Rodrigo_Amaro Review of Bruce Springsteen: Streets of Philadelphia

Bruce Springsteen: Streets of Philadelphia (1994 Music Video)

Important by itself alone but also made the movie what it is

[10/10 · 29 March 2018]

We all know that Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" was the project that brought the AIDS theme to everyone's table for a mainstream audience and this time, no one could avoid anymore in adressing the issue. To Hollywood, it was time - despite several minor, independent films already existing way back during the crisis. But there's two huge factors that turned the film into something you couldn't miss: Tom Hanks powerhouse performance and transformation from comedian to a more seriouis actor and Springsteen's main theme for the movie - no wonder they're the ones who got all the accolades possible during awards season. It's hard to describe why a film like that needed something like that but it's a catalyst that you cannot disassociate with the film, it's message of losing yourself, not recognising yourself or who you are because a devastating disease got into you. Lyrics truly make us feel for Andrew Beckett and his ordeals while living his possible final moments. In short, the song fits the movie like the most perfect glove ever designed. Springsteen's geniality in music and lyrics is allied with Jonathan and Ted Demme's direction that made a quite unusual clip where the Boss lip-synch the song with a hidden microphone and that's why it sounds different than the version played on the radio and the film; it feels natural, real while he walks down through miserable and downtrodden places in Philadelphia, mixed with some images from the film's opening. It's a haunting song, quite sad video but never fails to achieve its goal: to present a different reality, a broken man trying to make his way and survive the best way he can. It's almost as if Bruce was Beckett, living in oblivion but still walking on and striving for something better, something good despite being ignored by his peers or its surroundings. He walks alone. Music and lyrics are some of the best he ever had, great performance, a melancholic sound with a nice beat that stays with you for a long time. I don't imagine another concept for a soundtrack clip like this one, I think the Demmes did a fine job and created one of the finest moments of all music video ever made. 10/10