dwpollar 1st watched 4/3/2014 – 7 out of 10(Dir-Thom Fitzgerald): *reviewed version is Director's cut of app. 128 minutes* Powerful group of 3 stories centering around a spreading virus in three distinct cultures that isn't mentioned as being AIDS, but it's definitely implied. What makes this Canadian movie work is seeing the love displayed by the other folk who are watching the torment from the outside and doing whatever it takes to help ease the pain of the suffering ones. The first story doesn't actually begin until a prologue to what will eventually be the final story – but I think it is the strongest, with Lucy Liu playing a woman who sets up blood intake centers in an impoverished Asian nation only to find out that they are being infiltrated by sick donors who infect whole areas. A father played by Tanabadee Chokpikultong is the first one sick in his family, but ends up being the last survivor and performs amazing feats of sacrifice despite overwhelming feelings of sadness and sickness. The second story is about a male porn star who continues to work to support his mother and uncle despite the fact that he knows he is sick from something. The mother played by Stockard Channing decides to do her part after her uncle dies and she subsequently finds out what her son is doing and what he has. This part is set in Canada and involves an un-selfish action that is confusing that involves the mother but I believe the intent was to make her son's life more enjoyable while he is still alive. The final story attached with the prologue is narrated by a nun played by Olympia Dukakis giving it a slight documentary feel but is definitely slow going at first. It focuses on a group of nuns who are there to save souls primarily, but a younger nun played by Chloe Sevigny takes extreme measures on her own to keep a family together and safe from a local land owner. What these ordinary people do is not popular when you look at them from a legalized & moralized perspective but there is a greater good in mind by those who perform them. The movie ends by the asking the viewer if you could be one of those ordinary people(definitely not in a preachy way but in a compelling way). This film by Thom Fitzgerald is unique despite some slow parts primarily in the 3rd story and a slightly confusing 2nd story, but overall is a very good viewing, and worthwhile to the cause and to the moviegoer. ** Also viewed 125 minute Canadian version on 4/19/2014, still powerful but a couple of scenes cut out and edited differently where stories go back and forth more often, 2nd story is missing some important footage in this version, but it is closer to the original 123 minute Toronto International film festival version **

DennisHinSF This is one of the many films where the sum is less than the individual parts. The acting is just about perfect, the photography is splendid - fine script - the major things that go into crafting a successful film. Where I fault with the film is the direction. It is what I call the "tone."of the film. It is cold, remote, and distant. This is a problem I have with so many independent and foreign - the director so afraid of showing emotion in a scene that he just lets it play out cinema verite'style. This was not a documentary although it plays like one. It is always interesting (and of course tragic) to see how the HIV Pandemic is affecting other cultures. It would have been much more interesting to me if the director showed just a little more humanity, a little more emotion honing his craft.

lastliberal Did you know they had AIDS in China? It must be a closely guarded secret. However, in the first of three stories on the disease, we see Lucy Liu as a blood smuggler who buys blood for $5.00 a pint. In the process, a whole village becomes infected. It is a sad tale punctuated by her delivery of her baby alone in a field.It then moves to Canada where a porn actor (Shawn Ashmore) steals blood from his father to hide his infection. After one of the required tests, the technician comes on the set to tell him his blood test shows that he has been dead for some time. He rushes home to find that his father was dead when he drew the blood. His mother (Stockard Channing) comes up with a solution to their problems that is quite original, and probably only possible in Canada.The final segment involves some nuns in Africa. Olympia Dukakis, Sandra Oh, and Chloë Sevigny are sent to save souls before AIDS takes them to purgatory. The opening segment of the movie really didn't make any sense until now. It fits into this segment. I wonder why they didn't put it here. Maybe they didn't want to distract from Sevigny's naughty nun bit.Sevigny is a novice that sees her mission as more than saving souls; she also tries to save lives. She involves the other nuns and they swipe money from the collection plate, but she goes way further. The plantation owner (Ian Roberts) wants tit for tat to help her. We did get to see her tit, and he got the tat more than once. Is that what God wanted her to do? Is saving lives just as important as saving souls, and is some sin allowed for the greater good? The cinematography in the film was incredible, and the music was also excellent.

Daniel There is a lot of sadness in this film artfully rendered, and a measure of grace too, which feels hard-earned. The writer-director Thom Fitzgerald, at the NY screening, said that the reality he encountered while researching it was probably even worse than he could bear to show. (Amazingly, the renowned Dr. David Ho was also present at the screening, which added another hopeful touch: HIV/AIDS progress is being made but, as the film shows, funding and education are still lacking in poor countries, and attitudes are often still messed up in rich ones.) There is a didactic purpose in 3 Needles, but fortunately Fitzgerald has the storytelling skills and the director's talent to bear the load. You may not buy everything in it, and you may be angry at him for some of the tough images and choices, but the human emotion and pain, the weakness and strength are gripping and undeniable. And many of the secondary observations, about characters and place, feel sharp and well-observed.The prologue is a perfect example of a warm, vibrant image giving way to a shocking one: Teenage boys of an African tribe cover their bodies with a pale paste, un-self-consciously helping each other, though they are naked. It is an ancient ritual and they appear eager, joking around but purposeful. Later they are to be circumcised, the passageway into becoming men. The image of the knife, for reasons which will be instantly clear, is uniquely jolting. Surprisingly the movie manages to sustain the intensity, asking questions while shining a light on different corners of the world.The acting and cinematography are uniformly good, the latter especially considering the low budget. Most of the South Africans were non-actors, including tribespeople who had never even seen a film. Fitzgerald called this version "the director's cut" since his Canadian distributor previously showed a much different version which cut several scenes, and jumbled the stories together. This might have made sense in another movie, but with the stories on 3 different continents, this version, with each played discretely, seemed much better. Also, Fitzgerald said he shot a 4th scenario which he cut, probably for length. See this on the big screen and it will very likely stay with you.