DVDFile

To use the parlance of our recent election, Philadelphia is a red-state movie made by blue-state talent. The 1993 film, the first major studio attempt to tackle the subject of AIDS, has a babystep feel about it. As if wrapping the story around the familiar cinematic trappings of a courtroom will make the whole enterprise more palatable for those who may be offended or taken aback. Also, Tom Hanks’ character, an AIDS stricken attorney named Andrew Beckett, has a long-term boyfriend in Miguel (Antonio Banderas), but we know little about their relationship, why they love each other and what they’re like as a couple. His parents, including Joanne Woodward, are all lockstep gung-ho for Andrew, at one point prompting him to smile and say, "Gee, thanks guys."

So yes, there is a sense that Philadelphia could have been more. But there’s also a sense that you’ve got to start somewhere and much like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was a major cinema salvo against racial acceptance and Platoon’s Oscar win for Best Picture opened up a national dialogue on Vietnam, Philadelphia made AIDS a suitable subject for a studio film. Frankly, it should never be this controversial for the world’s most popular art form to tackle a major societal issue. But if someone’s gotta do it, let it be Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Jonathan Demme.

When we first meet Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) he’s just been named junior partner at his hotshot Philly law firm, the kind run by flabby middle-age men who chew cigars and tell homophobic jokes in their country club steam room. Andrew has never told his bosses he has AIDS, let alone he’s gay. In fact, the audience discovers Andrew’s condition when he’s seen in a hospital waiting room. In one of many smart omissions from the script, we don’t witness Andrew being told his has AIDS. He simply has it when the movie begins.

Andrew is working on a very important case and after a last minute panic involving a curiously-misplaced brief, he’s fired for incompetence. Andrew believes he’s been terminated because he has AIDS and would gladly sue his former bosses if he could only find an attorney to take the case. Andrew gets rejected by nine firms before walking into the office of Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), an ambulance chaser who glad-hands prospective clients and tells them, "we take no cash until we get cash justice for you." At first reluctant to try a case involving a segment of society he abhors, the African-American Miller changes his mind after being stared down by a white man at the public library.

From here, the film becomes almost a straight courtroom drama, a mistake for most films, but the right move for this film. Like cherry-flavored cough syrup, the movie soft peddles when it has to, yet still leaves room to do its work. There are several things that ring true about Ron Nyswaner’s script. Firstly, Miller never undergoes a bogus, life-changing transformation from homophobe to lead marcher in the Gay Rights Parade. He probably goes back to exactly who he was before he met Andrew, but maybe now there’s a little crack in his bigoted armor. We also never actually see Andrew die, saving us an eye-rolling death scene. I also appreciated that the outcome of the trial is downplayed. There are no cheers from the galley or sweeping music cue, because the verdict doesn’t really matter. Andrew is going to die and the partners at the law firm are too old to change.

The acting is, of course, outstanding. From a character standpoint, Philadelphia is a bit like the 1988 Oscar winner Rain Man. Both Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks’ characters have no arc. They can’t. One has an incurable mental deficiency and the other is going to die. Their respective journeys were, in a sense, over before the movie started. But the Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington characters - they’re the ones with the arcs to travel. They’re the ones with something to realize and they both realize it subtly, without fanfare.

Bringing it all together is Jonathan Demme. From the opening montage of street life in Philly to the closing moments of a young Andrew on video, the Oscar winning director of The Silence of the Lambs keeps this courtroom drama/illness-of-the-week movie as grounded and humanist as possible. Even the dramatic lighting cues when Andrew listens to his favorite aria show a theatrical flourish that helps compensate for the film’s less ambitious tendencies.

Philadelphia was not the first mass media form to tackle AIDS. The Oscar nominated Longtime Companion, the stage play Jeffrey and the TV movie An Early Frost got there first. But, with its studio backing and all-star pedigree, Philadelphia allowed the subject to graduate from the fringes to general consciousness. That’s an achievement more impressive than all the Oscars in Hollywood.

VIDEO: HOW DOES THE DVD LOOK?

This special anniversary edition of Philadelphia is presented in a marvelous 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Most impressive is the smooth, film-like look of the picture. This really looks like a movie. Instances of pixilation or print flaws are extremely rare. Detail is very good and grain is non-existent. Blacks are pretty rockin’ and the shadow detail is excellent. Colors are accurate and fully saturated, although it must be said that Philadelphia is not a colorful movie. Nowhere on the packaging does it mention that this is a new transfer. However, it does seem to look better than the original DVD release. In any case, it’s a terrific effort from Columbia TriStar.

AUDIO: HOW DOES THE DVD SOUND?

