"Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt" confronts us with the reality of AIDS with such simplicity and directness that it is hard to imagine how the enormous tragedy of this disease could be expressed with greater impact.

The stories are terrifically moving without manipulation - the viewer is likely to cry more than anyone onscreen - but the feelings that hit hardest are anger and frustration.

A singularly moving and sympathetic account of people whose lives have been profoundly altered, or cut short, by AIDS.

While such criticisms are relevant, it is also empowering finally to see a work that recognizes without apology the lives of gay people affected by AIDS connected to others who have experienced firsthand the AIDS crisis.