Angels in America (miniseries)
Encyclopedia
Angels in America is a 2003 HBO miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 adapted from the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...

 winning play of the same name
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...

 by Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...

. Kushner adapted his original text for the screen, and Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...

 directed. Set in 1985, the film has at its core the story of two couples whose relationships dissolve amidst the backdrop of Reagan era
Reagan Era
The Reagan Era or Age of Reagan is a periodization of recent American history used by historians and political observers to emphasize that the conservative "Reagan Revolution" led by President Ronald Reagan in domestic and foreign policy had a permanent impact...

 politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic and a rapidly changing social and political climate.

HBO broadcast the film in various formats: two three-hour chunks that correspond to "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika," as well as 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 movie in 2003, garnering much critical acclaim and multiple Golden Globe and Emmy awards, among other numerous accolades. In 2006, Seattle Times listed the series amongst "Best of the filmed AIDS portrayals" on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

.

Plot

Its 1985: Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 is in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, and Death swings the quiet scythe of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 across the nation. In Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, Prior Walter tells Lou, his lover of four years, that he has AIDS; Lou, unable to handle it, leaves him. As disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Lou. Joe Pitt, an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 who is Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

 and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...

 toward a job at the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

. Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet
The Closet
The Closet may refer to:* The Closet , Chinese film* The Closet , French film* The closet, referring to undisclosed homosexuality- See also :* Closet* Closet * 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
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

. Pitt's mother and Belize, a close friend, help Prior choose. Joe leaves his wife and goes to live with Lou, but the relationship doesn't work out due to 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, these lost souls come together to create bonds of love, loss, and loneliness and, in the end, discover forgiveness and overcome abandonment.

Cast

  • Al Pacino
    Al Pacino
    Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...

     as Roy Cohn
    Roy Cohn
    Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...

  • Meryl Streep
    Meryl Streep
    Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

     as Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / The Rabbi / The Angel Australia
  • Patrick Wilson
    Patrick Wilson (actor)
    Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...

     as Joe Pitt / the Antarctic Eskimo
  • Mary-Louise Parker
    Mary-Louise Parker
    Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress, known for her current lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds portraying Nancy Botwin, for which she has received several nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2006...

     as Harper Pitt
  • Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...

     as Nurse Emily / the Homeless Woman / The Angel America
  • Justin Kirk
    Justin Kirk
    Justin Kirk is an American stage and film actor. He is known for playing Prior Walter in Mike Nichols's screen adaptation of Angels in America and for his portrayal of Andy Botwin in Showtime's Weeds.-Early life and education:Kirk was born in Salem, Oregon, son of a...

     as Prior Walter / Leatherman in the Park
  • Jeffrey Wright as Mr. Lies / Belize / Homeless Man / The Angel Europa
  • Ben Shenkman
    Ben Shenkman
    Benjamin Shenkman is an American television, film and stage actor.-Life and career:Shenkman was born in New York City and raised in what he described as "the secular Eastern European Jewish tradition". He graduated from Brown University, and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts in 1993 from New York...

     as Louis Ironson / The Angel Oceania
  • James Cromwell
    James Cromwell
    James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...

     as Henry, Roy's Doctor

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the series by Thomas Newman
Thomas Newman
Thomas Montgomery Newman is an American composer and conductor, best known for his many film scores. He is one of the more respected and recognized composers for modern film and has scored over fifty feature films in a career which spans nearly three decades.Newman has received a total of ten...

 was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media has been awarded since 1960. Until 2001 the award was presented to the composer of the music alone. From 2001 to 2006, the producer and engineers shared in this award...

.

Production

Executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

 of the series, Cary Brokaw worked for over ten years to bring the 1991 stage production
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...

 to television, having first read it in 1989, before its first production. In 1993, Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...

 committed to playing the role of Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...

. In the meantime, a number of directors, including Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...

, 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
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 format. While Kushner continued adapting the play until the late 1990s, HBO Films
HBO Films
HBO Films is a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. While much of HBO Films' output is created directly for the television market, such as the film Witness Protection and the mini-series Band of Brothers, Pacific, Generation Kill and Angels in...

 stepped in as producer, allocating a budget of $60 million.

Brokaw gave Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...

 the script while he was working with him on Wit
Wit (film)
Wit is a 2001 American television movie directed by Mike Nichols. The teleplay by Nichols and Emma Thompson is based on the 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same title by Margaret Edson....

 (2001) starring Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...

, who also co-adapted the play of the same title
Wit (play)
Wit is a play written by American playwright Margaret Edson. Edson used her work experience in a hospital as part of the inspiration for her play. Wit received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California, in 1995...

. The principal cast, including Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

, Al Pacino and Emma Thompson, having recently worked with Nichols, was immediately assembled by him. Jeffrey Wright was the only original cast member to appear in the film version, and had won the 1994 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 for Best Performance by a Featured Actor
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. The award has been presented since 1949.-1950s:* 1951: Eli Wallach – The Rose Tattoo* 1952: John Cromwell – Point of No Return...

 for his stage performance. The shooting started in May 2002, and after a 137-day schedule, ended in January 2003. Filming was done primarily at Kaufman Astoria Studios
Kaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...

, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, with important scenes at Bethesda Fountain
Bethesda Fountain
Bethesda Terrace overlooks The Lake in New York City's Central Park. It is on two levels, united by two grand staircases and a lesser one that passes under Terrace Drive to provide passage southward to the Elkan Naumburg bandshell and The Mall, of which this is the architectural culmination, the...

, Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. The heaven sequence was shot at Hadrian's Villa
Hadrian's Villa
The Hadrian's Villa is a large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy.- History :The villa was constructed at Tibur as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD...

, the Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy
Tivoli, Italy
Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

, dating early 2nd century.

Special effects in the series were by Richard Edlund
Richard Edlund
Richard Edlund, A.S.C. is a multi-Academy Award-winning US special effects cinematographer.Edlund was born in Fargo, North Dakota. After first joining the Navy, he developed an interest in experimental film and attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the late 60s...

 (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."

Critical reception

The New York Times wrote that "Mike Nichols's television version is a work of art in itself." 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
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

- and Pulitzer Prize-winning work" and that he "managed to make "Angels in America" thrive onscreen..."

Golden Globe Awards

  • Best Miniseries or Made for TV Movie
  • Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie (Al Pacino)
  • Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie (Meryl Streep)
  • Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Movie (Jeffrey Wright)
  • Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Movie (Mary-Louise Parker)

Emmy Awards

In 2004, Angels in America broke the record previously held by Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...

 for the most Emmys awarded to a program in a single year by winning 11 awards from 21 nominations. The record was broken four years later by John Adams.

Won
  • Outstanding Miniseries
    Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries
    The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries represents excellence in the category of miniseries that are considered either six hours or more, or more than two parts....

  • Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
    Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
    This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special.- Chronology of categories :...

     (Mike Nichols)
  • Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie (Al Pacino)
  • Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie (Meryl Streep)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie (Jeffrey Wright)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress - Miniseries or a Movie (Mary-Louise Parker)
  • Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
    Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting – Miniseries, Movie, or a Special
    This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.1990s=*1991: Separate But Equal*1992: One Against the Wind*1993: Citizen Cohn*1994: And The Band Played On...

  • Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Part I & II)
  • Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Non-Prosthetic)
  • Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie
  • Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Tony Kushner)


Nominated
  • Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
    • (Emma Thompson)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
    • (Patrick Wilson)
    • (Ben Shenkman)
    • (Justin Kirk)
  • Outstanding Main Title Design
  • Outstanding Special Visual Effects - Miniseries or a Movie
  • Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
  • Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie
  • Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
  • Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special

Other

Broadcast Film Critics
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2003
The 9th Critics' Choice Awards, honoring the best in film for 2003, were given on 10 January 2004.-Top 10 Films:#Big Fish#Cold Mountain#Finding Nemo#In America#The Last Samurai...

:
  • Best Picture Made for Television

Directors Guild of America (DGA)
Directors Guild of America Awards 2003
The 56th Directors Guild of America Awards, given on February 7, 2004, honored the best film and television directors in 2003.-Film:Best Director - Motion PicturePeter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King...

:
  • Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television (Mike Nichols)

GLAAD Media Awards
GLAAD Media Awards
The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...

:
  • Best Miniseries or Film Made for TV

Grammy Awards:
  • Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (Thomas Newman)

National Board of Review
National Board of Review Awards 2003
The 75th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2003, were given on 3 December 2003.-Top 10 films:#Mystic River#The Last Samurai#The Station Agent#21 Grams#House of Sand and Fog#Lost in Translation...

:
  • Best Film Made for Cable TV

Producers Guild of America (PGA)
Producers Guild of America Awards 2003
The 15th PGA Golden Laurel Awards, given on 17 January 2004, honored the best film and television producers of 2003.-Best Producer - Motion Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - New Line Cinema The 15th PGA Golden Laurel Awards, given on 17 January 2004, honored the best film and...

:
  • Producer of the Year Award in Longform (Mike Nichols, Cary Brokaw, Celia D. Costas and Michael Haley)

Satellite Awards:
  • Best Actress - Miniseries or Film Made for TV (Meryl Streep)
  • Best Miniseries
  • Best Supporting Actor - (Mini)Series or Film Made for TV (Justin Kirk)
  • Best Actor - Miniseries or TV Film (Al Pacino)
  • Best Supporting Actor - (Mini)Series or Film Made for TV(Patrick Wilson)
  • Best Supporting Actor - (Mini)Series or Film Made for TV (Jeffrey Wright)
  • Best Supporting Actress - (Mini)Series or Film Made for TV (Mary-Louise Parker)
  • Best Supporting Actress - (Mini)Series or Film Made for TV (Emma Thompson)

Screen Actors Guild (SAG):
  • Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie: Al Pacino
    Al Pacino
    Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...

     (won)
  • Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Movie : Meryl Streep
    Meryl Streep
    Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

     (won)
  • Best Actor - Miniseries or Film Made for TV (Justin Kirk)
  • Best Actor - Miniseries or Film Made for TV (Jeffrey Wright)
  • Best Actress - Miniseries or Film Made for TV (Mary-Louise Parker)
  • Best Actress - Miniseries or Film Made for TV (Emma Thompson)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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