Sophie's Choice

Rating:
Summary: Audio commentary impossible to hear
Review: It is virtually impossible to hear the audio commentary, a special feature of the DVD version of "Sophie's Choice." The regular movie soundtrack has not been turned down, and Alan J. Pakula seems to be whispering as he speaks directly into the movie soundtrack. He simply cannot be heard. So be warned.

Rating:
Summary: DVD is better than I expected based on...
Review: Meryl Streep truly deserved the recognition for her performance as a survivor of the Holocaust. The film of course is much more than this, but is essentially the foundation. Kevin Kline plays her lover, and his role is also interesting as the schizophrenic. It's hard to believe the film is over 20 years old. Many have argued that the film is slow paced, and that it takes awhile for the flashbacks. I think this is important though for character development. Sophie's Choice is a tragic overwhelming story that deserves a place in your film collection.
DVD SUMMARY: If you read the "Widescreen Review" report, you would probably want to steer cleer of this DVD - because they've given the film transfer a less than impressive rating. Apparently this DVD is not 16:9 enhanced (AKA anamorphic).
Well, I obviously can't tell the difference between a film that is 16:9 enhanced and one that isn't, because Sophie's Choice is a better transfer than I expected. In fact, it's just as clear as DVD's that I own that apparently are 16:9 enhanced. In a nutshell, I was pleasantly surprised with the transfer of "Sophie's Choice" in light of "Widescreen Review's" analysis.
The audio is disappointing, so I agree with them on that. However, if you have a 5.1 amplifier, you can utilise all the speakers in a pretend type surround, and this helps to a great degree. It beats listening to it just on the front speakers. The extras are great. There is a documentary, but not in the true
sense because it is more based on the the film, although it does, at times, speak with Holocaust survivors. This doco is about 1 hour in length, and is a true bonus. Production notes, actor's notes, and a trailer complete the package.
Regardless of what "Widescreen Review" report, this DVD is still worth buying. Trust me, the picture quality is great. And more importantly, the story is a must see.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: Meryl Streep's devastating performance captivated me from the first time I saw this film. I never really appreciated her before, but have been an avid fan ever since. Kevin Kline is also brilliant and charismatic as Nathan was portrayed in Styron's work. Peter McNicol captures Stingo in all his vulnerable and kind naivite. There is so much atmosphere throughout the film which covers every emotion possible. I felt so much warmth watching the friendship of the three characters unfold, chuckled over Stingo's disastrous attempts at romance with Leslie Lupidous, and then became completely engrossed in the unfolding mystery of Sophie's past. The final revelation of what the 'Choice' is left me numb with horror. But it also opened my eyes to the Holocaust as I'd never before seen it. I found this film more powerful overall than "Schindler's List", and believe it brings the suffering of those who survived the concentration camps to a new level of understanding. An important and tragic work of art.

Rating:
Summary: Meryl Streep is simply exceptional
Review: Probably everyone has seen this movie, and probably everyone knows the premise, and probably everyone knows what Sophie's choice was and why it's slowly driving her crazy. But just in case there's a viewing population who is still clueless about this movie (based on the best-selling novel by William Styron), I'm not going to say too much so as not to give it away - because I was stunned with the enormity of it when I saw the movie for the first time and don't want to ruin that potential element of horrible surprise for new viewers.
Setting: Brooklyn, just after WWII.
Characters: Stingo (a young idealistic writer), Sophie (a Polish war survivor of the Holocaust), and Nathan (Sophie's lover, played in his movie debut by Kevin Klein)
Plot line: Something horrible happened to Sophie during her time in a Nazi concentration camp, and details are slowly revealed through a series of harrowing flashbacks.
Advice: See this movie. It's one of the best ever.

Rating:
Summary: A Compelling and Tragic Tale
Review: Set in Brooklyn in 1947, Sophie's Choice is an haunting, deep, of three people, whose lives are deeply intertwined, in Brooklyn - 1947:

Stingo (Peter MacNicol): An aspiring young author from the South, who has made his way to Brooklyn to pursue his writing career.

