Why was it called Philadelphia?

Never underestimate the power of Bruce Springsteen.

[deleted]

The original title was ‘People Like Us’ which was dreadful and preachy. ‘Philadelphia’ has connotations of ‘city of brotherly love’ and was where the American Constitutional Convention took place, where the notion of ‘all men are created equal’ was enshrined, so Philadelphia is a place historically infused with the ideas that the film advocates.

I think it’s a much better title - subtle, classy, and puts the location and its historical significance front and centre. The opening credits is obviously showing the diversity of the city and the ‘brotherly love’ that binds them, and the hand-held camera with real people occasionally waving echoes the camcorder footage that closes the film.

Demme’s technique of often having actors look into the lens is his signature style and very skilfully takes the audience right into the character’s mind and soul, I don’t know why more directors don’t do it.

Finally, the opera scene is possibly the most famous in the film, and Demme (and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto) screened it at a Q&A event I attended, where filmmakers were keen to understand how they filmed it.

your opinion sucks