''Zero Patience'' is a 1993 Canadian

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

written and directed by

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in ...

. The film examines and refutes the

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

of the alleged introduction of HIV to North America by a single individual,

Gaëtan Dugas Gaëtan Dugas (; February 19, 1952 – March 30, 1984) was a Québécois Canadian flight attendant and a relatively early HIV patient who once was widely regarded as "Patient Zero," or the primary case for AIDS in the United States. This c ...

. Dugas, better known as Patient Zero, was tagged in the popular imagination with the blame in large measure because of

Randy Shilts Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the University of Oregon, Shilts began working as a reporter for both '' The Advocate'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', as wel ...

's history of the early days of the

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 ma ...

epidemic, ''

And the Band Played On ''And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic'' is a 1987 book by ''San Francisco Chronicle'' journalist Randy Shilts. The book chronicles the discovery and spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immun ...

'' (1987). The film tells its story against the backdrop of a romance between a time-displaced Sir

Richard Francis Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

and the ghost of "Zero" (the character is not identified by Dugas' name). Produced in partnership with the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1988. Originally launched as film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for pr ...

, the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in ...

and the

Ontario Film Development Corporation Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, ''Zero Patience'' opened to mixed reviews but went on to win a number of prestigious Canadian film awards. The film has been the subject of critical attention in the context of both film theory and queer theory and is considered part of the informal

New Queer Cinema "New Queer Cinema" is a term first coined by the academic B. Ruby Rich in ''Sight & Sound'' magazine in 1992 to define and describe a movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking in the early 1990s. It is also referred to as the "Queer New W ...

movement.

Plot summary

Victorian adventurer and

sexologist Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists a ...

Sir

(John Robinson), following an "unfortunate encounter" with the

Fountain of Youth The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which allegedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in the writings of Herod ...

in 1892, is 170 years old and living in Toronto, Canada. Burton, now living and working as the chief

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

at a

museum of natural history A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

, is searching for a centerpiece display for an exhibit in his Hall of Contagion. He comes up with the idea of featuring AIDS and the

Patient Zero The index case or patient zero is the first documented patient in a disease epidemic within a population, or the first documented patient included in an epidemiological study. It can also refer to the first case of a condition or syndrome (not ...

hypothesis. Accepting the popular belief that Zero introduced the virus to North America, Burton sets out to collect video footage from those who knew Zero to support the hypothesis. When Zero's doctor ( Brenda Kamino), mother ( Charlotte Boisjoli) and former airline colleague Mary (

Dianne Heatherington Dianne Mae Heatherington (May 14, 1948 – October 22, 1996) was a Canadian singer of several genres, particularly rock, whose musical career spanned nearly two decades. In the latter part of her career, she became a successful businessperson in ...

), who is now with

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy ...

, all refuse to demonize Zero, Burton manipulates the footage to make it appear as if they do and includes doctored photographs of Zero showing signs of Kaposi's sarcoma. He presents this preliminary version to the press. The ghost of Zero ( Normand Fauteux) materializes at a local

gay bathhouse A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath (uncommonly known as a gay spa), is a commercial space for gay, bisexual, and other men to have sex with men. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just "the baths", "the sauna", ...

. No one can see or hear him, until Zero runs into Burton while Burton is spying on Zero's friend George. Zero realizes that Burton can see him, although Zero does not show up on Burton's video camera. The two strike a deal; Zero agrees to help Burton with his Patient Zero exhibit if Burton finds a way to make Zero appear. The two return to the museum where Burton makes a ridiculous attempt to seduce Zero to ensure his participation. Rejecting his advances, Zero examines some of the other exhibits (including displays on

Typhoid Mary Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938), commonly known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born American cook believed to have infected between 51 and 122 people with typhoid fever. The infections caused three confirmed deaths, ...

and the

Tuskegee syphilis study The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (informally referred to as the Tuskegee Experiment or Tuskegee Syphilis Study) was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Cente ...

) before finding an

African green monkey ''Chlorocebus'' is a genus of medium-sized primates from the family of Old World monkeys. Six species are currently recognized, although some people classify them all as a single species with numerous subspecies. Either way, they make up the ...

, another suspected early AIDS vector. The monkey (

Marla Lukofsky Marla Lukofsky is a Canadian-American stand-up comedian, actress, singer, writer, and keynote speaker. She's one of the pioneers of stand-up comedy in Canada and has performed in every major city in North America, the UK and the first female come ...

) angrily denounces Zero for scapegoating her just as he has been scapegoated. Zero turns to Burton and they make love. Under pressure from his director and the exhibit's drug manufacturer sponsor, Burton steals Zero's medical records in hopes of discovering new information. Zero and Burton examine an old blood sample of Zero's under a microscope and discover Miss HIV (

Michael Callen Michael Callen (April 11, 1955 – December 27, 1993) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, author, and AIDS activist. Callen was diagnosed with AIDS in 1982 and became a pioneer of AIDS activism in New York City, working closely with h ...

