June 15, 1998

Showings:
June 17 - Colonial Promenade 5, 7:15pm

The Human Race, which premiered at the Florida Film Festival on Saturday afternoon (6/13/98), is a moving, funny, inspirational, ironic and altogether terrific documentary by filmmaker Bobby Houston. I truly enjoyed this film and highly recommend it.

The Human Race chronicles the efforts of Rob Hudson to finance, organize and accomplish his effort to sail in the Trans-Pac race (a 2,000 mile sailing race from L.A. and Hawaii which occurs every two years). Mr. Hudson is HIV positive. He wanted to man his vessel with other HIV-positive sailors, and compete in the Trans-Pac, in order to prove that life is not over with such a diagnosis. Mr. Hudson enlists the aid of his friend and seasoned sailing captain, Dr. John Plander, and the two of them (with assistance from friends) obtain funding and a boat, and put together a crew.

The entire crew, including Hudson and Plander, consists of nine men. All are HIV-positive, and two have full-blown AIDS. Some have sailing experience, but some have absolutely none. Due to some interference from the boat's owner, the crew have little time and opportunity to practice before the sail. They pretty much learn how to sail by the seat of their pants, and there are many lessons to be learned. They must contend with seasickness, moonless nights, rough seas, fraying tempers, and the threat of Hurricane Dolores. All the while, the men cope with their HIV and/or AIDS treatments.

I've got to be honest - I wasn't really looking forward to reviewing this film because I thought that, like most recent films about people dealing with diseases, those depicted would be canonized. You know, he has HIV (or a brain tumor, or depression), therefore he must be a saint. I know that it sounds like I'm trivializing the issues, but once you've seen them a hundred times, these depictions lose their potency (even if they are true). I'm happy to say that this is not the case with The Human Race. The crew want to prove that they are able in spite of their diagnoses, and they do so through their actions. It takes a lot of will and stamina to simply survive the race (never mind HIV). It also takes a lot of patience and the desire to get along as a team to live with nine complete strangers for two weeks. Tempers flare and fights abound, but there is always a genuine effort to work it out, maintain a sense of humor, meet every challenge and finish the race. I was touched by the men's personal stories. Not one of them comes across as sorry for himself. Their capacity to forgive, love and deal with death (all of them have friends or lovers who have died of AIDS) is beautiful.

From a filmmaking perspective, The Human Race is also a triumph. Bobby Houston was also on that boat for the entire race. He must have shot hundreds of hours of film - edited down to 88 minutes. There doesn't seem to be a wasted scene. The film moves quickly and very coherently. Also, he knows when to turn the camera off (or at least cut a scene). We get the gist of when infighting and personality conflicts occur, but I never felt uncomfortable looking at the scenes because he shows us only what we need to know, and moves on. If you have a chance, see The Human Race - it's well worth seeking out.

Mary Walsh My husband, Erik, and I are recent transplants from New England. We live in Longwood with our two cats, Ellie (from Damiel, the angel in the German film Wings of Desire) and Phineas, otherwise known as Blackie (which describes both his fur and his soul). Being childless, by choice, these are our substitutes, and we never miss a chance to discuss them as such, much to the annoyance of our friends with children. We lead very exciting lives, something like jet-setters, except that we rarely travel, don't go out much and both prefer to read or watch films (although Erik also likes professional wrestling, which he continually refers to as our country's second great art form, after jazz). Other Articles I've Written