Berlinale 2012: Sophie's Choice (1982)

It has been suggested by more than one casual observer that the mental stability of a Kevin Kline movie character is inversely proportional to the amount of facial hair he sports. I would say this theme solidified with his Oscar-winning turn as a goateed loose cannon in A Fish Called Wanda (1988), but its genesis occurred in 1982, when he made a grandiose motion picture debut as a possessive and delusional crumb with a ‘stache opposite Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice.

But Streep is, of course, front and center in the Alan J. Pakula film in a role made only more strenuous if she were called upon to right a unicycle while flipping pancakes. In the pantheon of Meryl Streep screen performances, this is the gold standard. Emotional complexities aside—and they are legion—Streep must speak Polish, English with a Polish accent and German. Twice Sophie is described as speaking perfect Deutsch. It is a measure of the actress’s success that the mostly German audience I saw this movie with did not snicker in disagreement.

Berlinale 2012: Hommage

We’ll soon be reporting from the 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, seeking refuge from the city’s frigid air in many a darkened cinema. On this, the eve of the festival, we thought we’d present a random selection of scenes featuring the focus of this year’s Hommage program—and the recipient of an honorary Golden Bear—Meryl Streep.

Julia (1977)

Ironweed (1987)

The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981)

Julie and Julia (2009)

Sophie’s Choice (1982)

Doubt (2008)

November 19

Alan J. Pakula dies in a freak road accident in Melville, New York, 1998. On the Long Island Expressway, he was following a car that struck a metal pipe and sent it airborne through Pakula’s windshield, striking him in the head and causing him to veer off the road and hit a fence. He was killed instantly.

The acclaimed director of Klute (1971), The Parallax View (1974), All the President’s Men (1975) and Sophie’s Choice (1982) was a producer first, attaching his name to such films as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Inside Daisy Clover (1965). His first film as a director came in 1969 with a picture starring Liza Minnelli about a mismatched couple of college kids. “One of the happiest times in my life was during The Sterile Cuckoo, mostly because of Liza.” Pakula said. “I've never seen anybody get more joy out of working, and it's contagious.”