OTHER MOVIES OF THIS TYPE? THE BEST OF THEM ALL WAS.. - Longtime Companion (1990) Discussion

[–] artwk 16 years ago

I'm afraid I disagree with you about Philadelphia.
Far from being "dead inside", I am a man who is easily moved to tears, and Longtime Companion had me crying. Yet Philadelphia left me cold, mainly because the depiction of the two supposed lovers was so unconvincing. I wasn't expecting explicit sex scenes, but throughout the movie, Hanks and Banderas didn't demonstrate the slightest physical affection for each other. If your lover was afflicted with AIDS, wouldn't you at the very least give him a hug now and then?
The problem obviously wasn't with Banderas, who has played gay roles in Spanish movies ever since he was a teenager. In "The Law of Desire" he not only kisssed his screen lover, but took part in a fairly explicit bedroom scene. Apparently the writer and/or director of Philadelphia made sure that Hanks and Banderas didn't so much as lay a finger on each other. It was as if the message was, "This is only make-believe. Please don't think these actors are actually gay!"
Given some film-makers with the courage of their convictions, Philadelphia could have been a much better movie. For an example of an excellent movie about a gay man, convincing without being explicit, have a look at Apartment Zero.

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[–] skydvr38 16 years ago

I agree with artwk....the producers were daring and bold, but wanted to attract a large audience...one of those casulaties in that decision is to remove any physical intimacy...LTC and aprtment zero: no sex, nudoity, but loads of intimacy

much better films

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[–] sirk46 16 years ago

This was/is THE film about the start of AIDS. I am an AIDS counselor since before the disease had a name. So many friends have died.Tomorrow I'm helping a friend close out the apartment of a 'LTC'. Tony lived to die of a heart attack at age 70. Don't ever give up!!!!

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[–] puirt-a-beul 15 years ago

Good on you, sirk46. Such a tough job you've been doing. In my mind, you're one of the unsung heroes.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

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[–] mswoc 15 years ago

Philadelphia was a good flick, I just love the opening montage with Springsteen's theme song.

But the best of them all was An Early Frost, though not a big screen, extremely well done

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[–] mojo2004 15 years ago

I'll take this film and " And the Band Played On " over Philadelphia.

reach out and grab Life before Death grabs you!

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[–] hachmom-1 14 years ago

I like Philadelphia very much, but this film is better.....the most moving film i ever saw on the subject of the early days of the AIDS crisis is Common Threads:Stories from the Quilt which won an Oscar for best documentary so it should be fairly easy to track down...it makes a nice companion piece to Longtime Companion
It is not our abilities that make us who we are...it is our choices

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[–] AltaireIII 14 years ago

"Philadelphia, (1993) with Tom Hanks. Anyone exposed to this tragic story and Springsteen's eerie and melancholy ballads and not weeping is dead inside."

Philadelphia was made to appeal to straight people. It was a safe film for straight people. It works on that level. But, it fails everywhere else.

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[–] mojo2004 12 years ago

No matter how many times I watch this film the ending gets to me. All the guys coming over the bridge and you want so bad for it to be real in the real world.I mean that's what I always feel when they see their friends again.

I also get choked up at the end of 'And the Band Played On' when they transition into the clips of real people who have died from AIDS.

But 'Philadelphia' left me cold. I didn't even remember that Antonio Banderas
was it.

Just for the record, I'm not a Dude, I'm a Dudette!

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[–] grumpy_otter 14 years ago

I liked "It's my party." The cast was stellar, and Bruce Davison was in it also.

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[–] m_a_singer 13 years ago

Philadelphia was good for Hanks' performance, but it's a lesser film. Longtime Companion is a good film as well, but not more than that. I'd say the best films in a way are Parting Glances (very early, very early role for Steve Buscemi, and an interesting independent film from someone who himself died of AIDS) and, without a doubt, Angels in America, which is sheer poetic agitprop and one of the best-acted films I've ever seen.

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[–] blahblahblah91 12 years ago

And The Band Played On. Great movie!! I'm watching Longtime Companion now on Netflix, right before this I watched The Ryan White Story. Such a sad story :(

Americans are simple people, but piss us off and we'll nuke your city.

Robin Williams

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[–] rgcustomer 12 years ago

I think I agree with your comment most, so I'll put my two cents here.

I haven't seen Parting Glances in a while, but I remember it being a good one.

And The Band Played On is a really good look at the whole history of that era.
Zero Patience is a lot of fun, but maybe too much fun.
Philadelphia is what it is... the music is good, but the story feels forced.
Angels in America is a little better I think. Longer, anyway.
Rent (either the filmed musical, or the musical film) is fairly good.
It's My Party is pretty good.
In the Gloaming is also.

I can't say I've seen a drama film on the subject of 20th-century AIDS that is excellent. Either I've missed it, or it's still waiting to be filmed.

Longtime Companion left me cold. There's no time to really get an attachment to the characters, and yet at the same time you also don't feel that there's any sort of epidemic facing them, despite what they say. There's no sense of the world they live in. Most of the important events in the film (ranging from sex to death) take place off-screen, and have to be reported to us by other characters. It distances the viewer from the story.

The climactic scene at the end with the dead folk back to life doesn't even work, because if we WERE there at the day they found a cure for AIDS, the dead would still be dead. And other fatally drug-resistant STDs would still be out there. Such cures are for the young, those who will be around to benefit. A more moving scene would have involved gay teens.

I do find it remarkable that this 1989 film got made at all. It was not a good time to be gay in the USA, regardless of AIDS.

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