Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice includes two picnics: one in Prospect Park’s Vale of Cashmere and the other on the porch roof of their rooming house. Both are missed opportunities, especially because of Styron’s description of how Sophie Zawistowska’s picnics mask her despair and try to blot out the horror of her time in Auschwitz.
Pakula calls for Sophie to set a picnic on the grass for herself and Stingo. But their picnic is disturbed by Nathan. In a manic, exuberant mood, rushes in with gifts for Sophie, a red dress and red shoes, and a suit for Stingo. Sophie and Nathan embrace, while Stingo looks on, excluded from their passion.
The roof picnic is a simple affair. Stingo, Sophie, and Nathan climb out of the bedroom window and relax. They have wine. That’s all.
Featured Image: Stingo (Peter MacNicol), Sophie (Meryl Streep), and Nathan (Kevin Kline) are having a Brooklyn rooftop picnic.
See Alan J. Pakula. Sophie’s Choice (1982). The screenplay by Alan J. Pakula is based on William Styron’s novel (1979); William Styron. Sophie’s Choice. New York: Random House, 1979