★ 7 / 10
Not long after the end of WWII, we
CinemaSerf
Not long after the end of WWII, we meet "Stingo" (Peter MacNicol) who isn't exactly impressed when he encounters his new upstairs neighbours. "Nathan" (Kevin…
Not long after the end of WWII, we meet "Stingo" (Peter MacNicol) who isn't exactly impressed when he encounters his new upstairs neighbours. "Nathan" (Kevin Kline) seems to be a bit of an noisy and brutish oaf towards his girlfriend "Sophie" (Meryl Streep). Luckily, next morning peace has broken out and they climb in his window to invite him on a seaside picnic. He's a budding writer, and what he clocks quite early is the volatility of "Nathan", a Jewish man who seems to have a great deal of emotional baggage. She, on the other hand, is much more considered and sedate - and that's the shield that he is determined to penetrate. Once he does and she begins to open up to him, we discover that she is an holocaust survivor and has had to make some horrendous decisions in her life just to stay alive. It's this latter, intimate and frightening, stage of the film that really showcases Streep's abilities to convey a palpable sense of fear. Sure, the accent isn't maybe the best but the scenes in the camp, the terrors and the anachronism of the commandant's relatively luxury home and happy family - where she ends up working in domestic service - being only yards from the scene of such brutality is also well, subtly, presented. Every now and again we come up for air - to their present day - to recalibrate the story and advance the more contemporaneous storyline before we dive deeper for some more of just what happened in Europe in the 1940s. It's another of those films where the victims of this villainy are the ones who want/need/have to forget whist others are fascinated by their experiences and want to know more. From that perspective, MacNicol plays his part - increasingly treading on the psychological eggshells - well, especially as the dynamic between them begins to shift. Kline doesn't disappoint, either. His annoyingly neurotic character isn't always the most likeable, but as a vital piece of this powerfully scripted jigsaw he adds a potent dimension to sentiments of guilt, grief, anger and regret that prevail as the story builds up an head of steam. It's a stylish, Gatsby-esque, looking production and brims with humanity, humility and some very dark humour on occasion, too. Not an easy watch, but stories like this never grow old.
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★ 8 / 10
Shattering, and still soaring
atlihafsteinsson
Sophie's Choice is one of those films I always meant to watch, and finally got the chance. It is best to go into it with as little idea as to what it's about…
Sophie's Choice is one of those films I always meant to watch, and finally got the chance. It is best to go into it with as little idea as to what it's about as possible, as it's a slow film with a lot of layers that get peeled off one by one. A young would-be-author from the South moves to Brooklyn and befriends his neighbors, the couple Nathan and Sophie. All three hit it off, but Nathan's bipolar tendencies do puncture their friendship at times. Sophie, however, is a calm soul as kind as she is tortured by her past in Auschwitz. As the author, Stingo, gets to know them better, he is also taken deeper and deeper into Sophie's past, where a hidden pain resides.
Sophie's Choice brilliantly captures two polar opposite worlds. The colourful and tranquil Brooklyn is contrasted strikingly by a late 1930s Poland occupied by Nazis, where the colour drains so much out of the film that any further and it would be black-and-white. The present in Brooklyn is a good haven to have and catch our breath between glimpses into Sophie's horrible past.
At the end of the day, in spite of the emotionally shattering story, Sophie's Choice is a story about hope and redemption. The performances certainly helped. Peter MacNicol and Kevin Kline are both wonderful as polar opposite personalities, united by a common love for literature.
But Meryl Streep is utterly mesmerizing as Sophie. It's not for no reason that this was one of those Oscar-nominated performances of hers that gave that extra edge and got her the statue. All of Sophie's mannerisms, her accent, her speaking German and Polish, her searching for words in English to express what she wants to say, her restrained kindness, her pain; none of it overdone. The director even trusted Streep enough to take long shots with her as she gets into deep characterization. This is quite simply one of the finest female performances in cinema.
I did fear, throughout the film, what exactly Sophie's choice was, and I was right, for it is a scene that crushes your heart. But the film comes together in the end and ends in an emotionally satisfying way in spite of everything. Steel yourself for an emotional journey and give Sophie's Choice a view, it's a film as uplifting as it is depressing, and unmissable for cinema buffs.
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TOMATOMETER
· 43 reviews
85%
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· 10K ratings
7.5/10
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Probably the best film that I'll never watch again. The ending, her story, just gut-wrenching