Product Description A three-paneled look at the worldwide AIDS crisis: In Montral, a porn actor schemes to pass his mandatory blood test; a young nun makes a personal sacrifice for the benefit of a South African village; in rural China, a black market operative posing as a government-sanctioned blood drawer jeopardizes an entire village's safety. Director Thom Fitzgerald Star Ian Roberts, Stockyard Channing, Olympia Dukakis Special Features: Widescreen, Deleted Scenes, Interviews, Documentary. .com Good performances by an impressive cast, some beautiful cinematography, and a relatively light touch on a heavy subject (AIDS, which is never once mentioned by name) help make 3 Needles an absorbing, provocative viewing experience. Writer-director-producer Thom Fitzgerald's 2005 film assays a global view of the pandemic, similar to Traffic's approach to the drug trade and Babel's slant on the interconnectedness of human events 'round the world (although 3 Needles is considerably less affecting than those two efforts). Using five different languages (Afrikaans, Mandarin, Xhosa, French, and English), he take us to three continents. In China, a pregnant woman (Lucy Liu) pays peasants who donate their blood (which she then sells illegally), in the process starting an mini-scourge that virtually wipes out an entire village. In Montreal, a porn actor (Shawn Ashmore) cheats on a blood test; when his mother (an excellent Stockard Channing) discovers he's HIV positive, she's driven by outrageous fortune to react in some very strange and unpredictable ways. Finally, three nuns (an unlikely combo of Olympia Dukakis, Sandra Oh, and Chloe Sevigny) set out to save souls "condemned to purgatory" by their disease; but when Sister Clara (Sevigny), who's still a novice, tries to save actual lives as well, she makes a startling bargain with the devil to do it. While much of this is quite poignant, it's to the film's credit that little or none of it is handled with excessive sententiousness, self-pity, or tragedy for its own sake. Actually, there's a good deal of gentle humor, not to mention some absolutely gorgeous shots (including Montreal in autumn and the overall geography of the unnamed coastal African country where the final scenario takes place). And the ultimate message, delivered by Dukakis in voice-over, is hauntingly simple: "Why have we not joined together at last to fight this virus?" Bonus material includes interviews, deleted scenes, and a couple of AIDS documentaries. --Sam Graham
K**E
Much Better Than I Had Anticipated
I'm a new fan of Steven Crowder. After learning that he was an actor before his current, and phenomenal show; "Louder With Crower," I had to track down a flic he was in. "3 Needles" was the last flic he did, so when I found it, I was like; "$2.99. I can deal with that." I did *not* know that this flic was, for the majority, in a foreign language, so there were subtitles. Normally, I wouldn't have watched the first 5 min. but I'm glad I did. Very educational, and at the same time quite touchiing. I didn't see Steven Crowder, still, it was worth the rental price and the watch.
P**Y
Not what I expected by definitely a 5!!!
I don't know how this film got lost in the theatres, but it is definitely a 5. I expected something entirely different, but this one was PROFOUND, BEAUTIFUL, THOUGHT-PROVOKING and warmly depressing. Depressing is a negative word, but in this case, it is definitely a positive. The camera-work is superb. The soundtrack will tug at your heartsrings...and the 3 stories will blow you away. Yes. There are 3 stories about 3 needles. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but when you watch this trio, you will understand. I never give away plots, but let me tell you, these actors and actresses give their all. I bought this because of Lucy Liu (a total professional). She's great, but wait until you see Chloe Sevigny, Stockard Channing, Shawn Ashmore and a cast of classics. The storylines are riveting...with a touch of sadness that hits on reality...painful reality. GREAT MOVIE! You won't be disappointed and you'll keep this in your library forever.
A**R
Not Good
This movie failed to show the real struggle with AIDS. It was awful. Don't buy it.
K**N
Three Knockdown, Drag Out Stories for Every Adult Viewer...
Each of the three stories could stand alone and be very meaningful, but together, they are more powerful than most of the AIDs related films I've seen. So extremely varied in content, yet each heart-wrentching story fit perfectly together.You can read some reviews that might take the surprise out of the stories. I watched the film without any detailed information on the film and was not only pleasantly surprised, I was knocked to the ground and run over by a Mack Truck.Fantastic cast, fantastic writing, fantastic direction...FANTASTIC!
5**E
This is a look at the world that many people ...
This is a look at the world that many people is the US have not given a moments thought. Watch this inspiring film with somone you care about and talk about what you have seen. Compeling amd eye opening film.
L**R
Three difficult stories
Three sad but true stories that depict our world today. Aids, social injustice, and a little bit of us maybe in these stories. I like a movie that I think about long after it's over. Maybe because this is occuring somewhere in the world as I type.
G**A
Simply Porn
This movie used the names of very talented actresses to sell a porn movie.There were two segments that may have had something to share about the AIDS issue, the first concerning the 'Coming of Age' ceremony and the blood gathering segment. The first seems to be some statement about circumsion, but it did not fully explain where it was going and the blood gathering seemed to make the statement that AIDS came from the blood supply.This film has no place in the study of AIDS, nor should it have been assigned to the class as a necessary viewing.
J**O
great film
If you like good drama about serious issues this should be at the top of your list worth viewing.All the short stories could have stood alone as great performance s buy all the actors. I enjoyed this film and would recommend this dvd to everyone. The quality and condition of the dvd was superior .
S**Z
Disjointed story line
This story was difficult to follow. The third segment is unrealistic to go from rape victim to happy nuns leaving did not deal with what happened. I wouldn't watch it again.
K**T
Five Stars
Raw, compelling performances and stunning cinematography. Really gets to you.
A**E
Beeindruckend!
Leider gibt es diesen Film offensichtlich nicht mal mit deutschem Untertitel. Wenn jemand etwas anderes weiß dann gebt mir bitte bescheid. Jedoch ist mein Englisch gut genug dass ich die Handlung einigermaßen verstanden habe. Und es hat sich für mich gelohnt den Film zu bestellen. Was ich hauptsächlich gemacht habe weil ich Lucy Liu und Shawn Ashmore als Schauspieler sehr schätze.Der Film besteht aus drei Hauptteilen die alle eine Gemeinsamkeit verbindet die sich schnell herausstellt. Dabei spielen Nadeln tatsächlich eine tragende Rolle! Die Geschichten werden sehr realitätsnah und vor allem schonungslos dargestellt. Auch wenn die Thematik und die Handlung vor allem sehr dramatisch und schockierend ist verleiht der Film in gewissen Szenen auch wieder ein sehr angenehmes Gefühl. Die Bilder der Gegenden und auch die zu den jeweiligen Ländern sehr gut passende und vor allem auch regionale Musik hat mir persönlich am Besten gefallen.Ich habe mir von dem Film viel erwartet und wurde nicht enttäuscht, auch wenn ich leider nicht alles verstehen konnte. Allen die Außergewöhnliche Geschichten mögen kann ich diesen Film nur wärmstens empfehlen.
D**Y
Three Stars
Bad film full of scratches
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