Angels in America (miniseries)
2003 HBO miniseries based on the play of the same name
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Angels in America is a 2003 American miniseries directed by Mike Nichols and based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning 1991 play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Set in 1985, the miniseries revolves around six New Yorkers whose lives intersect. At its core, it is the fantastical story of Prior Walter, a gay man living with AIDS who is visited by an angel. The miniseries explores a wide variety of themes, including Reagan era politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic, and a rapidly changing social and political climate.[1][2]
| Angels in America | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Based on | |
| Written by | Tony Kushner |
| Directed by | Mike Nichols |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Thomas Newman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Celia D. Costas |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Editors |
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| Running time | 352 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Budget | $60 million |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | December 7 – December 14, 2003 |
HBO broadcast the film in various formats: two three-hour chunks that correspond to Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, further divided into six one-hour "chapters" that roughly correspond to an act or two of each of these plays; the first three chapters ("Bad News", "In Vitro", and "The Messenger") were initially broadcast on December 7, 2003, to international acclaim, with the final three chapters ("Stop Moving!", "Beyond Nelly", and "Heaven, I'm in Heaven") following.
Angels in America was the most-watched made-for-cable film in 2003, and earned much critical acclaim and numerous accolades: at the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards, it became the first of only three programs in Emmy history (along with Schitt's Creek in 2020, and The Crown in 2021) to sweep every major eligible category, and won all four acting categories. It also won in all five eligible categories at the 61st Golden Globe Awards. In 2006, The Seattle Times listed the series among "Best of the filmed AIDS portrayals" on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of AIDS.[3]
Plot
Millennium Approaches
It is 1985, Ronald Reagan is in the White House, and AIDS is causing mass death in the Americas. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Louis, his lover of four years, that he has AIDS; Louis, unable to handle it, leaves him. As disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Louis. Joe Pitt, a Mormon and Republican attorney, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the US Department of Justice. Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to preserve his power and image. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, causing her to hallucinate constantly (sometimes jointly with Prior during his fever dreams) and she longs to escape from her sexless marriage. An angel with ulterior motives commands Prior to become a prophet.
Perestroika
Prior is helped in his decision by Joe's mother, Hannah, and Belize, a close friend and drag queen. Joe leaves his wife and goes to live with Louis, but the relationship does not work out because of ideological differences. Roy is diagnosed with AIDS early on and, as his life comes to a close, he is haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg. As the film continues, the lost souls come together to create bonds of love, loss, and loneliness and, in the end, discover forgiveness and overcome abandonment.[4][5]
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Millennium Approaches: Chapter One – Bad News" | Mike Nichols | Tony Kushner | December 7, 2003 | N/A | |
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In October 1985 in New York City, Louis Ironson learns that his lover, Prior Walter, has AIDS after Prior discovers a lesion on his body. Although Louis promises to stay with him, he becomes increasingly frightened by the disease and emotionally overwhelmed. Conservative Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt is offered a prestigious Justice Department position in Washington, D.C. by the influential attorney Roy Cohn, who privately learns that he has AIDS but furiously rejects being identified as homosexual. Joe’s wife Harper, addicted to Valium and suffering from paranoia and hallucinations, begins suspecting that her husband is hiding his sexuality from her. During one of her hallucinations, Harper encounters Prior in a shared dream despite never having met him. Elsewhere, tensions continue growing between Prior and Louis as Prior’s condition gradually worsens. | ||||||
| 2 | "Millennium Approaches: Chapter Two – In Vitro" | Mike Nichols | Tony Kushner | December 7, 2003 | N/A | |
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Prior is taken to the hospital and he begins hearing mysterious voices foretelling the arrival of a supernatural messenger. Unable to emotionally cope with Prior’s illness, Louis leaves him alone in the hospital, where Belize, a former drag queen and Prior’s closest friend, helps care for him. After meeting Joe at a bar, Roy privately confesses that he is dying from AIDS, though he angrily refuses to identify himself as gay. Torn by pressure from Roy and a burgeoning infatuation with Louis, Joe drunkenly telephones his mother Hannah in Salt Lake City and indirectly confesses that he is homosexual, concerning her. Harper retreats further into hallucinations with her imaginary travel guide Mr. Lies. Louis finally abandons Prior in the hospital, unable to handle the emotional burden of watching him deteriorate from AIDS. | ||||||
| 3 | "Millennium Approaches: Chapter Three – The Messenger" | Mike Nichols | Tony Kushner | December 7, 2003 | N/A | |
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Joe admits to Harper that he is homosexual, devastating their marriage, and Harper hallucinates traveling to Antarctica through her refrigerator alongside Mr. Lies. After Joe decides to refuse the Washington job offer, Roy flies into a furious rage before collapsing in pain and hallucinating the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, whose execution he helped orchestrate in the 1950s. Louis and Joe grow closer after meeting again in Central Park, where they share a kiss that marks the beginning of their affair. Meanwhile, Prior suffers increasingly intense feverish visions involving his ancestors, who warn him about an approaching revelation. Then, a massive Angel crashes through the ceiling of Prior’s apartment and proclaims him a prophet chosen to deliver a message to humanity. | ||||||
| 4 | "Perestroika: Chapter Four – Stop Moving!" | Mike Nichols | Tony Kushner | December 14, 2003 | N/A | |
