SOFIE
A film review by Howard Arthur Faye
Copyright 1993 Howard Arthur Faye
[Please note: This film was screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Foreign Language Oscar nominating process; distribution may be delayed in the US]
SOFIE
(Directed by Liv Ullmann; Screenplay by Liv Ullmann and Peter Poulson; Produced by Lars Kolvig; A cast including Erland Josephson, Karen-Lise Mynster and Chita Norby; running time 152 minutes)
This effort by Liv Ullmann portrays the history of a Danish-Jewish family through their vivacious daughter's experiences from the year 1886 to the death of the family patriarch sometime before WWII. The tensions and experiences of the family, the Philipsens, is a microcosmic consideration of the experiences of Jewish communities everywhere-- whether to retain traditions or assimilate, handling anti-Semitism, and developing individual and collective identities in times of rapid change.
The title character Sofie is 29 years old and lives with her doting parents (Erland Josephson and Chita Norby). At a ball thrown by her rich uncle, she meets the famous Danish painter Hojby, the essence of nordic looks. He falls in love with Sofie and asks to paint her parents "sitting on a red velvet Christian XIII divan with gilded wallpaper in the background-- the essence of Jewish spirituality." After an attempted seduction, Sofie accepts a marriage proposal from her phlegmatic, dour distant cousin. It isn't clear why this radical step was taken; we are left to assume that religious differences were the cause. Sofie's husband lives in remote Fredericia, and Sofie never quite acclimates.
SOFIE is best when the narrative aspects are literal and aid in the development of the story. The interactions of Sofie's family for instance are not clearly related to Sofie's experiences (although they are extremely well staged). The metaphor of the painting of Sofie's parents has unclear meaning.
There is something patronising about this effort at ethnography; all of the Jewish stereotypes bandied by well-meaning non-Jews are present-- fear and exclusion of outsiders, the tendency of the successful to assimilate and hide their Jewish heritage, the argumentative nature of Jews, and even the attempt to show that in spite of Denmark's reputation for tolerance and its valiant efforts to protect the Danish-Jewish community during WWII, anti-Semitism was insidiously present in (gasp!) Denmark.
Certainly the best aspect of the film was the costumes and scenography. The settings in cobblestone row housed Copenhagen are used well and the wing collars and four-in-hands are ubiquitous.
-- Howard Arthur Faye * Panglossian Acres * Box 7 * Littlerock, CA 93543
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