Sophie (Meryl Streep): A Polish war refugee, who has survived Auschwitz, and who's past is one of horrors we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Nathan Landau: Sophie's mercurial and volatile lover, who is obsessed (if that is the right word) with hunting for escaped Nazis, and whose moods swing between joy of life and extreme generosity one moment and vicious, black rages the next.

The first half of the movie revolves around the close friendship between Stingo, Nathan and Sophie, as well as the passionate relationship between Nathan and Sophie. The second part takes us to Sophie's nightmarish experiences during the Second World War, and ultimately the heartbreaking scene where a Nazi officer forces her to decide which of her two children will survive and which will be taken off to die in a crematorium.

It is a movie both about the pathos and anxiety of each individual, and of the agony and evil of a world gone mad i.e. Europe during the holocaust, at a time when we are faced with mass terrorism , sympathy for terrorism and a resurgence of anti-semitism and totalitarian ideas.


Rating:
Summary: Very moving and brilliant film. Kline is sensational!
Review: Sophie's Choice is a very moving and brilliant film. It accurately portrays the anguish and guilt of Holocaust survivors. Meryl Streep is magical as Sophie and Kevin Kline is sensational and hypnotic as Nathan. A must see!

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Movie.
Review: Sophie's Choice is a wonderful film, and one of the most tragic stories I've ever heard. Meryl Streep gives a great performance as Sophie, and Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol are wonderful in supporting roles. Perhaps one of the best movies I've ever seen, and as important for everyone to see. It will break your heart.

Rating:
Summary: But don't see it until after you've read the book
Review: Sophie's Choice is both a love story and a tale of such unbearable horror that human beings can barely comprehend it. It is, first, a brilliant film: Streep and Kline both give the performances of their lives. It is a near-perfect screen rendering of a great novel. My mistake was in seeing the film long ago, some years before I had the stomach to pick up the book and read it through. I was completely unprepared for what I was about to see: the brutalities, the madness, most of all the real nature of Sophie's choice itself. I'd taped the film. I taped over it. I hope never to have to watch it again. The book allows you to ease yourself into the story and make the awful discoveries at the climax, cushioned in a way by Styron's magnificent writing and narrative skill. If you come to the film without knowing what you're getting yourself into, you're preparing for nightmares that will haunt you forever. Maybe they're supposed to.

Rating:
Summary: A shattering tale of sacrifice and survival
Review: The incomparable Meryl Streep unleashes a devastating Academy Award performance (her second, but her only one as Best Actress to date) in this powerful and shattering tale of a Polish immigrant who survives the horrors of Hitler's Holocaust and the choice she is forced to make to her Nazi captors: which of her two children to sacrifice to the death camps. Setting out in post-war Brooklyn, the film introduces Sophie and an aspiring writer (a very young Peter McNicol) who live together with Sophie's tempestuous lover (Kevin Kline, in an amazing dramatic turn). Through flashbacks, director Alan J. Pakula guides us on an intelligent and probing but grippingly painful look at the horrors that War War II was to the millions of Hitler's victims and the extremes that his prisoners undertook to survive. Paluka's blend of Sophie's life in nostalgic Brooklyn and in the concentration camps of World War II is horrific in its effectiveness as it accentuates the absolute terror and inhumanity of the Holocaust. But that dramatic strategy might not have worked with any actress other than Streep. She is simply that devastating and wholly believeable with her perfect Polish accent and her decimated physical appearance because of her time in the custody of her Nazi victimizers. With that one performance, Streep managed to raise the level of leading actresses and likely earned her the distinction of being one of the industry's most respected performers ever. Her raw and honest emotional trauma makes "Sophie's Choice" a well-worthy watching, and the film's subject matters reminds us once again of the evil that man can do.

Rating:
Summary: Sopie's life is fiiled with the need to choose.
Review: The life of Sophie is portrayed in vivid reality. The torment bestowed upon her during Word War II is unbearable. Sophie's existence leads her from one choice to another. Her choices destroy her existence. The misery that is her life is difficult yo observe.