of the negative justice and lack of human rights for many. When and where will ticket sales be released.