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By January 1986, Prior struggles to understand the Angel’s command that humanity must stop moving and changing in order to restore Heaven’s stability. Belize continues caring for Prior while criticizing Louis for abandoning him. Louis becomes disturbed by Joe’s conservative political beliefs and Mormon worldview. Harper, now isolated and unstable, wanders through Brooklyn and contemplates escaping her unhappy life entirely. Roy ends up hospitalized as condition rapidly declines. Meanwhile, Hannah arrives in New York and struggles to adapt to the unfamiliar city while trying to reconnect with Joe. | ||||||
| 5 | "Perestroika: Chapter Five – Beyond Nelly" | Mike Nichols | Tony Kushner | December 14, 2003 | N/A | |
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Louis and Joe’s relationship becomes increasingly strained as Louis remains consumed by guilt over leaving Prior. Prior, recovering physically but emotionally scarred, begins resisting the Angel’s demands and searches for meaning in his visions. Harper decides to leave New York and start over elsewhere, finally recognizing that her sexless marriage to Joe cannot survive. Hannah unexpectedly forms friendships with Prior and Belize after helping care for Prior at the Mormon Visitor Center. Roy desperately uses his political connections to illegally obtain AZT medication while his health deteriorates further, and Belize secretly takes some of Roy’s medication to help Prior survive. | ||||||
| 6 | "Perestroika: Chapter Six – Heaven, I'm in Heaven" | Mike Nichols | Tony Kushner | December 14, 2003 | N/A | |
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Prior journeys to Heaven in a vision and confronts the Angel Council, rejecting their demand that humanity cease progressing and changing. He instead chooses to continue living despite pain, uncertainty, and suffering. Louis confesses his guilt to Prior and unsuccessfully attempts reconciliation, while Joe and Louis separate after realizing their relationship cannot survive their personal and political differences. In February, Roy dies in the hospital as Belize and the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg recite the Kaddish for him, granting him an unexpected moment of dignity. In January 1990, Prior, Louis, Belize, and Hannah reunite near the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park and look toward the future with cautious hope amid the AIDS crisis. | ||||||
Cast
- Al Pacino as Roy Cohn
- Meryl Streep as Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz / The Angel Australia
- Patrick Wilson as Joe Pitt
- Mary-Louise Parker as Harper Pitt
- Emma Thompson as Nurse Emily / Homeless woman / The Angel America
- Justin Kirk as Prior Walter / Leatherman in park
- Jeffrey Wright as Mr. Lies / Norman "Belize" Arriaga / Homeless man / The Angel Europa
- Ben Shenkman as Louis Ironson / The Angel Oceania
- Brian Markinson as Martin Heller
- James Cromwell as Henry, Roy's doctor
- Michael Gambon as Prior Walter Ancestor No. 1
- Simon Callow as Prior Walter Ancestor No. 2
- Robin Weigert as Mormon Mother
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the series by Thomas Newman was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.[6]
Production
Cary Brokaw, executive producer of the series, worked for over ten years to bring the 1991 stage production to television, having first read it in 1989, before its first production. In 1993, Al Pacino committed to playing the role of Roy Cohn. In the meantime, a number of directors, including Robert Altman, were part of the project. Altman worked on the project in 1993 and 1994, before budget constraints forced him to move out, as few studios could risk producing two successive 150-minute movies at the cost of $40 million. Subsequently, Kushner tried squeezing the play into a feature film, at which he eventually failed, realizing there was "literally too much plot," and settling for the TV miniseries format. While Kushner continued adapting the play until the late 1990s, HBO Films stepped in as producer, allocating a budget of $60 million.[7]
Brokaw gave Mike Nichols the script while he was working with him on Wit (2001) starring Emma Thompson, who also co-adapted the play of the same title. The principal cast, including Meryl Streep, Pacino, and Thompson, having recently worked with Nichols, was immediately assembled by him. Though Ben Shenkman had previously portrayed Louis in the San Francisco A.C.T.'s production (as well as portraying Roy Cohn in the NYU graduate acting program's workshop of Perestroika prior to its Broadway opening),[8] Jeffrey Wright was the only original cast member to appear in the Broadway version, having won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor for his stage performance.[9] The shooting started in May 2002, and after a 137-day schedule, ended in January 2003. Filming was done primarily at Kaufman Astoria Studios, New York City, with several pivotal scenes being shot on the streets of the city and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. The Heaven sequence was shot at Hadrian's Villa, the Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy, dating early 2nd century.
Special effects in the series were by Richard Edlund (Star Wars trilogy), who created the two important Angel visitation sequences, as well as the opening sequence wherein the angel at the Bethesda Fountain opens its eyes in the end, signifying her "coming to life".[7] Costumer Martin Izquierdo was hired to design functioning wings for Thompson's Angel.[10]
Reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the series a 92% rating based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 9.5/10. The critical consensus reads: "In Angels of America, writer Tony Kushner and director Mike Nichols imaginatively and artistically deliver heavy, vital subject matter, colorfully imparted by a stellar cast."[11] The New York Times wrote that "Mike Nichols's television version is a work of art in itself."[12] According to a Boston Globe review, "director Mike Nichols, and a magnificent cast led by Meryl Streep have pulled a spellbinding and revelatory TV movie out of the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning work" and that he "managed to make Angels in America thrive onscreen...".[13]
IndieWire ranked the series first on its list of best LGBTQ TV shows of the 21st century.[14]
Awards and nominations
In 2004, Angels in America broke the record previously held by Roots for the most Emmys awarded to a miniseries in a single year by winning 11 awards from 21 nominations.[15] Angels in America became the first of only three programs (following by Schitt's Creek in comedy at the 72nd Emmy Awards and The Crown in drama at the 73rd Emmy Awards) to sweep every major category in Emmy history. It also joined Caesar's Hour, in 1957, as the only series to win all four main acting categories in one night.
Along with television miniseries Eleanor and Franklin, the series became one of the two most-honored programs in television history.[16] The record was broken four years later by John Adams at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which won 13 trophies from 23 nominations.[17]
