Sophie's Choice

Watching Sophie's Choice was like visiting a familiar place you haven't been in awhile and seeing old friends. The cinematic recreation was just how I envisioned everything from the book. The Pink Palace was the industrial surplus navy pink I envisioned, the rooms spacious and warm, Sophie's and Nathan's apartment made precious with the gramophone, her silky robes and changing screen.
I was prompted to watch Sophie's Choice by a recent article in the New Yorker by Styron's daughter, recounting her years growing up in New York, the daughter of a successful, well regarded author. Reading Sophie's Choice you know Stingo is a young Styron, but according to Ms. Styron, Nathan is who Styron was to become; plagued by depression, Styron passed away just over a year ago. Ms. Styron wrote of the society types that came to her house growing up. Her parents welcomed everyone and a party was never more than 30 seconds away, not unlike Sophie's and Nathan's imaginary fetes, the calm before the storm.
The two sides of Styron were well portrayed by McNichol and Kline and in a sense, really emphasized the turn from naivete to striking and debilitating knowledge of love, sex and life. As in the book, the viewer (who is also Stingo) is made uncomfortable by Nathan and Sophie's love, by their furious fights, and by their lying (and ultimately, by Sophie's truth). But even as we realize Sophie's fate, Stingo remains in the dark, asking Sophie to marry him and have a family with him. Even though Sophie is less than 10 years younger than Stingo, she might as well be a lifetime older.
Ms. Styron admitted that due to the frankness and candidness of Sophie's Choice, she didn't read it at all growing up, but watched the movie over and over. In my mind, the book has more depth by far. It references literary works by Thomas Wolfe and Emily Dickinson that the movie only touches on and Stingo's father and his family's slave owning past are mentioned briefly if at all. But the movie held it's own. I'll give it 5 netflix stars.

The Painted Veil

I watched The Painted Veil this weekend and really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it more than the book. The film deviated fairly significantly from the book...where the book was more conceptual, the film added some plot elements that fleshed out the era and the characters. Kitty was a more sympathetic character in the movie-- she was more apologetic for her transgressions and seemed to come around to loving her husband, Walter, as well as her situation. The movie did not go into so much detail on Waddington, ironically the only character I liked in the book. There was more a threat of nationalistic uprising in the movie-- something not touched upon at all in the book, although likely an accurate concern for the time period (China, 1920s).
The highlight of the movie was the scenery. The movie was filmed on location in China, and the deep mist filled moutains and rivers are truly beautiful.
In short, this movie stands on its own. It is a different from the book and each deserves an audience. Netflix rating 5/5.

Charms for the Easy Life: the Movie

After a day and a half spent with 5 10 year old girls, camping in the New Hampshire woods, I was pleased that my return to civilization yielded not only a needed shower, but also a new Netflix movie. I believe that books and movies each have their own merits and thus have no problem watching a movie based on a book. Since I'd just read Charms for the Easy Life, the story was fresh in my mind-- perfect for the compare and contrast. The movie was faithful to the book in most regards. The various vignettes, overdubbed by the voice of the daughter/granddaughter Margaret, were nice visual recreations of the book. The actual "charm" (a rabbit's foot) was featured much more prominently in the movie, which was a thoughtful, cohesive, touch. However, the movie was a made for cable film, and so it was what it was. The acting, costumes and scenery were all fine, but not amazing. It was a pleasant movie perfect to relax to after being hyper-alert for the previous 48 hours. Actual Netflix stars? 3.