''Parting Glances'' is a 1986 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

. The film was one of the earlier motion pictures to deal frankly and realistically with the subject of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and the impact of the relatively new disease on the gay community in the

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

era and at the height of the pandemic. It is considered by film critics an important film in the history of

gay cinema This article lists lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related films involving participation and/or representation of LGBT. The list includes films that deal with or feature significant LGBT issues or characters. These films may involve LG ...

. The story revolves around a gay couple facing the challenges of a long-distance relationship. The film was well-received for its detailed evocation of gay and gay-friendly urbanites in 1980s

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The film's soundtrack includes the

Bronski Beat Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 s ...

songs "Love and Money," "

Smalltown Boy "Smalltown Boy" is a song by British synth-pop band Bronski Beat, released in May 1984 as the first single from their debut album, '' The Age of Consent'' (1984). The song was a big commercial success, reaching number three in the band's nativ ...

" and "Why." First-time director Bill Sherwood died of complications due to AIDS in 1990.

Plot

Robert and Michael, a

gay male Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including ' ...

couple in their late 20s, live in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Robert is leaving for two years on a work assignment in Africa while his partner, Michael, stays behind. Michael's ex-boyfriend, Nick, for whom Michael cooks, looks after and still loves, has

. Over the next twenty-four hours, the story shifts between scenes taking place at a farewell party for Robert hosted by the couple's artist friend, Joan, and a dinner party hosted by Robert's employer, Cecil, and his wife, Betty, who have an unconventional marriage.

Cast

Reviews and recognition

''Parting Glances'' gave Steve Buscemi his first major movie role. "It is to both his and the film's credit that the anguish of AIDS is presented as part of a larger social fabric, understood in context, and never in a maudlin light," said

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

in her ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review. '' Time Out'' London wrote “Sherwood brings a notable grace and droll humour to his story of two male lovers parting against the backdrop of a friend dying of the Big A.”

Preservation and restoration

In 2006,

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

and the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

announced that the film would be the first to be restored as a part of the Outfest Legacy Project. On July 16, 2007, as a part of the Outfest Legacy Project, a restored print of ''Parting Glances'' received its world premiere at the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

in Los Angeles. The four major stars of the film, Richard Ganoung, John Bolger, Steve Buscemi, and Kathy Kinney, were in attendance and participated in a panel discussion after the viewing. The restoration print received its New York City premiere on October 29, 2007 at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

References

External links