), who points out that the original study that was used to label Patient Zero as the first person to bring HIV to North America did not prove any such thing, but instead helped prove that HIV was sexually transmitted, leading to the development of

safer sex In cryptography, SAFER (Secure And Fast Encryption Routine) is the name of a family of block ciphers designed primarily by James Massey (one of the designers of IDEA) on behalf of Cylink Corporation. The early SAFER K and SAFER SK designs share t ...

practices. Under this interpretation, Zero could be lauded as a hero for his candor in participating in that original study. As Burton ponders this, an unknown fluid squirts from the eye pieces of the microscope, drenching Zero and making him appear on video. He joyously declares his innocence on tape but the effect only lasts five minutes before he fades away again. Zero angrily accuses Burton of not caring for him at all and only wanting to use him for the exhibit, then storms out. Burton fails to complete the revised Patient Zero exhibit before its scheduled opening date. The museum curator substitutes the original presentation instead over Burton's protests, leading to a renewed rush of press scapegoating Zero. The night after the exhibit opens, Mary and other ACT UP members break into the Hall of Contagion and trash the exhibit. Zero returns and Burton explains that he tried to stop the exhibit. Zero forgives Burton but says he wants to disappear again completely. Zero merges with his disfigured video image and, smoking a cigarette inside the video, sets off the fire alarm. The sprinklers destroy the video player and Zero vanishes. A major subplot involves George ( Richardo Keens-Douglas), a French teacher and former intimate of Zero's. George is losing his sight to

cytomegalovirus ''Cytomegalovirus'' (''CMV'') (from ''cyto-'' 'cell' via Greek - 'container' + 'big, megalo-' + -''virus'' via Latin 'poison') is a genus of viruses in the order '' Herpesvirales'', in the family '' Herpesviridae'', in the subfamily '' Betah ...

and is taking a drug that is manufactured by a company that, as a member of ACT UP, George is protesting. George struggles through the film to resolve his conflicted feelings over this, his guilt over abandoning Zero during the final days of his illness and his fear that the same thing will happen to him.

Cast

* John Robinson as Sir Richard Burton * Normand Fauteux as Zero * Dianne Heatherington as Mary * Richardo Keens-Douglas as George * Charlotte Boisjoli as Maman, Zero's mother * Brenda Kamino as Dr. Cheng, Zero's doctor * Michael Callen as Miss HIV * Marla Lukofsky as African Green Monkey * Von Flores as Ray (ACT UP member) * Scott Hurst as Michael (ACT UP member) * Duncan McIntosh as Ross (ACT UP member) Real-life television journalist

Ann Medina Ann Medina is an American Canadian television journalist and documentary producer. Biography Born and raised in New York City, Medina studied philosophy at Wellesley College, Harvard University and the University of Edinburgh before getting ...

has a brief role as a television reporter. Co-producer Louise Garfield makes a cameo appearance playing a virus, co-producer Anna Stratton appears as a drug company executive and composer

Glenn Schellenberg Glenn Schellenberg is a Canadian composer and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Early life and education Schellenberg studied psychology at Cornell University, graduating with a PhD in 1994. Career In the 1980s, S ...

plays a bathhouse attendant.

Production

John Greyson became interested in offering a counterpoint to the Patient Zero story as early as 1987, when the Patient Zero

meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ...

began entering the public consciousness following the publication of Randy Shilts's book ''And the Band Played On''. The book described the cluster study which led to the popular identification of flight attendant Gaëtan Dugas as the vector through which HIV was first brought to North America. Shilts himself never claimed that Dugas was the first. In early 1991 Greyson was given a development grant for the script from the Canadian Film Centre, of which Greyson is an alumnus. Over the next year Greyson, in collaboration with Film Centre partners Louise Garfield and Anna Stratton, continued to develop the script, eventually presenting it with producer

Alexandra Raffé Alexandra Raffé (born July 28, 1955) is a Canadian film and television producer."Alexandra ...

in a

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the ...

format. During the first half of 1992, the production team secured additional development funding from the Canada Council, Telefilm Canada and the Ontario Film Development Corporation. By June of that year the script and the songs were completed and that autumn, with funds from the Telefilm Canada and OFDC grants along with revenue from the sale of British broadcast rights to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, pre-production and casting got underway. Principal photography began in November 1992 and wrapped after five weeks. Sneak previews took place at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

and a number of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

film festivals across the United States before its official debut in September 1993 at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

's Festival of Festivals. In dedicating the film's soundtrack album to performer and AIDS activist

and other friends they had lost to the disease, Greyson, composer Glenn Schellenberg and producers Garfield and Stratton explained their reasons for making the film. "We wanted to explode the opportunistic myth of Patient Zero....More importantly, we wanted to celebrate the courage and sass of an international AIDS activist movement that has tirelessly fought for the rights of people living with AIDS."

