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52in52: Philadelphia

52in52 reviews
A movie poster with a Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington

Philadelphia Poster

Philadelphia is a court drama starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. The court case is about an illegal termination lawsuit where Tom Hank’s law firm purposely hid his brief to pretend like they could fire him for negligence when, in reality, they fired him because they found out he had AIDS. There wasn’t much actual law in the movie; there weren’t many precedents set or other cases mentioned. It was more a commentary on how people with AIDs and more generally gay people were treated and still are treated, and the relationship between Denzel and Tom.

Denzel Washington’s character starts as a bigot, talking about how he can’t understand homosexual relationships and initially passes on Tom Hanks’ case when approached by him due to “personal reasons”. However, I think Denzel changes his mind and works with Tom when he sees how Tom is treated at the library. Tom is being othered and stereotyped in the same way the librarians did to Denzel, and once he realized that, he knew that he should help. Even in court, Denzel had said something in the courtroom like “even though I don’t agree with his lifestyle, it was clear a law had been broken”. Slowly, Denzel warmed up to Tom’s “alternative lifestyle”. I think Denzel fully accepted Tom after the costume party. Denzel and Tom have this grand yet private moment. Tom is explaining the opera, the lyrics and the story of the singer, the lights are flashing, and Denzel’s eyes are entirely locked on Tom. When the moment is over, Denzel snaps from a daze and rushes home to his wife. As he holds her, his eyes remain open, staring into nothing, the opera song still playing in his head. I think this is the moment Denzel accepts Tom as human and an equal. He understands there is no right or wrong decision when it comes to homosexuality or heterosexuality; there is just existing as people, enjoying the things we do.

I really enjoyed the movie, 3.8/5! Next week I am watching Look Back, the animated movie adaptation of Fujimoto’s one shot manga!

Here is the rest of the list!

  1. Requiem for a Dream
  2. The Departed
  3. A Few Good Men
  4. Apollo 13
  5. Philadelphia
  6. Ghost in the Shell
  7. Paprika
  8. Millenium Actress
  9. Donnie Darko
  10. Memories and Murder
  11. Momento
  12. 2001: Space Odyssey
  13. Schindler’s List
  14. Jojo Rabbit
  15. Clue
  16. The Thing
  17. American History X
  18. When Harry Met Sally
  19. Black swan
  20. La Haine
  21. Seven Samurai
  22. Alien
  23. The Shining
  24. Cast Away
  25. Hateful eight
  26. La La Land
  27. Dead Poets Society
  28. Contact
  29. The Sixth Sense
  30. Training DAy
  31. The Green Room
  32. Wild Robot
  33. Sound of Music
  34. Nightcrawler
  35. Bridge on the River Kwai
  36. Bugonia
  37. V for Vendetta
  38. Drunken Master
  39. Tokyo Grandfathers
  40. Look Back
  41. Call me by your name
  42. Fantastic Mr Fox
  43. Grand Budapest Hotel
  44. Trainspotting
  45. Hyakuemu.
  46. In the Mood for Love
  47. Hard Boiled
  48. Only Yesterday
  49. The Cat Returns
  50. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
  51. When Marnie was There
  52. From Up on Poppy Hill