SummarySophie (Streep) an Auschwitz survivor lives contently with Nathan (Kline). As Nathan becomes more unstable, she begins revealing her past to witer Stingo (MacNicol).
SummarySophie (Streep) an Auschwitz survivor lives contently with Nathan (Kline). As Nathan becomes more unstable, she begins revealing her past to witer Stingo (MacNicol).
Meryl Streep is flawless in this film which, in my opinion, is her best. The stories of her past, not only the camps but meeting Nathan, are told with heartbreaking truth and beauty. Kevin Kline is a wonderfully unlikable persona. The only flaw, to me, is Stingo. His vulnerability comes thru very well, but his character (or maybe his acting) just wasn't up to par with Streep and Kline. Sophie is one of the most memorable characters I've ever encountered in cinema.
Sophie's Choice by Alan Pakula is an excellent movie, propelled to greatness by a staggering performance by Meryl Streep. Although it's false to believe that Sophie's Choice is all Streep, she is without a doubt the most critical component, and her performance came in service of a powerful screenplay under the direction of an accomplished director. Without Streep, Sophie's Choice would have been a very good motion picture. With her, it attains greatness. By providing one of the all-time great female performances, Meryl Streep earned her Best Actress Oscar. Streep's portrayal - forceful, emotional, and utterly compelling – is among the best of a very prestigious career. There's no getting around the simple fact that Sophie's Choice is a downer, but so are many of the most powerful motion pictures. Perhaps that's because nothing tears at the soul as deeply as guilt, and few things are more devastating than guilt without the possibility of redemption or forgiveness.(Great film buoyed by a great performance).
The film is a respectable, claustrophobic and slick piece of work, and cinematographer Nestor Almendros' color strategies - Rembrandt-like light at night, lemony tones during the day, desaturated sepia at Auschwitz - are arty to a fault. [14 Dec 1982]
The overall result is a serious though harrowing journey into the dark corners of this century, marked by a compassionate approach and even a fillip of optimism at the end.
Alan Pakula's literal adaptation of William Styron's Sophie's Choice is an admirable, if reverential, movie that crams this triangle into a 2 1/2 -hour character study enriched by Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, and nearly destroyed by Peter MacNicol. [21 Jan 1983]
The picture is completely devoid of cinematic interest, adopting instead a tiresome theatrical aesthetic in which showy monologues are filmed in interminable, usually ill-chosen long takes.
An overwhelmingly powerful experience. Sophie's Choice is filled with perhaps one of the greatest performances of all-time from Meryl Streep. This one will hit you.
you mean, i have to choose?
Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice has a lot to offer; some good conversations, intense scenes, brilliant performance and a good old concept, but isn't enough for its runtime as it lacks gripping screenplay, vigorous tone and a thread to hold on for the audience. Meryl Streep is phenomenal in playing a part where the character is more human than ever i.e. a flawed character that isn't forcefully justified.
J'avais lu le bouquin il ya bien longtemps et il m'était resté sur l'estomac comme un gros truc dégueulasse qui avait l'air bon mais qu'on ne digère pas... mais c'était il y a longtemps, alors accordons-lui le bénéfice du doute.
En ce qui concerne le film, l'impression est d'emblée très mauvaise, comme les deux plombes et demi le confirment lentement, parmi lesquelles on aura du mal à dégager 40 à 45 mn regardables.
Malgré en effet tous les efforts de la torturée Meryl Streep et la bipolarité de l'agité Kevin Kline qui se retrouvent à leur grand dam davantage dans la caricature que dans la restitution de l'authentique émotion dramatique... Ils sont tous deux fort mal dirigés par un réalisateur obsédé par la guimauve à sensations, une guimauve qui sonne faux et vide de substance le choix terrifiant de Sophie, cette femme abîmée par la vie.
Notez que l'histoire en elle-même est une bonne base et en même temps un sujet extrêmement difficile à porter au cinéma. On lui préfèrera largement la 25ème heure (autre sujet incroyable mais avec Anthony Quinn), un film tellement plus vrai et tellement plus déchirant dans sa peinture du malheur que Le Choix de Sophie n'en apparaît que plus fadasse, pontifiant, sirupeux et interminable.