Silverlake Life: The View From Here

Year: 1993
Running Time: 97 minutes

Speech Rate: 177 words/min

Large Words
Average: 1.2
Minimum/Maximum: 0/12

Purchase Price (VHS): $144 (agency), $44 (individual)
Rental Price: Not Available

Distributor:
Zeitgeist Films, Ltd.
247 Center Street
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10013
(212) 274-1989 or FAX (212) 274-1644

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Tom and Mark document everyday tasks like a shopping trip, demonstrating how it can be a major undertaking due to their health limitations. The men discuss the emotional roller coaster they experience as their health improves, and then suddenly worsens. In one sequence Tom discloses that he has been intentionally neglecting his medication; Mark responds with anger, fearing that Tom’s refusal to fight will leave him alone to die.

This video differs from other documentaries about living with AIDS in its detailing of the final stages of dying. As Tom nears the end of life, he is confined to bed; he strains to wave at the camera; a painful KS lesion covers his right eye. Mark documents Tom’s death, recording as the undertaker arrives, puts Tom’s body into a body-bag, and takes him away. After cremation, Mark tries to pour Tom’s ashes into an urn; there is a hole in the bag and ashes spill onto the floor. “You’re all over the place, Tom,” he quips. Throughout the production, this type of humor lightens an otherwise gloomy story.

This first-person account tells the story through the eyes of someone living with AIDS. The viewer is led on a heart-wrenching odyssey of both despair and optimism. This intimate human portrait of the couple’s lives—and Tom’s death—is likely to elicit an emotional reaction from viewers. Intimate images and carefully edited segments combine to create a compelling story. The technical quality of the production is good.

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