♥♥♥♥♥
+ Best Courtroom Movie of the Year + Best Ensemble of the Year: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, Charles Napier, Jason Robards, Roger Corman, Mary Steenburgen + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Philadelphia Movie of the Year + Best True-Story Movie of the Year
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| Two champions of 1993: Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, full of gravitas on the poster for Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia |
Philadelphia struck new ground in 1993 by being the first major American motion picture to deal with AIDS. And to portray gays, homophobia and gay discrimination in a realistic and moving story.
Andy is an up-and-coming lawyer at a big law firm in Philadelphia, when he is suddenly made to look incompetent and laid off due to his burgeoning AIDS illness. In a sympathetic but essentially homophobic colleague, Andy finds a councilor, who is willing to take on his wrongful dismissal suit.
Philadelphia thus quickly turns into a court room drama and a damn good one at that: The procedures and witness interviews seem realistic, and master New-Yorker director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs (1991)), whose 12th film it is, and great cinematographer Tak Fujimoto (Signs (2002)) wisely rely on the faces and performances to speak for themselves here. - And a great cast of 'faces' is grouped together in Philadelphia's court room scenes: From rapidly worsening Andy as played by Tom Hanks (Larry Crowne (2011)), Charles Napier (Black Crescent Moon (2008)) as the judge, Jason Robards (A Boy and His Dog (1975)) as the discriminating boss Charles Wheeler, who is never made into a monster in any way, Antonia Banderas (Life Itself (2018)) as Andy's partner through it all, Mary Steenburgen (A Walk in the Woods (2015)) as the opposing lawyer, and even Roger Corman (Apollo 13 (1995)) as one of the senior partners. - An exciting cast!
Hanks looks surprisingly different and younger ('just' 20 years ago, although he certainly looks better aged, I think), and he is terrific here, - and Denzel Washington (Flesh & Blood (1979, TV movie)) is equally good as his attorney. It seems to me that it is the development in Washington's character, which is the most significant and important one in the movie: SPOILER Andy dies of AIDS. - But his councilor Miller learns to see homosexuals as people deserving to love and be loved just as other people, and to abandon his homophobia. Washington acts both his character's homophobia, - common and intolerant, - and eventual acceptance and broadening of his own concepts and mind believably, and it is a wonderful and edifying change to witness.
Philadelphia is definitely an issue film with a clear purpose; a pro-diversity and anti-discrimination agenda. The stroke of genius is multifold: The film is very far from being a 'gay' film; the issue is broached from the position of the heterosexual America, delicately, (no sex scenes or scenes of intense intimacy that would alienate audiences are risked.) And it is made as American as possible: Set in the most American of all cities, Philadelphia, with contributing musician icons Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, and a great score by Howard Shore (Hugo (2011)), dealing with universal themes of justice and injustice. The homophobia is given room to exist and show its stupid face in the very eloquent and intelligent frame of Washington. SPOILER There is a strange scene of change at Andy's flat, where Washington's character listens to an opera that Andy expands upon and his last guards against the homosexual vanishes. Somehow Demme makes this tricky writing work cinematically, - and the result is beautiful.
Philadelphia is a great, sentimental film that does not point fingers or preach but works for real understanding and human integration. The change that is portrayed through the character Miller is largely symbolic of the change that has occurred for large parts of American and other nations' societies over the last decades to understand and include homosexuals in everyday life as anyone else.
The one place in Philadelphia ,where Ron Nyswaner's (Love Hurts (1990)) fine script jumps a little too fast over an important point, is in the beginning, when Miller suddenly decides to take on the hugely problematic case overnight. It is clear that he has sympathy for his ill colleague, but I would have liked a little more elaboration on this point.
Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia and Young's Philadelphia are both great songs, which work uncommonly well in the film. The two songs brilliantly start and end a film that seems to have personal importance for the filmmakers and has certainly been done with great care and sensitivity.
Related posts:
1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Top 10: Best gay-themed titles
Cost: 26 mil. $
Box office: 206.6 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 7.94 times its cost)
[Philadelphia premiered 14 December (California) and runs 126 minutes. The film is inspired in part by Geoffrey Bowers and Clarence B. Cain's suit against Bowers' former law firm workplace for wrongful dismissal, won in 1990, shortly before his death. The filmmakers settled a lawsuit from the Bowers family, who sought compensation for the use of his story. Shooting took place in Pennsylvania, including Philadephia, from October 1992 - February 1993. The film opened in 4 theaters to a strong 143k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #1 with a 13.8 mil. $ 4th weekend. It stayed #1 for another week and in the top 5 for another 2 weeks (#2-#3) and grossed 77.4 mil. $ (37.5 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal to its rating here. The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning Best Actor (Hanks) and Song (Streets of Philadelphia by Springsteen). It lost Makeup to Mrs. Doubtfire, Song (Young's Philadelphia) to the film's other song nomination and Original Screenplay to Jane Campion for The Piano. It also won 2/3 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a BAFTA, won a Grammy and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Demme returned theatrically with Beloved (1998). Hanks returned in Forrest Gump (1994), Washington in The Pelican Brief (1993). Philadelphia is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Philadelphia?
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