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Philadelphia (film)

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Philadelphia
Image:Philadelphia imp.jpg
original film poster
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Produced by Jonathan Demme
Edward Saxon
Written by Ron Nyswaner
Starring Tom Hanks
Denzel Washington
Jason Robards
Antonio Banderas
Joanne Woodward
Music by Howard Shore
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release date(s) December 23, 1993
Running time 125 min.
Language English
Budget $26,000,000 US (est.)
IMDb profile
Portal:Philadelphia
 Philadelphia Portal
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Philadelphia is a 1993 film drama revolving around the AIDS epidemic, written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. It stars Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Joanne Woodward, Jason Robards, Antonio Banderas, Lisa Summerour, and Mary Steenburgen.

Contents

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Twenty-seven year old Andrew Beckett (Hanks) is a University of Pennsylvania graduate hired in a corporate law firm, the largest in Philadelphia. Andy is successful, easy-going, handsome and gay and tries to hide the truth about his sexuality, along with his partner, Miguel (Banderas). When he feels ill and develops Kaposi's Sarcoma lesions on his face, his worst fears are confirmed: his HIV has turned into full blown AIDS, and he cannot hide the truth anymore. He is promptly fired from the law firm by his boss (Robards), who is revealed to have a strong prejudice against gay people.

Andrew tries to hire a defense lawyer to take his case and sue the firm for dismissal, lost earnings, and punitive damages, but nobody will take his case. As a last resort, he turns to Joe Miller (Washington), a family man and injury lawyer who is secretly homophobic. However, after they spend time together, Joe realizes that Andrew is a normal person like anybody else. Both gain great trust and respect for each other as they fight the system that calls itself the law, much to the shock, admiration, and, for some, disgust of the population. Joe must show that Andrew is a good man, not a threat, and that his boss fired him just because he was gay, before AIDS takes his life.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

The late Quentin Crisp has a cameo appearance in the film when Hanks and Banderas's characters throw a Halloween party.

Tom Hanks had to lose almost thirty pounds to appear appropriately gaunt for his courtroom scenes. Denzel Washington, on the other hand, was asked to gain a few pounds for his role. Washington, to the chagrin of Hanks, who practically starved himself for the role, would often scarf down chocolate bars in front of him.

According to the Internet Movie Database [1] "There was a statistic that there were 53 gay men who appeared in various scenes in this movie and within the next year, 43 of them had died."

The following message appears at the end credits ¨This motion picture was inspired in part by Geoffrey Bowers´ AIDS discrimination lawsuit, the courage and love of the Angius family and the struggles of the many others who, along with their loved ones, have experienced discrimination because of AIDS¨

[edit] Awards

The movie won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks) and Best Music, Song (Bruce Springsteen for "Streets of Philadelphia").

It was also nominated for Best Makeup (Carl Fullerton and Alan D'Angerio), Best Music, Song (Neil Young for "Philadelphia") and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Ron Nyswaner).

Andrew Beckett is listed at number 49 on the AFI's list of the top 100 heroes and villans.

[edit] Controversy

The film was the second Hollywood big-budget, big-star film to tackle the issue of AIDS (following TV movie And the Band Played On) in America and also signaled a shift in the early 1990s for Hollywood films to have more realistic depictions of gay people. However, the fact that Hanks' and Banderas' characters do not display normal relationship affections such as kissing, and the absence of gay women drew criticism from some gay film critics. In an interview for the 1996 documentary The Celluloid Closet, Hanks remarked that some scenes showing more affection between him and Banderas were cut, including a scene showing him and Banderas in bed together. The DVD edition of the film, produced by Automat Pictures includes that scene and many of the principals discuss the criticisms leveled at the film.

[edit] References & External links

es:Philadelphia (película) fr:Philadelphia (film) ko:필라델피아 (영화) it:Philadelphia (film) nl:Philadelphia (film) ja:フィラデルフィア (映画) pl:Filadelfia (film) pt:Filadélfia (filme) ru:Филадельфия (фильм) fi:Philadelphia (elokuva) sv:Philadelphia (film) zh:费城故事

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