Did you people see the same film I saw?

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I still cry, every time I watch this movie. How cant you? Both for the subject matter, the lost loved ones and of course. The fact that to this day, gays are still hated & feared.

I have not seen Longtime Companion in years but remember it as profound and moving. First AIDS-related movie I saw was "An Early Frost" with Aidan Quinn which predated "Longtime Companion" by a few years. Also, therenare these : "In the Gloaming" with Robert Sean Leonard and "It's My Party" with Eric Roberts and Gregory Harrison. Also, "And the Band Played On" with Alan Alda and Matthew Modine. All exceptional.

portrait of a community and an American era. realistic image of fear, friendship and solidarity. a film about force and vulnerability. impressing for its honest vision about need of the other, for the universal message, for its profound humanism. because it has the splendid gift to not be a film about AIDS or gay community. but about the links who defines people in insecure situation. and that does it a homage for life. because it is a fresco about impact of a newspaper article and the disease who change lives but, in same measure, in precise, almost cold manner, it is one of the most touching portraits of the friendship. and that does it real special.

At the time of its release, the term "longtime companion" had a different meaning than the one displayed in this film's title: it did not have the connotation that it does now, but was the equivalent to what "significant other" is in our times nearly twenty years later. It certainly carried an aura of gravitas as it defined a romantic but very serious notion that two people were bound together by ties stronger than the sexual and were, truthfully, partners for life, for better or worse.Norman Rene's groundbreaking film LONGTIME COMPANION is that rare act that takes hold of a term, gives it life and new meaning, and is one that has not aged since its premiere in 1990, when queer cinema was barely a blip in the arena and the themes still being explored were the conflicts of coming out (to one's self, to the world), usually with a sordid, semi-exploitative tone. Up until then the only other film that treated homosexuality as a natural occurrence -- complete with a view of the horrors of gay bashing -- was TORCH SONG TRILOGY, which also remains rather contemporary with the times.Like a trip down memory lane, it divides itself in chapters, focusing on the appearance of what was (then) known as the "gay cancer" and crept its way into social consciousness as a fearsome, four letter word we now acknowledge as AIDS. We're introduced to a variety of characters, all realistic in nature, and confront their issues that are commonplace. Friendships are formed, love is exchanged, and all the while bonds are tested as this "thing", this invisible character, becomes almost omnipresent in every sense of the word. A very grim, yet real scene early in the film is one that can't be denied: at a hospital visit, one character (played by Campbell Scott) immediately washes his hands in restrained disgust after greeting a sick friend (Dermot Mulroney) because of the fear of contagion. Counterpointed is a much later, extremely emotional scene involving Bruce Davidson as he says goodbye to his lover and allows him to "let go".It's two sides of the coin, but Norman Rene creates a haunting experience that remains indelible to anyone who has been in those situations. It's in my own opinion one of the finest films about gay men ever done, and it's a must for anyone getting into queer cinema.