Word: chest
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...film is lacerating. It provides an unflinching look at acts of incomprehensible barbarity. This renders it incredibly difficult to watch, and at times the viewer feels battered and bruised inside. The movie sears images into the viewer's head: a small boy up to his chest in excrement because he has hidden from the Nazis in the latrines; an old man being shot in the head; piles of photographs, suitcases and shoes. Here, precisely, lies the film's power--it will not allow anyone to look away, to ignore, to forget...
...guys, I have something to get off of my chest...
...with a handgun that you can't do with a rifle? You can still hunt with a rifle, join a shooting club, stop a burglar, or even join a revolutionary militia. Perhaps you can't open a drawer and blow a hole in your spouse's chest in a wild fit of rage, but might regret having done that afterwards...
...defend him. Can the case against these powerful solons be won? And if so, will Andy be alive to savor the victory? Philadelphia's agony lies less in these questions than in Andy's drastic deterioration. Hanks so scrupulously, heroically mimes the wasting wrought by the disease, from chest lesions to a 30-lb. weight loss, that Jonathan Demme's film ultimately becomes a documentary on the ravages of AIDS -- and on the masochistic machismo of Method acting...
...often, when smart directors tackle a "controversial" issue like Vietnam or the Irish question or AIDS, they forget some of their art. Instead of building scenes deftly, allusively, they accumulate horrific detail to make sure you get the point. The films get longer, more ponderous; they sit on your chest until you finally surrender to their good intentions. In the process, they may become sentimental, cautionary fables of mistaken identity, compiling atrocities and piling them on photogenic victims. Suffering sanctifies Le Ly and Gerry's dad and Andy, makes them objects of veneration to the faithful; everyone wants to kiss...