| Philadelphia | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jonathan Demme |
| Written by | Ron Nyswaner |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Edited by | Craig McKay |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
Production company | Clinica Estetico Productions |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $26 million |
| Box office | $206.7 million[1] |
Philadelphia is a 1993 Americanlegal drama film directed and produced byJonathan Demme, written byRon Nyswaner, and starringTom Hanks andDenzel Washington.[2] Filmedon location in itsnamesake city, it tells the story of attorney Andrew Beckett (Hanks) who comes to ask a personal injury attorney, Joe Miller (Washington), to help him sue his former law firm, who fired him after discovering he was gay and that he hadAIDS. The cast also featuresJason Robards,Mary Steenburgen,Antonio Banderas, andJoanne Woodward.
Philadelphia is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films not only to explicitly addressHIV/AIDS andhomophobia, but also to portray gay people in a positive light. It premiered inLos Angeles on December 14, 1993 in a benefit for theAIDS Project, and opened in limited release on December 22, before expanding intowide release on January 14, 1994. It grossed $206.7 million worldwide, becoming the9th highest-grossing film of 1993.[3]
The film was positively received by critics for its screenplay and the performances of Hanks and Washington. For his performance as Andrew Beckett, Hanks wonBest Actor at the66th Academy Awards, while the song "Streets of Philadelphia" byBruce Springsteen wonBest Original Song. Nyswaner was also nominated for theBest Original Screenplay, but lost toJane Campion forThe Piano.
Andrew Beckett is a seniorassociate at Philadelphia's law firm Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as anAIDS patient from others in the office. A partner in the firm, Walter Kenton, notices a lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although Beckett attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it indicatesKaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining condition.
During the 10 days given for a case assigned to him, Beckett tries to hide his lesions by staying home from work. He finishes the paperwork for this the night before thestatute of limitations for the case ends, bringing it to his office and leaving instructions for his assistants to file it the following day. However, he receives a call the next day asking for the paperwork, which cannot be found, and is informed that there are no copies on the computer's hard drive. His paperwork is finally located in an alternative location and is filed with the court at the last moment. Beckett is called to a meeting the morning afterwards where the firm's partners fire him.
Beckett believes someone deliberately hid the paperwork to give the firm an excuse to do so and that the termination is a result of hisAIDS status and his sexuality. He asks ten attorneys to represent him in suing the Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown forwrongful dismissal, the last of whom is African-American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller, whom Beckett previously opposed in a different case. Miller appears uncomfortable that a man with AIDS is in his office. After declining to take the case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted the disease. The doctor explains that theroutes of HIV infection do not include casual contact.
Unable to find representation from another lawyer, Beckett feels compelled toact as his own attorney. While conducting research at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. A librarian approaches Beckett and says that he has found a case of AIDS discrimination for him. As others in the library begin to stare uneasily, the librarian suggests Beckett go to a private room. Seeing parallels inracial discrimination, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material he has gathered, and agrees to take the case.
As the case goes to trial, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly point out Beckett brought AIDS upon himself via willing gay sex with strangers and is therefore not a victim. To demonstrate Kenton would recognize the lesion as a symptom of AIDS-related illness, his former co-worker Melissa Benedict—who contracted AIDSafter a blood transfusion—is brought in to testify. She mentions how his facial expressions showed discomfort around her because of it. Kenton denies recognizing Beckett's lesion, and insists Benedict was an innocent victim due to the transfusion, unlike Beckett. To prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions are indeed visible and recognizable as such. Throughout the trial, Miller's homophobia slowly disappears as he and Beckett bond from working together.
Beckett collapses and is hospitalized after Charles Wheeler, the partner he most admired, testifies against him. Another partner, Bob Seidman, confesses that he suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and refused to let him discuss it, which he deeply regrets. During Beckett's hospital stay, the jury votes in his favor, awarding him back pay, damages for pain and suffering, andpunitive damages, totaling over $5 million. Miller visits the visibly frail Beckett in the hospital after the verdict and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After the family leaves the room, Beckett tells his lover Miguel Alvarez that he is "ready". At the Miller home later that night, Miller and his wife are awakened by a phone call from Alvarez, who tells them that Beckett has died. A memorial is held at Beckett's home, where many mourners, including Miller and his family, view home movies of Beckett as a happy child.
