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How To Survive A Plague (15)
Directed by David France
4 Stars
The story is stark and startling - and true.
David France's extraordinary documentary follows an unlikely group of mostly HIV-positive young men whose activism took on Washington and the medical establishment.
The warriors infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and facilitated the development of new drugs to fight Aids and save legions of sufferers who expected to die.
France vividly employs fascinating footage from the 1980s and '90s to illuminate their fight for life by two New York-based coalitions, Act Up and Tag.
No hostages are taken in their life-or-death battle and caustic footage of politicians adds yet another reason for their ultimately successful activism.
Ironically, France fails to point out that in the US medical treatment is based on what the patient can afford to pay or to be treated in hospital for their condition, unlike Britain where we are not asked to show a credit card on arrival for treatment.
And France misses what I believe to be a key reason for pharmaceutical companies becoming involved in the fight against Aids. They're addicted to profits and, as How To Survive A Plague emphatically proves, cures make money.
Ethan Carter
