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
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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