The Normal Heart

In der schwulen Community hatten sie es in der ersten Hälfte der 80er Jahre nicht leicht. Das Drama von Ryan Murphy, produziert von HBO, versucht jedoch nicht, auf Emotionen einzugehen und für die Rechte von Homosexuellen zu kämpfen – im Gegenteil, es stellt ziemlich authentisch die damalige Stimmung, Atmosphäre und Gefühle derjenigen dar, die von den ersten durch das neu entstandene HIV-Virus verursachten Todesfällen betroffen waren. Die große Anzahl an Charakteren und die Laufzeit von über zwei Stunden sind etwas nachteilig, aber die hochkarätige Besetzung mit Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts und Alfred Molina macht das mehr als wett. Und einer der Schwulen wird von Jim Parson (Sheldon aus der Serie The Big Bang Theory) gespielt. (04.07.2014)

The Normal Heart is an ambitious TV movie, whose pillars of success lie in a very good cast and, above all, in a thorny subject. It's really interesting to see what things were like in the LGBT community in the early 1980s when the unstoppable evil of AIDS came to light. Everyone dealt with the issue in their own way back then - some tried to deal with it early on, others ignored the threat until their horrific deaths or simply stood idly by. The film covers quite an extensive period and gives a fairly authentic account of what was going on at the time. In the context of TV movies, it is definitely an above-average piece that deserves audience attention and critical acclaim. A truly evocative trip into a period of one of the greatest milestones of medicine but also of humanity itself, offering dense material for reflection. (26.01.2016)

In the first half, it’s a very raw drama about the occurrence of AIDS in a seemingly advanced culture that has a problem accepting the issue, much less solving it. At times, the first half gets very sexually explicit. On the other hand, the second half brings out a whole range of theatrical acting performances that make it apparent that this is a play turned into a movie. In this regard, it’s worth mentioning Mark Ruffalo and especially Julia Roberts who has surprised me with her character; I almost didn’t recognize her. Overall, it’s a fascinating drama, especially because it’s interesting that something like this was even happening in the 1980s. (22.11.2017)