"Sophie's Choice"

                 

I have no idea how many times I've thought about these words,
this perfect ending to a fine film by Alan Pakula -
many hundreds of times certainly.
They bring to mind so many things;
certainly the performances by Kline and Streep
which were superb and the events portrayed in the film;
the horror of Sophie's choice and Nathan's tangled mind,
the light of Stingo's discovery.
But there is also something about that pink house in Brooklyn
and the Bridge and Pakula himself
who was such a thoughtful filmmaker and gentle man.





"Ample make this bed.


               
Make this bed with awe.


               
In it...


               
I'll wait till judgment break.


               
Excellent and fair.


               
Be its mattress straight.


               
Be its pillow round.


               
Let no sunrise yellow noise...


               
interrupt this ground".


               
And so ended my
voyage of discovery...


               
in a place as strange as Brooklyn.


               
I let go the rage and sorrow
for Sophie and Nathan...


               
and for the many others
who were but a few...


               
of the butchered and betrayed
and martyred children of the Earth.


               
When I could finally see again...


               
I saw the first rays of daylight
reflected in the murky river.


               
This was not judgment day.


               
Only morning.


               
Morning: excellent and fair.