Six Degrees of Separation

"For Paul, every person is a new door to a new world."

1993 1h 52m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🍅

88%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 384🍅88%Rotten Tomatoes●72Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 24,036

MysteryDramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The story of a young, gay, black, con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.

“For Paul, every person is a new door to a new world.”

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Cast

Stockard Channing
Ouisa
Will Smith
Paul
Donald Sutherland
Flan
Ian McKellen
Geoffrey
Mary Beth Hurt
Kitty
Bruce Davison
Larkin
Richard Masur
Dr. Fine
Anthony Michael Hall
Trent

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Fred Schepisi
Writers: John Guare
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 42% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Fred Schepisi, shot by Ian Baker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Stockard Channing and Will Smith and Donald Sutherland carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "For Paul, every person is a new door to a new world.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0108149 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Fred Schepisi directs. Ian Baker behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith scores. Peter Honess cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 42% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
233 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Fred Schepisi, shot by Ian Baker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Stockard Channing and Will Smith and Donald Sutherland carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "For Paul, every person is a new door to a new world.".
8IMDB entry: tt0108149 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ian Baker
Original score: Jerry Goldsmith
Editing: Peter Honess
Production design: Patrizia von Brandenstein
Costume design: Judianna Makovsky
Makeup / hair: Naomi Donne
Sound: Peter Fenton
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $6,284,090
Return: 42% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 72/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 24,036 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 6 nominations total

Also by

Fred Schepisi

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2022-12-25
★ 4/10
A play, transported to the cinema, continues to be a play, even if it is an intelligent and well-made play. Based on a theatrical play, this film makes an interesting mix between comedy and sharp and blunt social criticism by allowing a very rich couple from New York to be very easily deceived by a tramp who, using the right knowledge, manages to enter and sleep at their house. Despite not being perfect, and being a reasonably still film, dependent on dialogues that never seem to end, the film works quite well if we are open to giving it the opportunity it asks of us. It is not, however, an easy film: the reliance on dialogues, and the intelligent, almost intellectual, way in which they are conceived, will scare away audiences who are not so willing to tolerate it. For the most part, the film feels a lot like a play or something you'd see in the theater, and that can get a little tiresome. Will Smith is the great actor who dominates the film, with a superb performance. It was a film that helped a lot in his artistic career, and that opened the doors for him to better and more recognized works. However, it is still one of the actor's best films so far. We cannot, however, ignore the inspired and successful performance of Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing, in the role of the two millionaire art dealers that Smith so easily deceives. In a more discreet position, Sir Ian McKellen is positively supportive of the main cast. Technically, it's a film that doesn't seem to have been very expensive to make, as almost half of the action takes place inside the rich people's apartment, and that all the action seems to have been limited to a relatively small geography. There are no visual or special effects that stand out, the sound has minimal intervention, and the soundtrack consists of songs that we know relatively well and that are cleverly used. The cinematography is basically 90's standard, which makes this film a bit of a dated piece.

Production companies