Sophie's Choice
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Movie Reviews of Sophie's Choice
Movie Review: great movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great movie and meryl streep is at her very bestMovie Review: Beautiful Film, but...
Summary: 4 Stars
I read Styron's novel, Sophie's Choice, when it first came out. I was mesmerized all the way through. I didn't go to see the movie in the theatre because, knowing the story, I didn't want to be depressed. A couple of years ago, I bought the movie, but it sat on the shelf for a long time, unwatched until last night when I viewed it with my family, none of whom had read the book.
My Polish husband left the room about half way through because he just couldn't stand to be reminded of things that were way too real for him. The rest of us continued to watch, hypnotized by the inexorable unfolding of the tragedy. After it was over, nobody spoke for a very long time. It's that kind of movie.
There is something about the movie, though, that disturbs me. You see, the book had a certain emphasis that was excluded from the movie version. In Styron's novel, he is explicit about the parallels between the Nazi/Jew atrocities and the terrible abuses of the American South against Black Americans. This was an important theme - the universality of suffering - that he then developed more fully by making Sophie, a NON-Jew, the center of the story. In the novel, the suffering of the Jews IS discussed, but it is made quite clear that Hitler's main target was the Slavs. He carefully makes his case that the Holocaust is NOT an exclusively Jewish experience or tragedy. The fact is, 6 million Polish citizens were killed by the Nazis, only half of which were Jews. The other three million victims were Polish Christians and Catholics. For the Nazis, the Poles were, in fact, the First Target: "All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all Poles." (Heinrich Himmler)
Hitler quickly took control of Poland by specifically targeting and eliminating the Polish Intelligentsia. During the next few years, millions of other Polish citizens were rounded up made slaves for German farmers and factories or taken to concentration camps where they were either starved and worked to death or used for scientific experiments.
The Jews in Poland were forced inside ghettos, but the non-Jews were made prisoners in the concentration camps very early, as well as inside their own country. No one was allowed out.
That's what Sophie's Choice was about, mainly: the suffering of the Poles, and Sophie exemplified this suffering. But this major theme has been completely lost in the movie version.
Nathan, the "spokesman for the Jews" in the story, is a paranoid schizophrenic which might be considered a subtle way to portray the "paranoid" nature of the Jewish claim for Holocaust exclusivity. Entwined with the major theme of the book is Nathan's inability to cope with the fact that Sophie, a Polish-Catholic, experienced horrifying sufferings that were claimed to be exclusively Jewish.
The monstrous decision that Sophie is forced to make (sometimes idiomatically used as way of describing a choice between two unbearable options, a "Sophie's Choice"), is not even fully portrayed in the film version. In the novel, Sophie describes the fussing and whining and crying of her daughter who was sick with an untreated ear infection prior to being forced to make the choice. It is suggested that her choice was partly influenced by her irritation at the child which makes it all the more monstrous.
Meryl Streep gives a fabulous performance as do Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol. All three are perfect for their roles. The movie is only slightly slow, but still manages to carry the viewer along. It could have been a better movie if the nuances of Sophie's choice as well as the primary themes of the book had been included. These elements would have made it stupendous instead of just excellent.
All through the book and movie, Sophie faces choices and in every instance, she chooses from a position of illusion of safety and fear, and it seems to be suggested that when she chooses, someone dies as a consequence of her choice.
For example, after her father and her husband have been taken by the Nazis (at that point, you would think that Sophie would have realized that there was no rationality to Nazism since her father and husband were supporters of the Nazis and died anyway), she has a lover, Józef, who, with his half-sister, Wanda, is a member of the Polish Resistance. They ask Sophie to translate some stolen Gestapo documents, but fearing she might get into trouble, she refuses. Two weeks later, Józef is murdered by the Gestapo. One gets the impression that if Sophie had helped, this might not have happened, but that is uncertain. It is only a short time later that Sophie is arrested and sent to Auschwitz with her children. So, again, holding back, acting out of fear for the self, trying to protect the self, is not seen to be a good choice.
When Sophie is in line at Auschwitz, she again tries to save herself and her children by telling a doctor that she is a good catholic, a supporter of the Reich, etc. Even though she is pretending to support the Nazis out of fear for herself and her children, and trying to save them, it is this act that precipitates the terrible choice. There is clearly no humanity in the Nazi mentality and that is something that Sophie never seems to grasp. She continues to think that they are normal humans, that they can be reasoned with, their consciences appealed to, when it is clear they are psychopaths and have no consciences at all. This occurs again in her interactions with camp commandant Hess. She refuses to help others by stealing a radio, and caves in to her fears again and pretends to be a Nazi supporter to try to save herself and her son.
Again and again Sophie makes the wrong choices. Finally, Sophie seems to understand that saving herself isn't worth what she has paid with the coin of her soul. She returns to the deadly embrace of her Jewish lover who, in his paranoid schizophrenia, takes both their lives.
Perhaps a prophetic lesson for our own times. It's a beautiful film, but it could have been better with very little effort.
