The 1993 Oscar winning film Philadelphia is a moving film for all. Directed by Jonathan Demme (the same director of Silence of the Lambs) and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington focuses on the case of Andrew Beckett, an HIV positive gay lawyer at a growing law firm. Upon discovery of his disease and his sexuality Beckett is wrongfully fired from his job despite just receiving a promotion. Andrew takes his case to court for violating the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects against employment discrimination with the help of an initially homophobic small town lawyer Joe Miller. Joe initially refused to help Andrew (commonly referred to as Andy), but after witnessing the discrimination that he faces decides to take on the case. Over the course of the film Miller begins to change his homophobic thoughts while Beckett fights to win his court case before he succumbs to the AIDS disease. The movie is high on emotions and sentimental feelings as we not only watch Andrew fight for his rights, but see aspects of their personal lives as well.
The movie, for me, was incredibly well done, although there are some critiques.The movie played a great deal into feelings of either joy or sadness in the viewer instead of showing a wide variety of emotions from the characters. I felt that Andy, as an HIV positive man experiencing extreme discrimination, is very peaceful despite the events occurring around him. I personally would have enjoyed seeing really raw emotions such as anger or frustration in the characters instead of only the ones that tugged at the heartstrings. In addition to this, there is not a lot of romantic involvement between Andrew and his partner Miguel, which was a little disappointing. There was a lot of tender scenes between Joe and his wife, and missing that in the film felt like the movie was trying too hard to appeal to heterosexual audiences despite being a film about a gay man. However, this critique does come with the understanding that in order for Demme to have a successful movie he had to appeal to the broad audience he was aiming to reach, which was the heterosexual community. Despite these minor setbacks to the movie, the plot itself was a real threat to members of the LGBTQ community and does a good job showing what someone with AIDS might have to go through.
In order to achieve the goal of being an emotional movie that hopefully opens the eyes of viewers to the world of AIDS, according to Demme, the film employed many cinematic techniques such as very slow music that swelters to a climax. This happens often during the scenes that took place in court, although there is a scene dedicated completely to Andy's love of opera music. For me this was a very odd scene but it depicted the struggle that Andy was going through and how the music made him feel as if he was not suffering the way that he was. It was a very emotional moment. The movie also used camera lighting and angles to depict important moments, especially between characters. For example, as Joe begins to overcome his homophobia the camera will begin to zoom in on his face while he is talking or looking at Andy. These relatively subtle moments depict the very small yet important changes that happen in Joe as the movie progresses. In terms of race, as Joe is an African American, his race is important from time to time. For example, when Joe is watching Andy in the library as he is being judged by one of the librarians, it is assumed that Joe can relate because African Americans at the time are also being discriminated against Establishing this parallel between Joe and Andy creates a bridge that leads Joe to taking on Andy's case. During this scene, once again the camera zooms in on Andy and Joe's face There is also diversity shown in the African American community. Joe is homophobic but his wife by contrast is very accepting of homosexual people and encourages Joe to change his ways. Joe is then hit on by a black gay man which sends Joe into a small fit of anger, showing that his homophobia is not going away as easily as it was believed. However, the movie as a whole is pretty diverse in racial terms, and does a great job of depicting prejudices between any race.
Overall, Philadelphia is a very moving film that does a good job showing the point that it is trying to portray. Despite minor setbacks such as lack of emotional diversity and predictability, Philadelphia is an interesting insightful movie that is definitely worth watching. The characters are well developed with a strong plot, and is a nice movie for anyone of any race, creed, or sexuality. A must see for all!
The movie, for me, was incredibly well done, although there are some critiques.The movie played a great deal into feelings of either joy or sadness in the viewer instead of showing a wide variety of emotions from the characters. I felt that Andy, as an HIV positive man experiencing extreme discrimination, is very peaceful despite the events occurring around him. I personally would have enjoyed seeing really raw emotions such as anger or frustration in the characters instead of only the ones that tugged at the heartstrings. In addition to this, there is not a lot of romantic involvement between Andrew and his partner Miguel, which was a little disappointing. There was a lot of tender scenes between Joe and his wife, and missing that in the film felt like the movie was trying too hard to appeal to heterosexual audiences despite being a film about a gay man. However, this critique does come with the understanding that in order for Demme to have a successful movie he had to appeal to the broad audience he was aiming to reach, which was the heterosexual community. Despite these minor setbacks to the movie, the plot itself was a real threat to members of the LGBTQ community and does a good job showing what someone with AIDS might have to go through.
In order to achieve the goal of being an emotional movie that hopefully opens the eyes of viewers to the world of AIDS, according to Demme, the film employed many cinematic techniques such as very slow music that swelters to a climax. This happens often during the scenes that took place in court, although there is a scene dedicated completely to Andy's love of opera music. For me this was a very odd scene but it depicted the struggle that Andy was going through and how the music made him feel as if he was not suffering the way that he was. It was a very emotional moment. The movie also used camera lighting and angles to depict important moments, especially between characters. For example, as Joe begins to overcome his homophobia the camera will begin to zoom in on his face while he is talking or looking at Andy. These relatively subtle moments depict the very small yet important changes that happen in Joe as the movie progresses. In terms of race, as Joe is an African American, his race is important from time to time. For example, when Joe is watching Andy in the library as he is being judged by one of the librarians, it is assumed that Joe can relate because African Americans at the time are also being discriminated against Establishing this parallel between Joe and Andy creates a bridge that leads Joe to taking on Andy's case. During this scene, once again the camera zooms in on Andy and Joe's face There is also diversity shown in the African American community. Joe is homophobic but his wife by contrast is very accepting of homosexual people and encourages Joe to change his ways. Joe is then hit on by a black gay man which sends Joe into a small fit of anger, showing that his homophobia is not going away as easily as it was believed. However, the movie as a whole is pretty diverse in racial terms, and does a great job of depicting prejudices between any race.
Overall, Philadelphia is a very moving film that does a good job showing the point that it is trying to portray. Despite minor setbacks such as lack of emotional diversity and predictability, Philadelphia is an interesting insightful movie that is definitely worth watching. The characters are well developed with a strong plot, and is a nice movie for anyone of any race, creed, or sexuality. A must see for all!