Meryl Streep - Artist extraordinaire..

There comes a time, when words fail; and no more accolades are left to be lavished upon a great artist. It is not sycophancy, or being a mindlessly fanatical admirer of their work; but it is simply the fact that the extraordinary potential in them has broken every barrier, opened all possible doors of creativity, explored every crevice of emotional sensitivity- as if, He or she, was born to fulfill a destiny that was preordained. I am talking about Meryl Streep…

Critics and fans unanimously agree that Streep is the greatest actress alive, but to me, she is probably the greatest actor ever, to have graced the silver screen. Over the last few years, I have nearly watched nearly all her films, and never once have I got the impression that Streep was merely going through the motions of emoting, without getting into the skin of character that she was essaying. The movie may not have been noteworthy, but none could point a finger at her for mediocrity. And to remain in that rarefied plateau of intensity and excellence for decades is nothing short of miracle; and a vivid testimony to Streep’s passion, commitment and inexhaustible talent.

A few weeks ago, I happened to read a remarkable work of fiction by William Styron set in Brooklyn, NY, about the life of a female polish emigrant from Nazi Germany. The book is titled “Sophie’s choice” and was published in 1979. It is a tale of a woman who is forced to make a most terrible choice in a Nazi camp - a choice one way or the other would lead to inevitable emotional turmoil, everlasting pain and an overwhelming sense of suffocating guilt. The poignancy of the tale and its anti-Semitic setting set the public imagination on fire, and very soon the idiom “Sophie’s choice” became a part of English vernacular - to be used, when one is made to choose between impossible choices. The book went on to win the National book award for fiction. Styron was a depressive throughout his life, and his work reflected the darker shades of Human life. His explicit sexual references (some call it profanity...) were controversial, but towards the late eighties, his work began to be recognized for its literary value and incisive study of pathological Human behavior. Well, the point is:  Sophie’s choice was made into a movie in 1982, and who else but Streep was chosen to play the lead character of Sophie. History has it that the original choice for the role was Ursula Andress (remember the famous Bond girl, who blossoms out of undulating waves to meet Bond’s roving eye tarrying over her ample curves), or an actor who had a non- American look that would fit Sophie - but Streep surreptitiously bootlegged a copy of the script (and so enamored was she with it), that she wrenched the key role from Director Alan J

Pakula’s hands, despite his reservations. The artistic demon in her was aroused by the character of Sophie with the immense opportunities it presented to her. It was a just a couple of years ago, that she had won her academy award for “Kramer vs Kramer”, and now she had one more role that offered her a greater challenge, a richer character – to get her creative juices to flow in spate again.

And, what a performance!!!!!!. It was her film from the beginning till the very end. The Camera looming over her face - voraciously capturing the myriad emotions flitting across it. Her almost complete transformation into a Polish émigré grappling with subtleties and difficulties of articulating in an alien English tongue, trying to recount with staggering poignancy the horrifying story at Auschwitz to a fellow boarder and friend; battling a strange love-hate relationship with her neurotic Boyfriend unable to comprehend his inconsistencies ; to have to express her deepest emotions with not enough words in her armory; hence, complementing and juxtaposing speech with intimate and realistic body language that quivers with life in each frame;  – All in all, an act of the highest order.

The role of Sophia won Streep her second Oscar in three years, and her performance is widely regarded as  of the very best in history of Motion pictures. The two and a half hour long movie leaves us dangling in a beleaguered fictional reality that almost seems real and plausible. Her prodigious talent turned a great book into a movie immortal.

The famous Drama critic Gordon Rogoff, one referred to Streep as “... a scholar of emotions, burrowing in the archives for card indexed feelings”. How very true! She has played virtually every kind of role, reinventing herself with age and time. Nineteen Oscar nominations in career is a dream only a few can ever dream, let alone achieve. I am sure, Streep will keep going on. I saw her interview a couple of months in the Ellen DeGeneres show. She looked vibrant, agile and never short of words and opinions. In fact, she had just returned from an African Safari, and Ellen requested Meryl to talk about her experience. And Lo! In an instant, she became the “elephant”, the “Tiger” and all those splendid animals that she had beheld. It was breathtaking to watch her mimic and emote at a moment’s notice. For those few minutes she became them... Such is the iridescence of genius.

So Read, and then watch ‘Sophie’s choice’ - an intellectual and artistic feast…

God bless…


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