Movie Review: Agonizing - in more ways than one
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is simply agonizing in more ways than one. First, the bad. This movie is very lengthy - 2 hours and 30 minutes, and let me tell you, I could feel each and every minute sloooowly tick by. The story moves slowly as well, and it's hard to tell - what is real? What is false? Even when Sophie's "choice" is revealed at the end, are we, the audience, sure this is real or just a fabrication? As Sophie says somewhere in the movie, she has told so many lies it is hard to sort the truth from the falsehoods.The movie paints a portait of Stingo (Peter MacNicol, lately of Ally McBeal), a Southern writer who makes the acquaintance of Sophie and Nathan, his upstairs neighbors, and then can't get rid of them. Sophie's a Polish immigrant who has spent time in the concentration camps during WWII, while Nathan is a medical researcher obsessed with the evils of the Holocaust. Why did Sophie survive while so many others died? This is the question that haunts Nathan, and haunts Sophie, whose entire family was murdered in the concentration camps.
Eventually, slowly, the story of Sophie emerges to Stingo, as we get some dramatic close-ups of Sophie telling us the story, making it feel more like a play than a movie. We flashback to life in the concentration camps, which has been prepared for us by the sadness which permeated the first half. Truths also begin to emerge about Nathan - and the tragic lives of Sophie and Nathan wind closer towards their end.
Meryl Streep? Is just amazing. This is an awe-inspiring piece of work for Streep. She masters different dialects and speaks different languages for much of the film. Her Sophie is simply a haunting image that will stay with you long after the end credits finish. Kevin Kline as Nathan is perfect as well. Peter MacNicol? Well, I can take him or leave him.
When the movie ends, you may have to wipe yourself off from the floor - not only from the tragic sadness and despair of the film, but from the mind-numbing length. This movie paints pictures of so much evil and grief it's hard to get over.
Movie Review: DVD is better than I expected based on...
Summary: 4 Stars
Meryl Streep truly deserved the recognition for her performance as a survivor of the Holocaust. The film of course is much more than this, but is essentially the foundation. Kevin Kline plays her lover, and his role is also interesting as the schizophrenic. It's hard to believe the film is over 20 years old. Many have argued that the film is slow paced, and that it takes awhile for the flashbacks. I think this is important though for character development. Sophie's Choice is a tragic overwhelming story that deserves a place in your film collection.DVD SUMMARY: If you read the "Widescreen Review" report, you would probably want to steer cleer of this DVD - because they've given the film transfer a less than impressive rating. Apparently this DVD is not 16:9 enhanced (AKA anamorphic).
Well, I obviously can't tell the difference between a film that is 16:9 enhanced and one that isn't, because Sophie's Choice is a better transfer than I expected. In fact, it's just as clear as DVD's that I own that apparently are 16:9 enhanced. In a nutshell, I was pleasantly surprised with the transfer of "Sophie's Choice" in light of "Widescreen Review's" analysis.
The audio is disappointing, so I agree with them on that. However, if you have a 5.1 amplifier, you can utilise all the speakers in a pretend type surround, and this helps to a great degree. It beats listening to it just on the front speakers. The extras are great. There is a documentary, but not in the true
sense because it is more based on the the film, although it does, at times, speak with Holocaust survivors. This doco is about 1 hour in length, and is a true bonus. Production notes, actor's notes, and a trailer complete the package.
Regardless of what "Widescreen Review" report, this DVD is still worth buying. Trust me, the picture quality is great. And more importantly, the story is a must see.
Movie Review: Mixed results, but well worth the ride
Summary: 4 Stars
There is so much that is right about this film that it seems a shame to point out its flaws, but.... What's right is Meryl Streep. Besides the stunning technical achievements: mastering 2 foreign languages and accents, and a look that ranges from bountiful and beautiful to emaciated and ravaged; Streep creates a multi-dimentional character whom you believe and care about, yet whose mystery makes you need to watch, probe, speculate and question. It's an achievement up there with DeNiro's performance in "Raging Bull" where the actor fully becomes someone else. (I'm always surprised by those who find Streep mannered and unconvincing.) The other thing that's right about the film is the music and cinematography, capturing both a romantic nostalgia for post-war Brooklyn and the dimmed-color, horrific memory of Auschwitz. Much of what I find wrong with the film is also wrong with the book. Nathan turning out to be a druggie nut-case seems contrived--especially in how it is snidely revealed by his brother in the movie. When Stingo is inducted into the "pantheon of great writers" at the Brooklyn Bridge, I couldn't separate the scene from my knowledge that Styron is writing this about HIMSELF! And, when Sophie's memory takes us back to Auschwitz to finally reveal her "choice," it's real hard not to have a "no, not there again" reaction--however much the movie has carried you along. Despite what another has posted here, I find the conclusion right and unavoidable--not tacked on at all. It's a hard movie to watch, with some unfortunate choices made by the author and repeated by the director, but it's ultimately well worth the ride. It's one of those experiences that continues to haunt you, yet--for me--has made me watch the movie several more times over the years.