The Dolby Digital 5.0 lays down a good, solid urban soundscape and doesn’t let go. Yes, the lack of an LFE track is odd, but the film hardly needed more bass action. The courtroom scenes have a smidge of echo. The street scenes show off the surrounds to subtle, but appreciated effect. The music, including Bruce Springsteen’s somber title song, sound full bodied. Dialogue is understandable at all times. A good, solid mix.

Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai, which ironically is, in descending order, the types of cuisine I enjoy eating.

SUPPLEMENTS: WHAT GOODIES ARE THERE?

Columbia TriStar didn’t skimp on the goodies with this 10th anniversary edition. Spread over two discs, a couple of these supplements stand on their own beautifully, without the benefit of the movie.

In the extras department, disc one contains only an audio commentary by director Jonathan Demme and writer Ron Nyswaner. It’s a chatty, informative and enjoyable commentary and it’s especially nice to hear from Demme, who has made so many terrific movies. The pair discuss the intricacies of writing an AIDS movie and deciding how far to go. Demme points out all the friends he cast, from director Roger Corman, who gave him his start, to obscure buddies thrown into the costume party scene. Interestingly, they explain why the attorneys argued their case sitting down during the courtroom scenes. It seems that in Philadelphia, attorneys must remain seated while arguing a case and are required to ask the judge for permission to approach a witness or the bench. An interesting question given an interesting answer. A very good commentary.

The rest of the extras are on the second disc. There are six deleted scenes. Most of them are unnecessary, especially one that shows Andrew meditating on the roof of his apartment chanting, "I can heal myself." There is a scene with Miguel (Banderas) that would have been nice to include, since we know so little about their relationship. Most of the clips are of decent workprint quality and full-screen.

Also on the second disc are two excellent documentaries. People Like Us is a fact-packed, one-hour look at the genesis of the film. The narrative begins in the early 80s, when rumors of a Gay Cancer were starting to hit the newspapers. Jonathan Demme was compelled to make the film for two reasons: 1) his wife’s best friend had AIDS and 2) he felt compelled to make up for the perceived homophobia of his last film, The Silence of the Lambs. There were other AIDS-themed scripts circulating around Hollywood around that time, but all of them dealt with heterosexuals contracting AIDS. Philadelphia was the first major studio picture to show a homosexual contracting AIDS. Despite fears that A-list talent would not want to play a gay person, Tom Hanks actually asked to do Philadelphia. Washington signed on after reading the script during an airplane flight. Demme, Hanks and Antonio Banderas all give new interviews for this terrific documentary. Video is full-screen and clean. There are Japanese and Spanish subtitles.

The other documentary is One Foot on the Banana Peel, the Other Foot in the Grave. It’s a devastating 1 hour and 20 minute documentary made in 1992. With public awareness of AIDS really starting to catch fire, the time was ripe for this kind of unflinching, yet occasionally humorous, take on the disease. The piece takes place at the Dolly Madison Room, a New York treatment center for AIDS patients. We meet a group of patients as they receive their treatments, and they tell their story with dignity and a confidence in their ability to beat the disease. We also meet Dr. Paul Bellman, who runs the Dolly Madison Room, and some of the professionals who work with him. The patients go through the full range of emotions while undergoing their treatment and some of them waste away right in front of our eyes. Really great, important stuff. Video is full frame and, while good, not as crystal clean as we’re used to in the digital era. Like the previous documentary, there are Japanese and Spanish subtitles.

Courthouse Protest Footage and Interviews is four minutes of b-roll shot during the scene where Andrew and Joe leave the courthouse to picketers and their picket signs. Directed like a TV news story, it includes Hanks, Washington and an actual mayor of Philly.

For those who’ve ever suffered through those daytime TV commercials for ambulance-chasing lawyers, the Joe Miller TV Spot is pretty damn funny. As low-budget looking as the actual article, this one-minute ad for the law firm of Macready and Sheets shows Washington doing a flawless Larry H. Parker impersonation: stiff enough to seem like a non-actor, good enough to be a real lawyer. For some reason, I got a kick out of this one.

Although pathetic in comparison to the new material found on the disc, the Original Featurette is included. It’s nothing but fluff made of brief interview bites and lengthy clips. It’s a dinosaur compared to what we’ve come to enjoy on our DVDs.

Finally, we’ve got the music video for Bruce Springsteen’s excellent original title track (featuring live vocals as he walks down the street), trailers and filmographies.

PARTING THOUGHTS

Ten years removed from the taboos it smashed, Philadelphia is still a terrific film. Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Jonathan Demme deliver the goods in a script that may not dive headfirst into its difficult subject, but it does make for some artful and passionate tap dancing. This brand new, two-disc DVD set contains a smooth transfer, an informative audio commentary and two excellent documentaries. Highly recommended.

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