Director Alan J. Pakula adapted to the screen William Styron’s powerful, acclaimed novel about a Polish immigrant, Sophie Zawistowska (Meryl Streep), living in Brooklyn after WWII.
Grade: B+ (***1/2 out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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She befriends a Southern writer, Stingo (Peter MacNicol), who lives in her building, who becomes intrigue with her and her lover Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline).
The trio, consisting of a Catholic Sophie, Jewish Nathan, and Protestant Sting, form a bizarre but intimate friendship. Gradually, Stingo (who Streep initially calls Stinko) learns the horrific story of Sophie as a concentration camp survivor, who was forced to make the most horrible “choice” a parent can make in order to survive the ordeal. The revelation leads to a disastrous ending for the central couple.
As writer and helmer, Pakula treats the story with respect and faithfulness, and though he manages to avoid sentimentality, two crucial elements are missing to make the film truly great: Authenticity (it looks and feels too much like a Hollywood movie) and emotional impact.
The flashback structure and narration (by Josef Sommer as the adult Stingo) may be too conventional for such a powerful story, which is overlong (157 minutes), too episodic, and occasionally plodding in pace.
At the time, some critics complain that film was too garish in its visuals and not illuminating enough in terms of characterization and ideas.
The strategy of Pakula here, unlike that taken in Klute, is too mainstream for the source material. That 1971 film was also a character study of a strong and powerful femme, played by Jane Fonda in a deservedly Oscar winning performance.
And it did not help that the script condensed the rich novel by omitting major characters and events, which turned the take into an essentially three-character psychological melodrama.
There was also some resentment that Sophie’s Choice was positioned by the studio as a must-see event film, released in time for Oscar considerations.
Acting-wise, the film is uneven: MacNicol may be too young and immature as a partner for Streep (he feels more like her brother), whereas Kline is unrestrained by his director, leading to some big and wild hysterical scenes.
Competently produced, the film benefits from a vigorous cinematography by ace Cuban-born Nestor Almendros.
The movie was greeted with mixed to favorable reviews, which helped the otherwise disturbing film succeed at the box office.
Despite the film’s flaws, and the mixed reviews, Streep received unanimously rave reviews, which cemented her status as the most accomplished actress of her (and any) generation.
The image of the sickly and saintly Sophie, all pale and white (like wearing a mask) as she recollects the ordeal in flashbacks, lingers in memory.
End Note:
The weaknesses of Sophie’s Choice became more apparent on my second viewing of the film. Structurally, the tale is divided into four parts, with the first, in which the three characters are introduced being the best, and the last, in which Sophie reveals her secret (choice) the weakest.
Even so, the film is emotionally engaging if not totally absorbing, and as such deserved to be seen, not least for adding anther panel the the literature and films about the Holocaust.
Oscar Nominations: 5
Actress: Meryl Streep
Screenplay (Adapted): Alan J. Pakula
Cinematography: Nestor Almendros
Original Score: Marvin Hamlisch
Costume Design: Albert Wolsky
Oscar Awards: 1
Actress
Oscar Context:
In 1982, the winners of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar were Costa-Gavras and Donald Stewart for “Missing,” and John Williams nabbed the Scoring Oscar for Spielberg’s “E.T.”
“Gandhi,” which swept most of the Oscars in 1982, including Best Picture, also won the Cinematography Oscar for Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, and the Costume Oscar for John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya.
Cast
Meryl Streep as Zofia “Sophie” Zawistowska
Kevin Kline as Nathan Landau
Peter MacNicol as Stingo
Greta Turken as Leslie Lapidus
Rita Karin as Yetta Zimmerman
Stephen D. Newman as Larry Landau
Josh Mostel as Morris Fink
Marcell Rosenblatt as Astrid Weinstein
Moishe Rosenfeld as Moishe Rosenblum
Robin Bartlett as Lillian Grossman
Eugene Lipinski as Polish professor
John Rothman as Librarian
Neddim Prohic as Józef
Katharina Thalbach as Wanda
Jennifer Lawn as Eva Zawistowska
Adrian Kalitka as Jan Zawistowski
Joseph Leon as Dr. Blackstock
David Wohl as English teacher
Nina Polan as Woman in English Class
Vida Jerman as female SS guard
Josef Sommer as the Narrator (Stingo as an adult)
Karlheinz Hackl as SS doctor
Günther Maria Halmer [de] as Rudolf Höss
Credits:
Universal (ITS Entertainment Presentation of a Pakula-Barish production)
Directed by Alan J. Pakula
Screenplay by Alan J. Pakula, based on “Sophie’s Choice,” 1999 novel by William Styron
Produced by Alan J. Pakula, Keith Barish, William C. Gerrity, Martin Starger
Cinematography Nestor Almendros
Edited by Evan A. Lottman
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Production companies: ITC Entertainment, Keith Barish Productions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates: Dec 8, 1982 (premiere), Dec 10, 1982 (US)
Running time: 151 minutes
Budget: $9 million
Box office: $30 million
