Movie Short - HIV: The Musical

Martin Freeman in HIV: The Musical.

I stumbled across this short sheerly by chance. I have become quite fond of the latest addictive program on BBC America, Sherlock. It stars the the deliciously named Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern day Sherlock Holmes, and the sexy Martin Freeman as his Dr. John Watson. So, I was checking out some info about Martin Freeman, and saw that he was in a short film called HIV: The Musical, and I immediately knew this was something I had to check out, although I was unsure whether this was going to end well or badly. I am happy to report, as on could figure out, it was the former, as I am posting it up here.





The story centers around a playwright, James (played by Martin), who has completed a script for a serious play about a humanitarian worker in the Sudan called The Curse of the Compassionate Stranger. The movie starts as he does his first videoblog about the process of producing the play, on the first day of his meeting with Myles, a producer, played by Julian Barratt. As the movie progresses, we see James become more angry and jaded throughout the project, as the serious drama with a message is changed time after time by the soul-less producer, until it becomes HIV: The Musical, something unrecognizable to the playwright. He was trying to open the discussion about HIV & AIDs, while the producer is trying to make a hit show to run on London's West End.



I couldn't help it, but there are several moments when I literally laugh out loud at the 11 minute movie. It was co-written and co-directed by Joseph Patrick and Tim Woodall. The song at the end of the movie is called Do The Right Thing by a band named Metronomy, a British Electro-Pop band from Devon, England. I hope you enjoy it.