Buddies

Arthur Bressan, Jr. made gay pro films and documentaries; he also made "Buddies," the first feature film to tackle the AIDS crisis. Released in 1985, "Buddies" barely beat out the TV drama "An Early Frost." It preceded "Parting Glances" by four years, and "Longtime Companion" by five. Now this earliest of early films to address the pandemic is given a fresh edition in a restored 2K high definition, scanned from the original camera negative, by Vinegar Syndrome, a company dedicated to preserving cult films.

The film is essentially a two-hander starring David Schachter and Geoff Edholm. Stealthier plays David Bennett, a young volunteer who has been assigned as a "buddy" to AIDS patient Robert Willow (Edholm). Other characters do enter the story here and there, but if they have a screen presence it's minimal. Most of them appear as nothing more than voices from characters who remain off screen.

This allows Bressan to focus, with intensity and intimacy, on the two main characters. David is buttoned up, polite, and a little shy; Robert is much less so. Consider his first words: Waking up to see David standing by his bedside, swaddled in protective gear, he asks, "Who the fuck are you?"

It's not that Robert is hostile; it's just that he doesn't have time or inclination for artifice. As the next few months unfold and David continues to visit Robert, the two air their views on identity and visibility, with David taking the careful, assimiliationist stance - "Why do you have to cut yourself off with the 'gay' label?" - and Robert insisting, with more passion than his health permits him, that to stand up and be counted is a primary need for LGBTQs. "I feel 'cut off' when I have to pretend that I'm straight," he replies.

David keeps a journal during his time as Robert's buddy, in order to have a space where he can say what he really thinks, unconstrained by social niceties. You get the sense, however, that this is necessary only for David's benefit; Robert would probably welcome David's unfiltered opinions, even when he writes down sentiments about Robert that are unflattering. But those early impressions lay the groundwork for a friendship that includes love, attraction, and - eventually - a moment of frank, low-key sexuality that's striking even by today's standards. (For a more tender, touching sex scene you'd probably have to look to Corey Krueckeberg's 2013 film "Getting Go: The Go Doc Project").

This is a short film, made on almost no money, and it runs just under 80 minutes, but it builds a potent emotional charge. In part, that's due to the fact - sad as it is - that for all our progress, today's conversations are too similar to what they were in 1985. Is simply going about your business as a GLBTQ person tantamount to rubbing one's sexual orientation or gender identity in someone else's face? Does the straight, cisgender majority automatically have a right to dictate the ground terms of normality to the rest of us? What if we simply don't fit into the round peg holes that have been carved out for us, without our input or consent - are we wrongly expected to reformat ourselves, at least in public, to those boundaries when they crush and twist us?

This new Blu-ray edition comes complete with an interview with David Schachter, who relates how he and Bressan first met (they had a summer fling) and how he became part of the project. Film critic and historian Thomas Waugh also weighs in on the movie's place in LGBTQ cinema and its importance. The special features also include a gallery of stills, an article, and the original theatrical trailer.

"Buddies" isn't just an artifact or document of a time long past; it's a reminder of a homophobic political malice and resulting debates in our community that never entirely faded away and are now in full resurgence. How do we respond? Fit in - or stand out? Keep quiet - or raise our voices? The film's central debates are, regrettably enough, native to our time, and this film remains every bit as vibrant as the day it was first released.

"Buddies"
Blu-ray
$22.00
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