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List Price: $24.95Amazon.com's Price: $22.49 You Save: $2.46 (10%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0754703762719
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Wolfe Video
Manufacturer: Wolfe Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Wolfe Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 03, 2007
Running Time: 127 minutes
Sales Rank: 35746
Studio: Wolfe Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Editorial Review:
Description:
In China, Ping (Lucy Liu) is a pregnant young woman running a black market blood collection scam that creates a mini-epidemic in a rural village. In Montreal, Denys (Shawn Ashmore) is a porn actor hiding his positive HIV status in order to continue working and supporting his mother (Stockard Channing), who herself goes to extreme lengths to provide for the family's future. And, in Africa, Sister Clara (Chlo Sevigny) is a young novice nun driven to convert the rapidly dying Africans to Catholicism before it's too late who makes a desperate bargain with a corrupt plantation owner to help prevent the spread of HIV in the region.
Amazon.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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - I liked this movie.
This was a very interesting take on people in different lives, HIV, and AIDS. It's very interesting. I would recommend watching it.
Rating:  - Moving film.
I just stumbled upon this film last night on Showtime, I hadn't heard of it, but was totally impressed. The cinematography is beautiful, the acting is great, the writing is thoughtful. I was surprised to find so many negative ratings for this film. Maybe it's because "3 Needles" breaks the mold of so many Hollywood films, but that's part of its appeal for me. What is "boring" for one, is contemplative and authentic for another.
The multicultural orientation of this film is another plus ... Read More
Rating:  - star-studded isn't a guarantee
I've learned that a star-studded cast doesn't mean that the movie will be great. *3 Needles* was a nice attempt on the issue of AIDS. However, this movie failed to connect with the viewers...well, at least, with me. I think it had to do with the 3 stories being too short for character development and allowing us to connect with these people.
The first story deals with a pregnant Chinese (Liu) who shells out $5 dollars per donation. However, she turns around and sells ... Read More
Rating: - Mostly Pathetic Attempt
Although this movie is filled with good actors, it falls very short of a captivating, inspiring, or intelligent story on the AIDS crisis.
I was not fan's of any of these actors or the director, but due to the story subject I was willing to give it a try. The best story was the intial full story ripped from the headlines about AIDS being passed onto innocent Chinese rural citizens. What I was surprised at was that they do not touch on the cover up.
After an initial sad, ... Read More
Rating: - "You Killed Me For Eight-Hundred Dollars"
Thom Fitzgerald has created a haunting, near-perfect work. This piece is divided into three segments:
"The Fortitude of the Buddha":
A mere forty-five minutes in length, this is a potent vignette of a rural Chinese village soon ravaged by AIDS. Lucy Liu plays the role of Jin Ping, a blood smuggler. She travels from village to village collecting blood from its impoverished residents. Initially her presence in this small town is a boon. At five dollars a donation, the residents can ... Read More
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