Sophie's Choice

• Out of Africa
• The French Lieutenant's Woman
• Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition)
• Falling in Love
• The Bridges of Madison County (Full Screen Edition)
• Postcards from the Edge
• Kramer vs. Kramer
• Plenty
• Silkwood
• Ordinary People

If you are a student of film, you must see this. Another good film: Postcards from the Edge add it to your cart with Sophie's Choice. If you are a fan of film, you must see this. If you are neither, you still must see this. Every performance I see is compared to Streep's performance in this film, leaving me walking away from the theatre saying "well, it was good, but it was no Sophie's Choice." See this film. Meryl Streep delivers one of, if not her best performances in any film I have seen her in. The story is not for the faint of heart, it's a very intense subject matter that will have your mind doing cartwheels.

how does she do it, very very believable. Amazing, brilliant, powerful the whole movie leads to the climax which is not what you expect. Meryl Streep is again incredible.

However, I found the role of the writer/narrator to be extraneous and annoying. Kevin Kline was alright and I came to understand that his role was fairly essential to give us the overview of a woman defeated years before by a macabre experience.

If the book is like the movie (and I suspect it is) I won't bother with it. Give me a break.

It has a number of haunting scenes and the preformance of Meryl Streep was certainly deserving of an Oscar. Sorry about that but this was a 2 hour movies that was expanded unnecessarily.

Stingo. There was too much to be shared to have to include him.

I won't belabor too much on "Sophie's Choice". I would have assumed that the script writer and the director (if not one and the same) would have filtered out the writer's egotistical efforts to make himself the story.

Many have lauded this as her finest performance (Premiere Magazine has this listed as the #3 greatest performance of all time) and even if I slightly prefer her `A Cry in the Dark' performance I cannot deny that this is truly outstanding in every sense of the word. Streep has always been and will always be one of my favorite actresses of all time, and years, decades, centuries from now she will be remembered along with the greats like Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn and (cross your fingers) Kate Winslet (LOVE) as one of the greatest actresses to ever grace the big screen and invade our hearts. It may not seem like it at first, but that's only because the film deceives you into thinking it's something that it's not. The second time around you are able to appreciate so much more because you know exactly what kind of film you're watching. Believe me, once the weight and or gravity of the film hits you it will change everything and you will see the film in its entirety in a whole new light.

Kevin Kline, who made his big screen debut with this film, does a good job with depicting his characters emotional state. He allows her to bloom but never fades away from view, keeping his viewpoint foremost in our minds. The film follows a young aspiring writer nicknamed Stingo who moves into a boarding house in Brooklyn where he shares occupancy with a young and beautiful Polish immigrant named Sophie. This is Sophie's story told through his eyes, and we never forget that. The acting in this film has been lauded, especially with regards to Meryl Streep, and that Oscar was more than earned (she donned a perfect Polish accent and learned to speak German for the role) but Meryl was not the only one pulling her weight. The reason for this is that you aren't really sure what all the fuss is about until the final moments of the film. So, in closing I must say that `Sophie's Choice' lives up to the hype.

The film feels as though it is nothing more than a film of friendship and restrained affection (especially between Stingo and Sophie) and moves along as if the film is more concerned with Nathan and his effect of those around him than anything else; but as the film progresses towards the halfway mark the focus shifts and we realize that Sophie has a past so dark and horrible one can't help but be engrossed in it. He comes off a little over-the-top and obnoxious until his character is fully explained, and then everything starts to fall into place. In fact, the best scenes of the film appear in gritty black and white and are spoken in German as Sophie recounts her life before Brooklyn.

Sophie herself is nice enough, but her boyfriend Nathan is another story, one moment kind and affectionate and the next moment thrown into a jealous and unjustified rage. No, I think it takes at least two viewings before you can behold all that the film really represents. Both films seem like average movie going experiences until the emotionally crippling finales that open your eyes to a whole new way of viewing the film.

And then there is Meryl, and what a revelation she is here. I was utterly absorbed in her from the get go, and her final scene, that final revelation when you realize what choice Sophie had to make (it is now what you expect) she breaks your heart into a million pieces. It's kind of like `Million Dollar Baby', another film that doesn't really make an impression until the second viewing.

I think that `Sophie's Choice' is not a film you can enjoy the first go around. Peter MacNicol was unjustly snubbed of an Oscar nomination, for his portrayal of Stingo is brilliantly controlled, matching Streep step for step but never overshadowing her.

(It's not like movie goers keep secrets) and I have to say this is an excellent character study film. A definite classic. Meryl Streep definitely earned her Oscar with this one. Amazing she could sound native on just a three month emerge study. An A+++ script, wonderful direction. This was my first time viewing the film-even though I knew going in what Sophie's choice was. Sophie's story is heart breaking.