Philadelphia
Jonathan Demme / US, 1993 / 125 min.
This first big Hollywood studio film about AIDS broke a lot of taboos. Tom Hanks plays a homosexual lawyer with AIDS who prosecutes his powerful law firm for unfair dismissal. Denzel Washington also impressed as his homophobic attorney.
Although the film industry lost countless people to AIDS – the most famous being Rock Hudson in 1985 – there was a great reluctance to make a film about the AIDS epidemic, especially one aimed at the most seriously affected group: the homosexual community. After his Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme could afford to take the ‘creative risk’, as this was seen at the time.
Special screenings
Details
Director
Jonathan Demme
Production year
1993
Country
US
Original title
Philadelphia
Length
125 min.
Language
English
Subtitles
NLD
Format
35mm
Part of
Sidney Poitier & Denzel Washington
Sidney Poitier was Denzel Washington’s shining example. The actors were good friends, but never played in a film together. This summer, Eye brings them together on the big screen for the first time by showing the best of their films.
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