The events in the film are similar to the events in the lives of attorneysGeoffrey Bowers and Clarence Cain. Bowers was an attorney who, in 1987, sued the law firmBaker McKenzie forwrongful dismissal in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases. Cain was an attorney forHyatt Legal Services who was fired after his employer found out he had AIDS. He sued Hyatt in 1990, and won just before his death.[4]
In 1994, shortly after the film's release, Scott Burr, a former attorney with the Philadelphia firm of Kohn, Nast and Graf, sued his previous employer for illegally terminating him upon finding out that he was HIV positive. Like the defendants in the film, the firm claimed that it fired him for incompetence without knowing about his health. The parties settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount after three weeks of trial.[5] Burr continued to practice law prior to his death in 2020.[6]
Bowers's family sued the writers and producers of the film. A year after Bowers's death in 1987, a producer,Scott Rudin, had interviewed the Bowers family and their lawyers, and, according to the family, promised compensation for the use of Bowers's story as a basis for a film. Family members asserted that 54 scenes in the movie were so similar to events in Bowers's life that some of them could only have come from their interviews. However, the defense said that Rudin had abandoned the project after hiring a writer and did not share any information the family had provided.[7] The lawsuit was settled after five days of testimony. Although terms of the agreement were not released, the defendants did admit that "the film 'was inspired in part'" by Bowers' story.[8]
Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the role of Andrew Beckett but turned it down, as he was already committed toIn the Name of the Father.[9][10][11][12]Andy García was briefly attached.[9]
John Leguizamo was offered the role of Miguel Álvarez but turned it down to playLuigi in the filmSuper Mario Bros.[13]
In a June 2022 interview withThe New York Times, Tom Hanks said that the film would not be made with a straight actor in a gay role in 2022, stating audiences would not "accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy". Hanks added that this was "rightly so", stating "One of the reasons people weren't afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man".[14]
TriStar Pictures initially refused to insure actorRon Vawter, who was openly HIV-positive at the time, insisting Jonathan Demme recast him. Demme refused, even changing the shooting schedule to accommodate Vawter after he was hospitalized for a month.[15] Vawter died of complications from AIDS less than five months after the film's premiere. TheAmerican Film Institute notes that of some 53 AIDS-positive actors who appeared in the film, 43 (including Vawter) died within a year of its release.[9]
The film was shot in-sequence (chronological order), as Hanks had to gradually lose weight over the course of the film, and to help the actor follow a clear emotional trajectory.[9] Filming took place on-location inPhiladelphia, with the courtroom scenes shot atCity Hall. Other locations included theUniversity of Pennsylvania library,Mount Sinai Hospital,Spectrum arena andRittenhouse Square.[9]
Philadelphia premiered inLos Angeles on December 14, 1993 and opened in limited release in four theaters on December 22, before expanding intowide release on January 14, 1994.[9][16] The Los Angeles premiere was a benefit forAIDS Project Los Angeles, which netted $250,000 APLA Chair Steve Tisch told the Los Angeles Times.[17]
The film was the first Hollywood big-budget, big-star film to tackle the issue ofAIDS in the United States (following the television filmAnd the Band Played On) and signaled a shift in Hollywood films toward more realistic depictions of people in the LGBT community.[18][19] According to a Tom Hanks interview for the 1995 documentaryThe Celluloid Closet, he was cast in the role due to his non-intimidating screen persona in order to allow for audiences to sympathize with a gay, HIV-positive character. However, scenes showing more affection between him and Banderas were cut, including one with him and Banderas in bed together. TheDVD edition, produced byAutomat Picture, includes this scene;[20] according to Jonathan Demme, the scene was cut for pacing.[9]
Philadelphia was released on VHS on June 29, 1994[21] and on DVD on September 10, 1997;[22] it was later released as a limited edition Blu-ray throughTwilight Time on May 14, 2013.[22] In conjunction with the film's 25th anniversary, the film was released on 4K Blu-Ray on November 27, 2018.[23]
The screenplay was also republished in anovelization by writerChristopher Davis in 1994.[24]
Philadelphia was originally released on December 22, 1993, in a limited opening of only four theaters, and had a weekend gross of $143,433 with an average of $35,858 per theater. The film expanded its release on January 14, 1994, to 1,245 theaters and went tonumber one at the US box office, grossing $13.8 million over the 4-dayMartin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, averaging $11,098 per theater. The film stayed at number 1 the following weekend, earning another $8.8 million.
