- 1 Oscar Win - Best Actress (Meryl Streep)
- 4 Additional Oscar Nominations - Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Music (Original Score), Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
- # 91 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (2007)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Format: DVD (not yet available on Blu-ray)
Odyssey Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (John - 4 Stars, Beth - 3 Stars)
John's Take
I find that Sophie’s Choice is a difficult movie to write about because it falls into a category that I like to call “twist-movies”. Twist-movies are those films where the whole story of the film centers around one vital piece of information that the viewer doesn’t know about at the start of the movie, but get reveled for dramatic effect usually near the end of the movie. M. Night Shyamalan is the current king of such movies, but there are a wide variety of movies that fall into this category. M. Night’s The Sixth Sense for instance, Citizen Kane, The Usual Suspects, and The Shawshank Redemption, which uses the axiom of “Chekhov's gun” for a nice little surprise ending, are just a few examples of twist-movies. Being a twist-movie isn’t a bad thing especially when the “twist” is pulled off well, as it is in Sophie’s Choice.
The weakness, if you want to call it that, of twist-movies is that such a large amount of the oomph – impact, charm, whatever term that is best applied to a particular genre – is invested in the twist, that the reveal of said twist is usually is the single most important aspect of the film. If the viewer already knows what the twist is, well, that takes some of the fun out of the movie doesn’t it? Thus, how does one go about writing or discussing a twist-film without touching on the single most important thing about that film?
Now, it isn’t like Beth or I have been particularly concerned with such things as “spoiler alerts” in this blog, mainly because I think it is a little silly when you are talking about movies that have been around for decades. The oldest movie on our list is nearly a hundred years old; Sophie’s Choice itself is nearly 30 years old and the subject of any number of books, interviews, websites, blogs, etc, so I think it is safe to say the movie has already been “spoiled”. That being said, I don’t feel the need to give the twist away needlessly. I hadn’t seen Sophie’s Choice before the start of the Odyssey, but I was very familiar with the story, and thus knew the twist ahead of time. While that certainly didn’t ruin the movie for me, I am sure I would have been a bit more moved if I didn’t know what was going to happen. So, for the sake of those few of you who don’t know what the twist is, we will instead focus on another question that certainly applies to this movie.
What does it feel like to create, do, perform, or otherwise be part of something that is so widely regarded as excellent, that everything else that one will ever do will always be compared to that piece of work?
Imagine that you are Meryl Streep. You had already done award-worthy work on films before this one (The Deer Hunter, Manhattan, and Kramer vs. Kramer). You will go on to do award-worthy work for the next 30 years. However, every time some hack writer like me comes along that wants to talk about you, they keep coming back to this film because it is “perhaps your finest performance”. Does that start to get on your nerves? I mean, sure it is a great performance and your Polish accent is spot on, but do you ever get tired of having this one role held up as the sum of your entire career? I might. Then again, I might just be happy that I have millions of dollars, the adoration of the public and the ability to do whatever I feel like doing. I suspect my answer would depend on how fussy I was feeling at the moment.
What if you were Kevin Kline? You have just finished working on your very first major motion picture – and everyone is telling you that you hit it out of the park. You receive some well-earned “new comer” buzz in terms of Golden Globe and BAFTA award nominations. Your future is looking great, and while your career is ultimately very successful (The Big Chill, Silverado) and occasionally recognized as award-worthy (A Fish Called Wanda, Soapdish, Dave), nothing you do ever seems to quite reach the same critical heights as your very first staring role in your very first major film. Does this bother you at all? Is there a sports-world equivalent to a career like this? Isn’t it as if a rookie had gotten to play a vital role in a championship game, went on to have a long and productive career – even occasionally making the play-offs a few times – but they never managed to get back to the “Big Game”? If there is an actual athletic equivalent to Kevin Kline I would like to hear it. Ultimately, however, I think if I were Kevin Kline I wouldn’t have a problem with the Sophie’s Choice Legacy. I am famous, I am rich, and I get invited to the Oscars – nothing to complain about really.
Now, how about if you are Peter MacNicol? You have one staring role under your belt (the mediocre Dragonslayer) and now you have gotten tapped to star in a historic drama along side Meryl Streep that was written and directed by the man the helmed Klute and All the President’s Men. Don’t you think you have stumbled on your “big break?
Even once the movie comes out, and despite the fact that people aren’t exactly heaping praise on you like they are Streep and Kline, the movie is still a critical and commercial hit that you played a major part in. Don’t you still feel like the sky’s the limit for your career at this point? I certainly would. Now, are you still feeling that way seven years later when you are portraying Janosz, the guy with the funky accent, in Ghostbusters II? Maybe not so much. I mean sure, he has managed to stay employed over the years, something that thousands of actors dream of, but I think if I were him I would have a hard time dealing with the fact that I starred in a critically acclaimed three-man show yet I am the only one of the three that no one remembers. Call me petty, but that would just eat me up inside. Does Streep or Kline even return his phone calls? I bet they don’t.
