Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (12)
D: Jonathan Demme
Tristar/Clinca Estetico (Edward Saxon & Jonathan
Demme)
US 1993
125 mins
Drama
W: Ron Nyswaner
DP: Tak Fujimoto
Ed: Craig McKay
Mus: Howard Shore
Tom Hanks (Andrew Beckett), Denzel Washington
(Joe Miller), Jason Robards (Charles Wheeler), Mary Steenburgen (Belinda Conine), Antonio Banderas (Miguel Alvarez), Charles Napier (Judge Lucas Garnett), Joanne Woodward (Sarah
Beckett)
The first mainstream Hollywood film to tackle the subjects
of homosexuality, AIDS and homophobia was a hugely important film of the 1990's, winning it's star, Tom Hanks, his first of two consecutive Oscars for Best Actor.
Hanks, against his usual typecast at the time as a more
comedy-inclined performer, gives an outstanding performance as Andrew Beckett, a gay lawyer, fired from his prestigious firm after the board of director's discover his sexual orientation and
then covering it up by framing him for negligence.
Finding difficulty taking the case to court, he recruits
the help of a small-time homophobic lawyer, and they both attempt to shake up the system, despite Andrew's ailing health and his attorney's own prejudices.
The polar opposites between Hanks' and Washington's
characters do the film a huge justice, giving the audience someone to side with regardless of sexual inclinations as the story takes us on a quest for justice. Some might feel that, in some
scenes, the political correctness is a little too contrived, but it doesn't detract from a strong piece of cinematic work.
Entertaining, educational and emotional in equal
measure.
8/10
