3 Needles (2005) User Reviews

Three Different Views of Dissemination of AIDS

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 6 February 2008]

In China, the unscrupulous pregnant smuggler of blood Jin Ping (Lucy Liu) infects an entire rural village in a province exploring the poor and ignorant people. The poverty associated to the ignorance and greed doom the whole population to the tragic disease for US$ 5.00 per liter of blood.

In Canada, the second rate porn actor Denys (Shawn Ashmore) hides from his director and colleagues that he is HIV positive using the blood of his sick father for the tests required by the production. When his father dies, his mother Olive (Stockard Channing) discovers his former profession and that her son has AIDS. She hires a US$ 2,000,000.00 life insurance; then she infects herself and sells and cashes part of her insurance in advance to have a comfortable life with her son.

In Africa, the nuns Sister Clara (Chloë Sevigny), Sister Hilde Francis (Olympia Dukakis) and Sister Mary John (Sandra Oh) come to a small mission to convert the villagers in the Catholicism. Sister Clara believes their mission is also to help the locals and she self-sacrifices her dignity to get financial support for the community.

"3 Needles" is a well-intentioned movie that discloses three different views of dissemination of AIDS in three panels. In the first one, poverty associated to the ignorance and greed sentences the dwellers of a village; in the second, selfishness and need of money infects at least eight actors and actresses of the porn industry; in the last one, ignorance and lack of resources doom the poor people to the disease. The screenplay is a little confused and flawed, and some of the questions in the Message Board prove it. The first story is tragic and with an ironic conclusion when the dweller questions that he sold his blood for US$ 5.00 and he paid US$ 10.00 for the test. The second one is of a tremendous dark humor, and I do not know whether the intention of the director / writer Thom Fitzgerald is to criticize the earlier cash of life insurance. The last one has an unnecessary tragedy in the end. Nevertheless "3 Needles" is a good, honest and powerful movie about an unpleasant theme with top-notch acting of the cast. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Unidos Pelo Sangue" ("Tied by the Blood")

A Nutshell Review: 3 Needles

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 16 December 2006]

Released in Singapore to coincide with World Aids Day (1 Dec), it actually took me this long to cast my eyes on the movie, no thanks to weird and limited screenings at one or two theatres. Perhaps it's because of the subject matter, about that disease which, as far as I can recall, doesn't get named at all in the movie, which probably won't sit down well with audiences who are up for the latest feel good movies in town this holiday season.

Written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald, 3 Needles comprises of 3 distinct stories set in 3 distinct continents - Asia, North America and Africa, but looks into a common killer disease that is plaguing our world today. It takes a look at common fears of those who have the disease, and those from high risk groups who fear of getting the disease, as well as the bad practices and schemes as perpetrated by the greed of men, eager to sacrifice all to make a quick buck.

The story arcs, in my opinion, were not weaved together to form one long narrative. Rather, it looked as if 3 short stories were glued together at the seams to make up the runtime sufficient to call itself a feature film. The first had an illegal blood trafficker, Jin Ping (Lucy Liu), milking all that its worth in a small Chinese village, and for US$5 per packet of blood, managed to entice villagers to undergo unlicensed blood donation drives for a few dollars. Next, we have a porn star Denys (Shawn Ashmore, Iceman in X-Men2 and 3) who, while aware he has the disease, covers up this knowledge through tampering with the provision of blood samples, fearing otherwise he would lose his job in the adult entertainment industry. And lastly, a group of nuns (Chloe Sevigny, Olympia Dukakis, Sandra Oh) journey to a South African village to assist in the care of the villages, only to have Sister Clara (Sevigny) deciding whether it's worth compromising her beliefs, in order to help those she cares for.

When watching these stories, you'll feel a sense of injustice as the characters do what is obviously morally incorrect. You feel angry at the way blood is trafficked without regard to safety and basic hygiene, you feel disgusted at how selfishness clouds the mind into deceit, and the better to go with others rather than oneself, and you feel sorry for the way sacrifices have to be made, while wishing eternal damnation to those who choose to exploit situations for their own gratification. As a movie, if its objectives is to make you feel for the issues presented, then it's done its part.

However, as I mentioned earlier, I find it rather strange that HIV or AIDS is never mentioned explicitly. Could it be there this "disease which shall not be named" is following its self- fulfilling prophecy amongst men that it is shameful to be infected, and the misconception that victims were actually asking for it when they engage in risky activities, to follow the common attitude to hush it all up, and choose to disbelieve the bringing forward of the expiry date on their lives?

As a movie, the presentation is rather plain, and I thought that the narrative probably would be better if the stories were somehow spliced together neatly so that it flows nicely from one arc to the next, rather than opting for the lazy obvious way to segregate them. While nothing controversial is discussed, there are a few scenes that will raise a few eyebrows, and the best amongst those involves a very pregnant Lucy LIu in a field. I don't think I've seen any such scenes in graphic detail, and definitely not in the manner presented. Beats the one which is most talked about involving Chloe Sevigny.

It doesn't offer you new insights into the disease, but exhibits on common fears from both sides, and offers the dramatization of unscrupulous acts which help to propagate the problem on a much larger scale. If you're intrigued to watch it, you have to do so soon as I suspect it wouldn't last another week at the screens. Look out too for the local actor, Ng Chin Han (from the local television "comedy" series dud Masters of the Sea) in quite a meaty role as a Chinese soldier.

Powerful group of 3 stories...

[dwpollar · 7/10 · 6 April 2014]

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 **

One of the Bravest Films I've Ever Seen!

[Zen Bones · 27 September 2007]

I saw this last night and just can't stop thinking about it. This film is off-the-charts audacious in its blend of tragedy and dark humor, with cinematography that ranges from powerfully beautiful (the South African sequences reminded me of John Ford movies like "The Searchers"), to a seedy quality that subtly conveys the weirdness of its humor and unethical qualities of its characters. The film also never flinches from showing us such taboos as male nudity and the indignities of a terminally ill man. Like the movie "Babel," this movie contains three stories, two of which are set in far-off lands, all dealing with complex issues and tragic ignorance.

The first story is about how practically an entire village in China acquires AIDS due to poverty-driven greed. The film's edge is in how it turns the tables on us psychologically; the people are not what they seem, and greed is not always clear-cut when it is a basic means of survival. The second story is a strange tale of a mother who handles the death of her husband and 'acceptance' of the fact that her son has AIDS in a way that leaves the viewer extremely perplexed and uncomfortable, which is actually a good thing. This film doesn't flinch from showing us AIDS stories we don't want to believe, such as those people who purposefully acquire it. It mixes dark humor with beautiful metaphors, such as the mother driving her sports car into an enormous pile of red leaves, until she's practically buried in it. The final seconds of that story leave a chilling print embedded on one's brain; what is this woman thinking?? The third story juggles a whole range of issues regarding ignorance, religion, greed, selfishness and selflessness, and balances them all on a head of a pin. One false move and the story would have come off as preachy or exploitational. Again, there is an iconic scene that stays indelibly in my mind; the beautiful and horrific sight of a woman's dead body lying under a thin blanket of mud.

The entire film does has some rough edges, which may at first put some viewers off. I found Olympia Dukakis' narration a bit difficult to accept at the beginning of the movie (during a strange and fascinating African ritual of male circumcision), but it all comes together by the very end - in fact, quite powerfully. The film also jumps back and forth in past and present, which may at times seem confusing, but the ultimate effect makes us reread our initial assumptions. And the first film in particular is quite slow, although again, I think there was a point to its languorous pace. We all know that the disease in question in this film is AIDS, but the location used in China is so rural that one feels that the time period could be any time in the past fifty years. In fact the circumcision scene at the beginning of the film makes one unaware of even what century we are witnessing! That I think, is the director Thom Fitzgerald's genius. I read a review that criticized this movie for not mentioning the word AIDS, which actually I was unaware of. But the fact is; this movie could be about any disease, as even the Chinese initial reaction to SARS was one of denial. This film does certainly illustrate the stigma associated with AIDS, but the fallout is much deeper than sexual practices in developing countries. The reason it has spread, as this film so eloquently shows, is not because of people's sex lives; it's spread because of ignorance, poverty, superstition, fear and greed. If we can just focus on fighting those battles, then maybe … maybe we can win.

According to your blood sample Denys, you've been dead for several hours.

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 3 December 2008]

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.

good cinematography but week plot

[lief-8 · 3/10 · 28 May 2007]

I thought this film would be good but after seeing it i was disappointed. I don't think it was educational in any way (people know about aids) and was full full of the usual superior western comments (teaching the rest of the world a lesson kind of stuff) and there really didn't seem to be any point to the film!, if it had just been a good story with the nice scenery and cinematography it would have been much better!.

The acting was pretty good but i'm basing my rating on the film as whole and not on the individual elements.

But don't take my word for it, watch it and judge for yourself.

A Visually Breathtaking, Emotionally Staggering Film of Great Importance

[gradyharp · 9/10 · 28 December 2006]

3 NEEDLES as written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden, The Wild Dogs, Blood Moon, Beefcake) is a powerful statement about the insidious spread of AIDS throughout the world, taking us to places we the viewers would rarely visit from the news media emphasis on the disease. The film is three stories in three countries told in tandem not unlike the technique so successfully used in BABEL, CRASH, and TRAFFIC. Employing cinematography of enormous talent and a cast of terrific actors, Fitzgerald manages to share his stories with such sensitivity that every viewer will feel involved in the tragedy that is rotting away our globe.

The film opens with a ceremony in Africa (supposedly South Africa) where young boys undergo ritualistic circumcision, learn the fighting tricks of manhood, and move into society as Men. This single portion of the film is intensely beautiful in its non-voyeuristic observation of an ages old ritual, so beautiful to watch that it calls for Pause/Replay! From Africa we go to rural China where Jin Ping (Lucy Liu, speaking Mandarin only) is the very pregnant force who runs an underground blood bank which while serving the donors with some cash also contaminates the population with HIV virus (we discover that Jin Ling is HIV positive, carrying a baby at risk, and supporting her HIV husband). The trials she encounters in her shady business are nothing to the moment of personal anguish when she delivers her baby without assistance in a cornfield.

Moving to Canada we meet Denys (Shawn Ashmore), a porn star who is HIV positive but steals blood from his ill father for his frequent 'tests' required by the porn director to hide his positive status in order to continue making porn movies to support his family. His mother Olive (Stockard Channing) discovers his status, hears about AIDS patients' ability to cash in on life insurance early, and infects herself so that she can take advantage of the early insurance cash to provide a life of comfort in the small time they both now have for herself and her now fatherless son.

And we return to South Africa where three nuns - Sister Clara (Chloë Sevigny), Sister Hilde Francis (Olympia Dukakis) and Sister Mary John (Sandra Oh) - set up a clinic to treat the villagers, finding only that acts of tremendous self-sacrifice can stave off the spread of the gore of AIDS. The Men we have watched in the beginning of the film walk into the life that faces a world crippled by HIV and the contrast is powerful.

3 NEEDLES' cinematographer Tom Harting deserves awards for the sheer magnificence of his images he captures on film, not only the majestic vistas of Africa and China but also the intimate moments such as Jin Ping's birthing. The musical score by Christophe Beck and Trevor Morris manages to find the atmosphere of each of the three stations of the cross Fitzgerald examines. The acting cast, both the gifted well-known actors as well as the smaller roles by unknowns in each location, is magnificent. If the film has a flaw it is in the unfortunate arena of avoiding preaching: watching and hearing the events is so very powerful that words of summation feel superficial and even insulting. But that is a small flaw in a film of wonder. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

Yawn big Z all the way through

[yvonne-62 · 1/10 · 13 August 2006]

The beginning of the film looked promising and the cinematography was very well done but it all got a bit complicated and meaningless. Sorry, lost interest and couldn't watch the end..

I didn't quite get the message as it was so mixed in with nothingness. Unfortunately the plot was lost on me. I only watched the movie after reading someone else's comments which were really good so I guess were all different and the film may appeal to some viewers but certainly did nothing for me.

Perhaps if I had suffered this to the end there may have been a connection with all three areas but I didn't feel compelled to continue with my viewing.

It will sting, but it is worth it.

[dsh26 · 8/10 · 19 March 2006]

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.

I wanted to like this

[DennisHinSF · 5/10 · 16 December 2012]

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.

Intense, educational, odd mix of emotions

[hawktwo · 9/10 · 3 May 2006]

I was fortunate to see the director's cut of this film at the DC Filmfest. The audience was privileged to have the director, Thom Fitzgerald, make an unannounced visit and stay for questions afterwards.

3 Needles is three separate stories how AIDS spread in China, Africa, and the United States.

I found it a bit confusing to begin with some African scenes and then jump to the China story. I think this was to allow the narrator to introduce and to end the movie. The narrator was Olympia Dukakis and she had a part in the African story.

Lucy Liu led an outstanding cast in the story of its spread to China. Until this film, I did not realize that China had an AIDS epidemic. The movie shows how AIDS was spread through blood collection stations throughout rural China. China's vast rural population was perfect for exploitation. They were isolated; they needed the money; it took a long time to associate entire villages dying with the helpful blood collector.

The US story is somewhat familiar to us. A male porn star spreads it knowingly due to his greed. What makes this story unique is how Stockard Channing handles the discovery that her son is not only a porn star, but is dying. She educates herself on the disease and discovers a breed of vultures buying up the insurance policies of AIDS victims (viaticum companies) hedging their bets that purchasing a $2M policy for $1M will double their investment. She sets out to give herself AIDS and sell her insurance policy. What she does with the proceeds is the controversial part.

The African story reveals the director's Roman Catholic roots. One wishes that Sandra Oh had a larger part in this story. Chloe Sevigny is wonderful as a dedicated nun who chooses to submit to the local plantation owner (sorry, don't remember the African name for plantation) in order to get revenge / punishment on an adult male who has raped a young young virginal child in order to rid himself of the AIDS virus. As with the others, this story shows the many facets of this disease and the difficulty in assigning blame for its spread or for how people handle it.

Each of the stories has an odd element of humor to it. At times, I found it inappropriate for the subject, but perhaps that is also the message: we can laugh despite the hardships. I saw the director's cut, I wonder if this will be removed / downplayed in the cut that's released.

The cinematography is beautiful and sweeping in both Asia and Africa. The US scenes manage to show a true grit feeling.

Kudos to the director for assembling a really outstanding set of actors. Outstanding performances from Lucy Liu, the father-daughter team from the China story and Ian Roberts (the plantation owner).

A Powerful Film about the Destructiveness of AIDS

[nturner · 10/10 · 8 November 2008]

Here is another film of which I knew nothing that - thanks to the recommendation of my video service - has brought two intensely entertaining and thought-provoking hours to my life. It comprises three tales of the worldwide AIDS epidemic each unique and impressive.

The first takes place in rural China where Lucy Liu plays Jin Ping - a woman who is a black-marketeer of blood products. She and her partners prey upon residents of small villages who are basically ignorant of the complexities and dangers involved in donating blood. The villagers are poor, and the promise of much-needed funds is the bait used by Jin Ping. A farmer who is unable to give blood uses his daughter as the donor in order to make a better life for his family. The farmer and his daughter are played by two extraordinary Chinese actors who bring humor and - in the end - great pathos to their parts. In this first of the three parts the film shows ruin and death brought to an entire village through greed and apathy.

The second tale narrower in scope but is the most fascinating of the three. It takes place in French-Canada and revolves around a porn star and his family. Stockard Channing plays the mother in what is one of the strangest and most fascinating roles I have ever seen. To tell more would spoil the film for anyone who might view it, but I can assure you that Channing has accomplished something special in her portrayal of a mother's reaction to the illness of her son.

The third story in the film stars Olympia Dukakis, Chloë Sevigny, and Sandra Oh as nuns who travel to Africa to assist at a clinic. They become involved in various ways with the workers and the large agricultural company for which most of the local villagers work. In this third tale the scenery is so beautiful and impressive that it is almost beyond comprehension. The viewer is struck that within all of this natural beauty, lurks a deadly disease destroying the population.

In most films in which the driving theme is the destructiveness of AIDS, you would expect to see at least some characters who are gay men. There is not one gay person in this film. That very fact enhances the film's powerful message that this epidemic is not one confined to a small segment of society but to the world's civilization as a whole. If you wish to observe disease, religion, avarice, politics, love, hate and still be thoroughly entertained, I recommend 3 Needles.

wonderful but harrowing

[aj_uk-2 · 10/10 · 7 May 2006]

This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time - but also one of the most harrowing and thought provoking. There are images from the film that will stay with me for a very long time. Uncomfortable viewing at times, but rewarding and some excellent and Oscar worthy performances - although I doubt it will puncture the consciousness of the Oscar voting brigade. the cast is wonderful, and the performances all the more powerful for being understated. The cinematography is amazing at times - and there are certain images that will stick with you long after you leave the movie. But be warned - this is not a light movie, it moves you to despair, challenges you, and in my own experience gives you nightmares. having said all that I am glad I saw it and would recommend it to you all

A Gentle treatment of some very hard issues

[asabo-1 · 9/10 · 30 September 2005]

I just saw this film at the Calgary Film Festival and I loved it. I love the work of Thom Fitzgerald (Hanging Garden). AIDS is well known as a global epidemic, but it is not getting the media attention that it once did in the 80s and 90s. It is left to filmmakers to put a human face to the daily toll caused by this epidemic.

3 Needles puts a very human face on the fears and insecurities that cause people to risk their humanity, morality and their lives, to get past the lies that they have to deal with. This film shows very different cases and reactions by people from the first world and third world, facing an unjust world and trying to do their best to get by.

I'm somewhat in awe of how gentle the film is, given the death, despair and horrible acts that are occurring all around the central characters. I love the balance of life affirmation--there are 2 births paralleling 2 deaths. There are charitable acts and kindness from unexpected places. There is clear love for family and friends.

Stockard Channing is brilliant in this role, Cloe Sevigny and Shawn Ashmore are very good, Lucy Liu's character is so real that you feel like you're really in remote parts of China with her and that most people in her place would do the same things.

Please go see this film. You'll be glad you did, and perhaps you'll come away with an understanding of the complexities of the AIDS epidemic and why existing support methods are failing to stem the tide of this situation.

saw it, was surprised, loved it

[turtlematt · 8/10 · 25 October 2005]

Hi there, my first set of comments here...

i just saw this movie at the Pusan Int'l Film Fest in Korea. got the tickets knowing nothing about the movie but its settings. sounded interesting at least, and since i'm Canadian, thought i would catch a movie from home...

as the credits started rolling i was pleasantly surprised at how many names i knew attached to this film! and the drama starts early and really never lets down...

this is a powerful film, both dramatically and aesthetically. a bit too "parental" in its narration -- i would like to have had the scenes speak for themselves a bit more -- but what happens in the film is memorable to say the least. a touch of lyricism mixed with very heavy, in-your-face visuals. you will squirm in scenes (ie. Lucy Liu giving birth alone on the side of a hill in a field... or the Chinese soldiers ripping apart bags of blood with their boots and rifles ... the body of an important character left in the mud...), but the squirming is part of the movie's overall experience. gotta love a movie that provides you with an "experience"! it packs a whallop, didactically speaking, and the story keeps you interested to the very end. i can't think of another movie that handles the theme of AIDS so well, so artistically. the actors should all get kudos for their work. keep an eye on this director my friends... he's someone to watch...

Beautiful but feels too long

[Gordon-11 · 11 November 2006]

This film is about 3 groups of people in three different continents having to do different things in reaction to the spread of the HIV virus.

This film shows excellent cinematography throughout. It shows a lot of beautiful scenery, such as breathtaking waterfalls, beautiful sunsets, new moons etc. The film is already worth watching just for the natural scenery! The 3 stories are spliced into one another, making it difficult to follow at times. It does show many disturbing images, both visually and metaphorically. It examines moral dilemmas and the evil side of humanity, especially in the latter half of the movie.

In summary, the film is enjoyable, but it sometimes feels too long.

Grim, beautiful, convoluted

[Shuggy · 8/10 · 11 June 2007]

Here's something new, a film about HIV/AIDS that doesn't use the words "HIV" or "AIDS", doesn't have any significant gay content, and doesn't focus on sexual transmission - or indeed on sexual relationships; the sex in the movie is mainly about exploitation of one kind or another. Blood and blood products feature prominently in each of the three segments, and non-sexual relationships between the sexes (mother and son, nuns and doctors).

Since they are completely unrelated, except for that, the decision to untangle them was a wise one, and the version I saw, with a prologue flashing forward to the middle of the third segment, makes the three complicated plot lines about as clear as they could be. In each, greed and poverty feature strongly. The life of the shanty-dwellers in the third segment is particularly grim. I agree that the message (as old as Oedipus - those who try to avert disaster can bring it on) is spelled out, but when it's Olympia Dukakis' gentle voice doing it, I don't mind.

Much of the scenery is beautiful but the initiation ritual at the opening is not, no matter how "age old" - it's leg-crossingly painful. With circumcision being increasingly touted as a way to prevent HIV transmission, it's useful to be reminded that it can also facilitate it.

The film has some smiles, no laughs and plenty of irony, like The Green Shop, where hypodermic needles are recycled.

"3 Needles" will have you thinking about the issues it raises - and does not resolve - long after it is over.

How we keep f'ing up ... and yet there's still hope

[somehope · 8/10 · 26 March 2009]

The film is a international collection of how we as humans keep f'ing ourselves over literally and figuratively when it comes to the AIDS epidemic. Yeah, we keep screwing up ... but somehow there is hope in the end, if only we listen to Olympia Dukasis' character at the end.

The first story is in China, where a blood-for-money scheme turns a village slowly into a death camp, and gives us one of the best ironic dark humor lines in the film. The second is in Canada, where a porn star infection comes to a peaceful conclusion ... almost. And the third shows us that there is hope even though those who provide it -- especially one nun -- has to turn her back on God to save his children.

Some say the film is too long, and its and international film shot in, as I said, China, Canada, and with the nun segment, Africa. Maybe it does get too long. Maybe too preachy. But maybe you need to hear these stories so you don't become a victim ... of AIDS or of being a judge without knowing the facts. (To the best of my recollection, all the sex involved is hetero; and the needle sharing is in a poor village between non-drug users.) If nothing else, listen to the sister's closing statement. Love it or hate it, think about it.