3 Needles (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Thom Fitzgerald

Writer:

Thom Fitzgerald (writer)

Release Date:

1 December 2006 (Singapore)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Where Despair Prevails, Hope Lives.

Plot:

A three-paneled look at the worldwide AIDS crisis: in Montreal, a porn actor (Ashmore) schemes to pass his mandatory blood test; a young nun (Sevigny) makes a personal sacrifice for the benefit of a South African village; in rural China, a black market operative (Liu) posing as a goverment-sanctioned blood drawer jeopardizes an entire village's safety. |

Plot Keywords:

Nun | China | AIDS | Montreal | Porn Star

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mabel Adams	...	Nahmnru, the African Grandmother
Asckt	...	Tea Picker
Shawn Ashmore	...	Denys, the Porn Actor
Caroline Aspirot	...	Stripper
Nontombi Bovana	...	Grandchild
Rob Burns	...	Broker
Stockard Channing	...	Olive Cowie, the Porn Actor's Mother
Chin Han	...	Soldier Xuan
Tanabadee Chokpikultong	...	Tong Sam, the Rice Farmer
Yotaka Cheukaew	...	Qi, the Rice Farmer's Daughter (as Yotaka Chorkreaw)
Eric Codana	...	Abakeweta
Catherine Colvey	...	Clara the Novice's Mother (scenes deleted)
Kathryn Costello	...	Tourist
Steven Crowder	...	Depanneur Manager
Douglas Cwaba	...	Hermit

Also Known As:

Three Needles (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

USA:127 min | Canada:123 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Canada:125 min (DVD) | Argentina:127 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

Afrikaans | Mandarin | Xhosa | French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:16 | Singapore:R21 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company:

Bigfoot Entertainment

Trivia:

Many of the Pondo and Xhosi people in the cast had never seen a movie in their lives.

Movie Connections:

References The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Soundtrack:

The Motion

A Nutshell Review: 3 Needles

Released in Singapore to coincide with World Aids Day (1 Dec), it actually took me this long to cast my eyes on the movie, no thanks to weird and limited screenings at one or two theatres. Perhaps it's because of the subject matter, about that disease which, as far as I can recall, doesn't get named at all in the movie, which probably won't sit down well with audiences who are up for the latest feel good movies in town this holiday season.

Written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald, 3 Needles comprises of 3 distinct stories set in 3 distinct continents - Asia, North America and Africa, but looks into a common killer disease that is plaguing our world today. It takes a look at common fears of those who have the disease, and those from high risk groups who fear of getting the disease, as well as the bad practices and schemes as perpetrated by the greed of men, eager to sacrifice all to make a quick buck.

The story arcs, in my opinion, were not weaved together to form one long narrative. Rather, it looked as if 3 short stories were glued together at the seams to make up the runtime sufficient to call itself a feature film. The first had an illegal blood trafficker, Jin Ping (Lucy Liu), milking all that its worth in a small Chinese village, and for US$5 per packet of blood, managed to entice villagers to undergo unlicensed blood donation drives for a few dollars. Next, we have a porn star Denys (Shawn Ashmore, Iceman in X-Men2 and 3) who, while aware he has the disease, covers up this knowledge through tampering with the provision of blood samples, fearing otherwise he would lose his job in the adult entertainment industry. And lastly, a group of nuns (Chloe Sevigny, Olympia Dukakis, Sandra Oh) journey to a South African village to assist in the care of the villages, only to have Sister Clara (Sevigny) deciding whether it's worth compromising her beliefs, in order to help those she cares for.

When watching these stories, you'll feel a sense of injustice as the characters do what is obviously morally incorrect. You feel angry at the way blood is trafficked without regard to safety and basic hygiene, you feel disgusted at how selfishness clouds the mind into deceit, and the better to go with others rather than oneself, and you feel sorry for the way sacrifices have to be made, while wishing eternal damnation to those who choose to exploit situations for their own gratification. As a movie, if its objectives is to make you feel for the issues presented, then it's done its part.

However, as I mentioned earlier, I find it rather strange that HIV or AIDS is never mentioned explicitly. Could it be there this "disease which shall not be named" is following its self- fulfilling prophecy amongst men that it is shameful to be infected, and the misconception that victims were actually asking for it when they engage in risky activities, to follow the common attitude to hush it all up, and choose to disbelieve the bringing forward of the expiry date on their lives?

As a movie, the presentation is rather plain, and I thought that the narrative probably would be better if the stories were somehow spliced together neatly so that it flows nicely from one arc to the next, rather than opting for the lazy obvious way to segregate them. While nothing controversial is discussed, there are a few scenes that will raise a few eyebrows, and the best amongst those involves a very pregnant Lucy LIu in a field. I don't think I've seen any such scenes in graphic detail, and definitely not in the manner presented. Beats the one which is most talked about involving Chloe Sevigny.

It doesn't offer you new insights into the disease, but exhibits on common fears from both sides, and offers the dramatization of unscrupulous acts which help to propagate the problem on a much larger scale. If you're intrigued to watch it, you have to do so soon as I suspect it wouldn't last another week at the screens. Look out too for the local actor, Ng Chin Han (from the local television "comedy" series dud Masters of the Sea) in quite a meaty role as a Chinese soldier.