Sophie’s Choice (1982): Facts, Stats, Curio Items (Behind the Scenes, Making of)
Literary Source:
Budget:
Casting
Styron wrote the novel with Ursula Andress in mind for the part of Sophie, and the Slovak actress Magdaléna Vášáryová was also considered.
However, Streep was very determined to get the role. After obtaining a bootlegged copy of the script, she went after Pakula, and threw herself on the ground, begging him to give her the part.
Pakula’s first choice was Liv Ullmann (best known for her work in Ingmar Bergman’s best films) for her ability to project the foreignness that would add to her appeal in the eyes of an impressionable, romantic Southerner.
Structure:
Take unfolds with a series of lengthy flashbacks, the last of which (the climax?) reveals Sophie’s dark secret and this the meaning if the title.
The insertion of the flashbacks is too conventional and predictable.
Last Shot:
Stingo walks on the Brooklyn Bridge on his way to his father’s farm to finish his first, persnal novel.
Location
The film was mostly shot in New York City, with Sophie’s flashback scenes shot afterwards in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Production for the film, at times, was more like a theatrical set than a film set. Pakula allowed the cast to rehearse for three weeks, and was open to improvisation from the actors, “spontaneous things”, according to Streep.
Critical Response
Box Office:
Intertextuality:
Sophie and Nathan die by suicide together by taking cyanide.
Stingo recites the poem “Ample Make This Bed” from a book by Emily Dickinson, the American poet Sophie was fond of reading, that she left on a table.
