An Early Frost
by John Erman
List Price:
Our Price: $14.32
You Save: $5.63 (28%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.66 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Aidan Quinn, Ben Gazzara, D.W. Moffett, Gena Rowlands, Sylvia SidneyDirector: John Erman
Brand: Wolfe
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Wolfe Video
Product features:
- This award-winning TV drama portrays an average American family who must cope with the realization that their homosexual son is dying of AIDS. Contains outstanding performances and exerts commendable effort in use of subject matter. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 754703762603 UPC: 754703762603 Manufacturer No: WOL4246D
Movie Reviews of An Early Frost
Movie Review: Issues, Issues, Issues
Summary: 5 Stars
This groundbreaking 1985 movie directed by John Erman won 4 Emmys (it was nominated for 14) and a Golden Globe for its very accurate, informative and powerful portrayal of what it meant to receive an AIDS diagnosis back in the early 80s. Though others followed shortly after, (Philadelphia, And the Band Played On, Longtime Companion, A Mother's Prayer, Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story), this was really the first major movie to confront the issue head on. I came across it on one of those lifestyle cable channels a few months ago. You know the kind; the kind that's up there in the high hundreds, the kind that only desperate housewives, the terminally unemployed, people skiving off work or people with no social lives watch. (Guess which category I fit into). As usual, I caught it halfway through but I found the subject matter so intriguing; I knew I had to get the DVD.
Michael (played by Aidan Quinn) is a successful lawyer; he just got made partner but he's forced to tell his parents that he is gay and living with another man when he finds out he has AIDS. The movie details how his family grapples with this devastating news. For them, it's shattering on two fronts: for one, it begins to dawn on them that dreams they had for their child will now never be realised and that secondly, he is most certainly going to die before they do. We watch as both parents ponder - how does one's own child grow into someone one barely knows? Someone one knows next to nothing about?
There are some very good performances here, particularly from Quinn himself, from Ben Gazzara who plays the part of Nick, Michael's dad (his disgust at learning of his son's homosexuality is almost palpable), from John Glover who plays the irrepressible Victor DiMato and from Sylvia Sidney who plays Bea, Michael's darling but tough old bird of a grandmother. (Also to look out for is "Lost" star Terry O'Quinn - when he still had hair!)
It's totally an 80s movie but while the clothes, cars and interior décor are all of their time, the issues raised here are just as relevant today as they were 22 years ago. I'm talking about the ignorance, shame, stigma, fear, rejection, homophobia and all manner of prejudice (even among healthcare professionals who really ought to know better) that are all part of the package of life for anyone who is gay and/or living with HIV. Advancements in medical treatments mean that an HIV diagnosis does not necessarily mean an AIDS diagnosis is imminent and it certainly doesn't necessarily equate to a death sentence any more - at least not if you're lucky live in the developed world - but all these issues are still very much with us.
Anyway, it's definitely worth a look even if it's to see what the issues are. Like I said at the top, the information is surprisingly accurate and up to date considering when the movie was made and there are even subtitles (or closed captioning, as it's known in the US) for anyone wishing to take notes. I certainly did and I thought I knew all I needed to know about the subject. The movie is heavily sanitised for a mainstream audience though and the two lovers barely touch. Hardly realistic but I guess I can understand why.
DVD extras include a theatrical trailer, commentary with Aidan Quinn and associate producers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman (who also wrote the screenplay) and a harrowing but very honest and matter-of-fact 1986 documentary called "Living with AIDS" about a young man from San Francisco called Todd Coleman. Todd died of AIDS aged only 21 and the documentary tells of the various friends, loved ones, professionals and volunteers who cared for him up until his untimely death.
Soapbox minute alert: Today, the 1st of December, is World AIDS Day or AIDS Awareness Day (pure coincidence, I promise) and there'll be a lot of global activity, with people wearing red ribbons and raising money for HIV/AIDS projects and such and that's all great stuff.
But you know how they say a puppy is for life and not just for Christmas? Well, unlike World AIDS Day, HIV infection isn't a one-day thing either. It too is for life. So be safe and protect yourself.
Soapbox minute over.
Summary of An Early Frost
In AN EARLY FROST, it is 1985 and Michael Pierson (Aidan Quinn) is a successful young lawyer in Chicago who has just been made a partner at his law firm. But he lives a double life, keeping his boyfriend a secret from both family and co-workers. Everything changes when he gets sick with pneumonia and is diagnosed with AIDS, forcing him to be open about the disease and his homosexuality for the first time. Back home with his family, they learn to adjust to the son they never knew, and realize that they love him just the same.Get out your handkerchiefs. Though An Early Frost was made for television in 1985--in the first few years of AIDS awareness and research--it's still as potent and wrenching as more sophisticated efforts that came along a short while later (Philadelphia, And the Band Played On, Longtime Companion). Much of the thanks goes to a stellar cast--Aidan Quinn, Gena Rowlands, and Ben Gazzara--who elevate a familiar, familial tale of conflict that begins when a successful lawyer son (Quinn) comes home to make peace with his enabling, compassionate mother (Rowlands) and disgusted, confused father (Gazzara) who cannot reconcile himself to his son's gay lifestyle.
Director John Erman crafts a stark, wintry movie, its title a metaphor for a life cut short. An Early Frost was lauded for its compassion, and though it seems a little patronizing now after the many films with similar themes and variations, this was the first to bring gay life as something normal into the average living room, and it holds up pretty well. After all, the humanistic, family element is what the film strives to convey, and that theme is always universal. --Paula Nechak
Similar DVD Movies
Angels in AmericaPACINO,AL; Release date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
LonghornsRelease date: 2011-11-15; DVD
Best price: $13.46
Price in other shops:
Torch Song TrilogyNEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2004-05-04; Published: 2004-05-01; DVD
Best price: $11.98
Price in other shops:
Parting GlancesFirst RUN Features; Release date: 2000-04-11; DVD
Best price: $17.87
Price in other shops:
PhiladelphiaSony; Release date: 2002-07-25; DVD
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Making LoveFox; Release date: 2006-02-07; DVD
Best price: $4.37
Price in other shops:
And the Band Played OnHBO Home Video; Release date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
The Matthew Shepard StoryEcho; Release date: 2010-06-01; DVD
Best price: $2.40
Price in other shops:
Prayers for BobbyA&E; Release date: 2010-12-14; DVD
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Longtime CompanionSony; Release date: 2001-01-23; DVD
Best price: $6.93
Price in other shops: