Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End (1997)
Narrated by Linda Hunt, this documentary examines the life of the late author and gay rights activist Paul Monette. Born in 1945 to a well-off Massachusetts family, Monette grows up unable to accept his homosexuality, for years hiding it from his loved ones while struggling to develop as a writer. In 1978, Monette publishes his first novel, which allows him to come out to his parents. After losing one lover to AIDS in 1986, he becomes a ferocious advocate for awareness of the disease.
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Too much of everything
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
People we lose can't come back to remind us to keep fighting. With this film in my library, I feel as though I know exactly what Paul might have said about the obstacles I face in my life today...It's a window into that wonderful mind of his that just didn't accept the limitations that encroach on our lives and threaten to keep us in the dark. In this film, Paul Monette shows you a part of his life that usually very private--It's wonderful to see him in his own home, talking with people he loved. For all of us who miss Paul Monette's writing, one film is not enough--but if you do miss him, this is the right film for you. Buy this film. You won't regret it.
Paul Monette left more than a legacy of words about the experience of living through, with, and dying from AIDS. He left all of us - straight, bi-, gay, humans all - with the charge to "go without hate, but not without rage. Heal the world."By his example, we can channel the rage, the outrage, to heal. Awesome film about a Man for All of Us.
What an amazing person Paul Monette is! And what a great tribute to his life this documentary is! I've read all of Monette's non-fiction work and quite a bit of his fiction. For those of you who have not yet read his non-fiction, please do so. Becoming A Man, Borrowed Time, and Last Watch of the Night were all extraordinary, passionate, and painfully honest masterpieces of gay literature. This film captures a glimpse of the man whose sincerity and heroism served to uplift a generation of men who were imprisoned by the closet and another generation who can now stand proud of themselves and those they love.