2003 | Directed by Mike Nichols |
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1985: the Reagans are in the White House and Death swings the scythe of AIDS. In Manhattan,
Prior tells Lou, his lover of four years, he's ill; Lou bolts. As disease and
loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Lou. Joe Pitt, an attorney who is Mormon and
Republican, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the Justice Department.
Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to
preserve his power and access. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, aching to escape a
sexless marriage. An angel invites Prior to be a prophet in death. Pitt's mother and Belize, a
close friend, help Prior choose. |
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| ADDITIONAL CAST & CHARACTERS |
Al Pacino
Meryl Streep
Emma Thompson
Mary-Louise Parker
Justin Wright |
... Roy Cohn
... Hannah, Ethel, Rabbi Chemelwitz, Continental Principality
... The Angel of America, Nurse Emily, Homeless Woman
... Harper Pitt
... Belize Arriaga, Mr. Lies, The Angel Antarctica |
View complete gallery
Mike Nichols, The Hollywood Reporter, June 2004
"One of the parts that Meryl played was the
rabbi. We shot a scene in a cemetery in which the rabbi sat on a bench in a row of rabbis
waiting for a bus, looking like blackbirds on a fence. Two of the other rabbis were ("Angels"
playwright) Tony Kushner and his friend Maurice Sendak; at the end of the day, when we said,
"It's a wrap!" Maurice Sendak almost fainted when the "old Jewish man" beside him stood up,
grew a foot taller and spoke in the voice of a lovely woman. He had spent all day with an old
Jewish man, only to find at the end of the day that the old man was Meryl Streep. Such are the
pleasures of working with Meryl."
Some of the actors play multiple parts, just as was done in the play.
Jeffrey Wright was the only original cast member to appear in the film version.
The bearded, older gentleman who guides Prior around heaven is played by Oskar Eustis, who was the director of the play when it played (twice) in Los Angeles (on its way to New York).
Both Robert Altman and Neil LaBute were considered to direct. It was Altman who first attracted Al Pacino to the role of Roy Cohn.
When Louis speaks to the Rabbi played by Meryl Streep after his grandmother's funeral, two of the rabbis also sitting on the cemetery bench are played by Tony Kushner (who wrote the play and screenplay) and children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, who collaborated on the book Brundibar with Kushner.
Prior's line "People come and go so strangly here!" from "Alice in Wonderland" was changed from the play, which read "People come and go so quickly here!" a quote from "The Wizard of Oz."
The painting displayed during Joe and Harper's living room talk about his childhood dreams is entitled "Jacob Wrestling with the Angel" and was painted in 1865 by Alexander-Louis Leloir.
Angels in America - Official Website
General information on the cast & crew, photos and videos
Additional Information at the Internet Movie Database
Full cast & credits, trivia and business information
| AWARDS / NOMINATIONS FOR MERYL STREEP |
2004 (
Winner) Emmy Award - Best Television Actress
2004 (
Winner) Golden Globe - Best Television Actress
2004 (
Winner) Screen Actors Guild Award - Best Television Actress
2004 (
Winner) Golden Satellite Award Award - Best Television Actress
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Features: none
Video: Widescreen, Color
Languages: English (Dolby)
BUY DVD AT AMAZON.COM |
DVD Release: September 14, 2004
Region Code: 1
Distributor: HBO Home Video
ASIN: B0001I2BUI
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