I feel bad for Peter. I think we all should. Perhaps, the lack of appreciation he gets may in fact be the cruelest twist of the film. And I think I give Sophie’s Choice – 4 Stars.
John
The weakness, if you want to call it that, of twist-movies is that such a large amount of the oomph – impact, charm, whatever term that is best applied to a particular genre – is invested in the twist, that the reveal of said twist is usually is the single most important aspect of the film. If the viewer already knows what the twist is, well, that takes some of the fun out of the movie doesn’t it? Thus, how does one go about writing or discussing a twist-film without touching on the single most important thing about that film?
Now, it isn’t like Beth or I have been particularly concerned with such things as “spoiler alerts” in this blog, mainly because I think it is a little silly when you are talking about movies that have been around for decades. The oldest movie on our list is nearly a hundred years old; Sophie’s Choice itself is nearly 30 years old and the subject of any number of books, interviews, websites, blogs, etc, so I think it is safe to say the movie has already been “spoiled”. That being said, I don’t feel the need to give the twist away needlessly. I hadn’t seen Sophie’s Choice before the start of the Odyssey, but I was very familiar with the story, and thus knew the twist ahead of time. While that certainly didn’t ruin the movie for me, I am sure I would have been a bit more moved if I didn’t know what was going to happen. So, for the sake of those few of you who don’t know what the twist is, we will instead focus on another question that certainly applies to this movie.
What does it feel like to create, do, perform, or otherwise be part of something that is so widely regarded as excellent, that everything else that one will ever do will always be compared to that piece of work?
Imagine that you are Meryl Streep. You had already done award-worthy work on films before this one (The Deer Hunter, Manhattan, and Kramer vs. Kramer). You will go on to do award-worthy work for the next 30 years. However, every time some hack writer like me comes along that wants to talk about you, they keep coming back to this film because it is “perhaps your finest performance”. Does that start to get on your nerves? I mean, sure it is a great performance and your Polish accent is spot on, but do you ever get tired of having this one role held up as the sum of your entire career? I might. Then again, I might just be happy that I have millions of dollars, the adoration of the public and the ability to do whatever I feel like doing. I suspect my answer would depend on how fussy I was feeling at the moment.
What if you were Kevin Kline? You have just finished working on your very first major motion picture – and everyone is telling you that you hit it out of the park. You receive some well-earned “new comer” buzz in terms of Golden Globe and BAFTA award nominations. Your future is looking great, and while your career is ultimately very successful (The Big Chill, Silverado) and occasionally recognized as award-worthy (A Fish Called Wanda, Soapdish, Dave), nothing you do ever seems to quite reach the same critical heights as your very first staring role in your very first major film. Does this bother you at all? Is there a sports-world equivalent to a career like this? Isn’t it as if a rookie had gotten to play a vital role in a championship game, went on to have a long and productive career – even occasionally making the play-offs a few times – but they never managed to get back to the “Big Game”? If there is an actual athletic equivalent to Kevin Kline I would like to hear it. Ultimately, however, I think if I were Kevin Kline I wouldn’t have a problem with the Sophie’s Choice Legacy. I am famous, I am rich, and I get invited to the Oscars – nothing to complain about really.
Now, how about if you are Peter MacNicol? You have one staring role under your belt (the mediocre Dragonslayer) and now you have gotten tapped to star in a historic drama along side Meryl Streep that was written and directed by the man the helmed Klute and All the President’s Men. Don’t you think you have stumbled on your “big break?
Even once the movie comes out, and despite the fact that people aren’t exactly heaping praise on you like they are Streep and Kline, the movie is still a critical and commercial hit that you played a major part in. Don’t you still feel like the sky’s the limit for your career at this point? I certainly would. Now, are you still feeling that way seven years later when you are portraying Janosz, the guy with the funky accent, in Ghostbusters II? Maybe not so much. I mean sure, he has managed to stay employed over the years, something that thousands of actors dream of, but I think if I were him I would have a hard time dealing with the fact that I starred in a critically acclaimed three-man show yet I am the only one of the three that no one remembers. Call me petty, but that would just eat me up inside. Does Streep or Kline even return his phone calls? I bet they don’t.
I feel bad for Peter. I think we all should. Perhaps, the lack of appreciation he gets may in fact be the cruelest twist of the film. And I think I give Sophie’s Choice – 4 Stars.
John
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