AFI Film #91: Sophie's Choice

"I need you like a case of Anthrax." And thus we are introduced to our title character played by Meryl Streep. Of course, the line is uttered by her lover, played by Kevin Kline. Peter MacNicol plays the couple's neighbor who is newly arrived to New York and observes their relationship with a wary eye.

I must admit to finding the librarian's behavior in that particular scene absolutely disgraceful... and stereoptypical. At any rate, the core of the film is built around Sophie's story. We get an eye-ful of her past as well as her present, choices she has to make, of course, otherwise, why the title? Neryl Streep does a fantastic job in this as do MacNicol and Kline but, and you knew that was coming, I just had all kind of problems engaging with the film.

It's a wonderful exhibit of acting and a rich, intense story but it just wasn't something I was really able to immerse myself in for whatever reason. That said, the slow build towards the climax of the film is actually quite worth the pay-off. So, while I was unable to really sink into the film, I can admit to its merits for inclusion on the list and admire the work done throughout.

One point that I found to be quite interesting is that the least complex character in the entire film is that of MacNicol. We are severely limited in what we find out about the Southern interloper in Sophie's world while we are exposed to the extensive history of she and her lover. We learn a lot about his character, don't mistake that, but nowhere near the level of the traumatic dilemmas faced by Sophie and Nathan. I found it interesting to be able to clearly notice and distinguish this mechanism at work in the film.

There is a certain subtlety and depth to this film that is often hard to enjoy or perceive in more recent movies and, arguably, in most. This is something that once could watch several times and gain some new insight from every time. My lack of enjoyment of it comes more from disengaging from the story whereas I found myself more inclined towards examining the methods themselves.

In the end, I give it 4 polska kielbasas out of 5.