Absolutely heartbreaking and yet it makes you hopeful for humanity.
I never really realized just how quickly the AIDS virus spread throughout San Francisco and you never think about the fact that no one knew what it actually was, so there was no way to find a cure without testing for everything. Of course, the fact that it was affecting the gay community did not help matters with the government and doctors looking to find antibiotics to treat the disease.
The fact that the doctors and nurses that were working in the "AIDS" wing at San Francisco hospital had to be there on a volunteer basis just seems bizarre to me, but Eileen Glutzer, one of the commentators in the film who was a nurse during that time period, just said that she knew she had to help. It didn't matter that they were gay men or that no one knew how you contracted the disease or what caused it, she was a nurse and that was her job; to help people no matter what.
Who knows where we'll be in 15-20 years, but I know that the people in this film and their actions made me a little more hopeful for humanity.