In its 14th weekend, the weekend after the Oscars, the film expanded to 888 theaters, and saw its gross increase by 70%, making $1.9 million and jumping from number 15 the previous weekend (when it made $1.1 million from 673 theaters), to return to the top ten ranking at number 8 that weekend.
Philadelphia eventually grossed $77.4 million in North America and $129.2 million overseas for a total of $206.7 million worldwide against a budget of $26 million, making it a significant box office success, and becoming the 12th highest-grossing film in the U.S. of 1993.[1]
On the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,Philadelphia holds an approval rating of 81% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Philadelphia indulges in some unfortunate clichés in its quest to impart a meaningful message, but its stellar cast and sensitive direction are more than enough to compensate."[25]Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[27]
In a contemporary review for theChicago Sun-Times,Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars and said that it is "quite a good film, on its own terms. And for moviegoers with an antipathy to AIDS but an enthusiasm for stars like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, it may help to broaden understanding of the disease. It's a ground-breaker likeGuess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), the first major film about an interracial romance; it uses the chemistry of popular stars in a reliable genre to sidestep what looks like controversy."[28]
Christopher Matthews from theSeattle Post-Intelligencer wrote "Jonathan Demme's long-awaitedPhiladelphia is so expertly acted, well-meaning and gutsy that you find yourself constantly pulling for it to be the definitive AIDS movie."[29]James Berardinelli from ReelViews wrote "The story is timely and powerful, and the performances of Hanks and Washington assure that the characters will not immediately vanish into obscurity."[29] Rita Kempley fromThe Washington Post wrote "It's less like a film by Demme than the best of Frank Capra. It is not just canny, corny and blatantly patriotic, but compassionate, compelling and emotionally devastating."[29]
| Philadelphia | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | January 1994 |
| Recorded | 1993 |
| Length | 40:34 |
| Label | Epic Soundtrax |
| Producer | |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | (favorable)[45] |
| Music Week |   [46] |
| NME | 7/10[47] |
A soundtrack album was released in January 1994, byEpic Soundtrax containing the main music featured in the film.[48]
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Streets of Philadelphia" | Bruce Springsteen | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Lovetown" | Peter Gabriel | 5:29 |
| 3. | "It's in Your Eyes" | Pauletta Washington | 3:46 |
| 4. | "Ibo Lele (Dreams Come True)" | RAM | 4:15 |
| 5. | "Please Send Me Someone to Love" | Sade | 3:44 |
| 6. | "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" | Spin Doctors | 2:41 |
| 7. | "I Don't Wanna Talk About It" | Indigo Girls | 3:41 |
| 8. | "La mamma morta" (From the OperaAndrea Chénier) | Maria Callas | 4:53 |
| 9. | "Philadelphia" | Neil Young | 4:06 |
| 10. | "Precedent" | Howard Shore | 4:03 |
The album was re-released in 2008 in France only as a CD/DVD combo pack with the film itself, containing the same track listing (catalogue number 88697 322052 under both Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Sony Classical labels).[citation needed] The director originally contactedNeil Young to record a rock anthem to open the film, but after viewing a cut of it, Young was inspired to write a slow and quiet ballad instead. Demme decided Young's song would be more appropriate for the ending of the film, so he approachedBruce Springsteen to write an anthem. Springsteen viewed the opening montage, which at the time featured Neil Young's "Southern Man" as the temp track, but like Young he was inspired to create something quieter, in this case a beat-driven recording that became "Streets of Philadelphia." However, Springsteen's first contribution, "Tunnel of Love," was rejected by Demme.[29] Even though Springsteen knew it was not what Demme originally wanted, he sent it to him anyway. When Demme and his wife were moved by the recording, she advised him that it was likely the direction he should be going and he agreed.[49]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[70] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[71] | Platinum | 50,000* |
| Belgium (BRMA)[72] | Platinum | 50,000* |
| Canada (Music Canada)[73] | 3× Platinum | 300,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[74] | 2× Gold | 200,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[76] | Gold | 400,000[75] |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[77] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[78] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[79] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[81] | Platinum | 1,160,000[80] |
| Summaries | ||
| Europe (IFPI)[82] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
