As Robert prepares for a two-year position in Africa, his partner Michael (Richard Ganoung) is left to consider the true purpose of Robert’s departure while dialoguing with their offbeat Manhattanite friends, including Nick (Steve Buscemi), Michael’s ex-boyfriend who is living with AIDS. America in the mid-80s saw the height of the AIDS crisis amidst a rising religious-political movement to oppose LGBT rights, making any film portraying complex gay characters a commercial liability. Parting Glances is an integral film in the history of gay cinema, as it was among the first American films about the pandemic and the ignorance and homophobia it promoted.
35mm restored print courtesy of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project
“Mr. Buscemi has a powerfully anarchic presence… 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.” – Janet Maslin, The New York Times
