Silverlake Life: The View From Here

After he was diagnosed with AIDS, film director and one-time UCLA film professor Tom Joslin decided to closely document his and his lover Mark Massi's experiences. The film follows his day to day life as he struggles to cope with the disease and its ravages. One particularly difficult section covers the lovers' journey to New Hampshire for what turns out to have been a final Christmas celebration with Joslin's family, which has kept Massi at arms-length for the twenty two years he has been Joslin's lover. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that the only factor which has made the experience at all bearable is the love between the two men. When Joslin dies, the filming continues, showing how his corpse is handled. His friend Peter Friedman continues the documentary to include the ironic aftermath of Joslin's death, in which Massi is welcomed into his lover's family.
There are no overt political statements in this documentary; it is a virtually pure record of the two men's experiences as one of them is dying. (Clarke Fountain, Rovi)
Set in the heart of Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood, the film follows Joslin and Massi through
their daily triumphs and sorrows, struggling valiantly to comfort and care for each other as even the
simplest activities become excruciatingly difficult. Everyday chores, medical treatments and even a
stroll in the park require what Joslin jokingly calls “a brave effort of physical dynamism.”
Joslin, a filmmaker and instructor at the University of Southern California, had turned the camera on
himself and his family in the past. Thus Friedman, his former student, was not surprised that a super
VHS camcorder had become an observant fixture in the Joslin/Massi household.
“Making a film about Mark’s illness was a perfectly natural thing for Tom to do because as an artist,
his way of dealing with just about anything was to make a film about it,” said Friedman. “When Tom
became sick himself, he incorporated that into the film.” As each partner’s health waned, the other
picked up the baton, in what The Advocate called “a relay race between death and art.”
After Joslin died, Friedman flew to Los Angeles to begin reviewing the footage with Massi who was
alone to deal with his own worsening condition. Though committed to helping complete the film,
Massi was unable to bring himself to watch. Instead, he sat nearby, filling Friedman in on the
details. Massi died months later.
“It’s a first-person diary made by someone who wasn’t around to finish it,” explained Friedman. “And
absence is really part of what the film is about. For me, that absence symbolizes the absence of
people everywhere who aren’t where they should be, because of the devastation AIDS has brought
to this country and to the world.” (AMDOC Inc.)
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