Critical reception

''Zero Patience'' garnered mixed critical reaction. The ''Austin Chronicle'' cited a "murky plot, frequently weak acting and often mediocre music" while still praising the film's "spunk, humor, enthusiasm and wit." The ''Washington Post'' compared ''Zero Patience'' unfavorably to Hollywood's big-budget, big-star AIDS-themed film, ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

'', claiming that the latter's protagonist Andrew Beckett "looked sick, dealt with his illness and allowed the audience to sympathize," unlike the "healthy hoofers" of the musical who, because they didn't look sick enough, " eemto deny some of the grim realities" of the disease. In a contrary favorable opinion, London's ''Time Out Film Guide'' praised the film for "slyly inverting popular wisdom" to "offer a sassy commentary on the epidemic of blame" and calling ''Zero Patience'' "a film which engages your mind as much as your heart, and leaves you laughing." Similarly, ''

The 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 ...

'' lauded the film's "loopy buoyancy," praising the songs as a "bouncy stylistic hybrid of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

and the

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

." ''Zero Patience'' was honored as the Best Canadian Film and Best Ontario Feature at the 1993 Cinéfest and was awarded a Special Jury Citation as Best Canadian Feature Film at the 1993 Festival of Festivals. Greyson dedicated his award to the memory of

Jay Scott Jeffrey Scott Beaven (October 4, 1949 – July 30, 1993), known professionally by his pen name Jay Scott, was a Canadian film critic."Critic Jay Scott, 43 among world's best". ''Toronto Star'', July 31, 1993. Early life Scott was born in Lincol ...

, the influential film critic who had died of AIDS a few months earlier. Director Greyson and composer Glenn Schellenberg were nominated for a 1993

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for sc ...

for Best Original Song for the film's theme song, "Zero Patience."

Queer theory

In examining the film from a queer theory perspective, author Michele Aaron cites ''Zero Patience'' as definitional of one of the New Queer Cinema's central attitudes, the "def

ance Ance may refer to: * Ance (given name), a feminine given name * Ance, Latvia * Ance, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Ance (; Gascon: ''Ansa'') is a former commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. ...

of cinematic convention in terms of form, content and genre." Aaron goes on to cite the film's musical format as "further subvert ngthe ways we might expect to be 'entertained' by such serious matters as AIDS, media representation, and the legacy of moralism and sexuality." Feminist academic and AIDS video producer

Alexandra Juhasz Alexandra Jeanne "Alex" Juhasz (born March 12, 1964) is a feminist writer and theorist of media production. Education Juhasz received her B.A. in American Studies and English at Amherst College in 1986. Shortly after graduating she participated i ...

puts forth the film as "an effective critique of the silly sensationalism used in much reportage of AIDS science

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

fights melodrama and tabloid journalism—with melodrama and tabloid journalism." Not all such critical commentary has been positive, with openly gay film scholar Robin Wood (who saw the film when someone very close to him was in the final stages of AIDS) calling the film "misguided on the levels both of conception and execution."

Year-end lists

* Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Jimmy Fowler, ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

Soundtrack

The ''Zero Patience'' soundtrack was released in 1994. Produced by

John Switzer John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, it includes all of the songs and several pieces of incidental music, along with two

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of the film's title song.

Track listing

# "Zero Patience oulton Lava Club Remix # "Arabian Nights" - Instrumental # "Just Like Scheherazade" - Zero # "Culture of Certainty" - Richard Burton # "Pop-A-Boner" - Bathhouse trio # "Control" - Mary and ACT UP # "George's Theme" - Instrumental # "Pop-A-Boner eprise #1 - Bathhouse trio # "Butthole Duet" - Richard Burton and Zero # "Positive" - George and schoolchildren # "Drowning Sailors' Theme" - Instrumental # "Love Theme" - Instrumental # "Contagious" - African Green Monkey # "Pop-A-Boner eprise #2 - Bathhouse trio # "Scheherazade (Miss HIV)" - Miss HIV # "Six or Seven Things" - Richard Burton and Zero # "Zero Patience" - Principal cast # "Scheherazade (Tell a Story)" - Principal cast # "Zero Patience xtended Burn Remix

References

External links

* * * {{AIDS 1990s musical fantasy films 1993 LGBT-related films 1993 films Canadian Film Centre films Canadian LGBT-related films Canadian musical fantasy films English-language Canadian films 1990s English-language films 1990s French-language films Films directed by John Greyson HIV/AIDS in Canadian films LGBT-related musical films 1990s Canadian films

Plot summary

Cast

Production

Critical reception

Queer theory

Year-end lists

Soundtrack

Track listing

See also

References

Further reading

External links