In One Week, Varon (right) learns of his possible sexual exposure to an HIV-infected woman just one week before his marriage to Kiya (left).

Living For 'One Week' in the Age of AIDS

by Esther Iverem
SeeingBlack.com Editor and Film Critic

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In his feature film debut, director Carl Seaton capitalizes on the recent rush on black romantic comedies and springs off into drama.

Serious drama.

When we first meet Varon Thomas and Kiya Parker they are in bed seven days before they are to be married. Varon takes a phone call that rocks his world. The health counselor on the other end of the line tells him he must come into a clinic to speak to her. When he finally does, he learns that he has been listed as a recent sexual partner of someone who is HIV positive. He is advised to get tested for the virus but the results won't be available for one week.

Seaton and co-writer Kenny Young, who is also the star, have woven a tale that skillfully blends the giddy anticipation of nuptial bliss and the uncertainty, dread and mounting crises as Varon awaits his results. In the process, they tell a story about modern relationships and the role men and women are playing in making AIDS a leading killer among young African American men and women.

The film says all of this without preaching. Telling the story primarily through Varon's experiences, it allows us to get to know him—his mundane-looking desk job, his modest house where Kiya will move after the marriage, his philandering and his almost-corny obsession with being one day like Cliff Huxtable from The Bill Cosby show.

Newcomer Kenny Young delivers a convincing performance in the role of Varon. He is supported superbly by Eric Lane, another up-and-coming actor who is a natural in front of the camera. Lane plays the role of Tyco, Varon's roughneck best friend. Tyco has been crashing at Varon's spot, where he spends his days playing video games, eating large bowls of cereal, hunting women and planning Varon's bachelor party. Every one of these new marriage films and music videos has the bachelor party-stripper scene. Poor men. It's like, if they are going to make a film about marriage, they have to at least put some ho action into the mix.

It is through Varon and Tyco's relationship that the plot turns and we learn more about attitudes toward AIDS. As it turns out, Tyco has received the same kind of notice and has been been tested. But he has no intention of going back for the results. He tells Varon point blank: "Man, If I got that sh**, I don't want to know."

The filmmakers play very deftly on the black film audience's expectation of laughs. They manage to blend humor into the story of man whose world is falling apart. I'm not sure why we laugh but maybe it is because so many of us have been in that hard place and it is easier to laugh at misery than it is to silently contemplate it.

The film could allow us to know Kiya a bit better. A shortcoming of most of these recent romances is the cursory treatment of female characters. Also, perhaps a larger budget might have allowed them to give some scenes a more professional look and sound.

Overall, though, One Week takes a hard story we don't to hear—and tells it well.

Screened at Acapulco Black Film Festival 2001.

-- June 21, 2001

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