Meryl Streep and the Oscars | Part 4: Sophie's Choice

Meryl Streep is the most honored actress of all time, with 21 Academy Award nominations to her name. In this fourth video of my series exploring her many awards races, I discuss Streep's 1982 drama Sophie's Choice and her first Oscar win in the Lead Actress category! #merylstreep #oscars #academyawards #jessicalange #brianrowevideo
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WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY BRIAN ROWE
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Parting of the Ways - Part 1 by Kevin MacLeod
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[@perryjones7771]

You didn’t even see Meryl you saw Sophie.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Exactly!

[@jonathanvelazquezph.d.2719]

Marvelous Meryl Streep indeed! What a performance! I can't even believe anyone beat her for the BAFTA 🤯

[@TheAwardsContender]

Haha, I know, right??

[@khongmaithikhog5624]

​@@TheAwardsContender Julie Walters educating rita 😮

[@tdad8683]

​@khongmaithikhog5624 No, that was in 1984 not 1983

[@khongmaithikhog5624]

@@tdad8683 bafta took place in a different way

[@addiatmeikokusuma8058]

No one come close to this performance in any acting categories at the Oscar's history. Meryl was and still is really magnitude and iconic in Sophie's choice....The Choice scene was so powerful and heartbreaking...not even the great Katherine Hepburn 4 Oscar combined can match with this single performance from Meryl in this role...

[@TheAwardsContender]

Agreed!! Thanks for watching!

[@Jared_Wignall]

Probably one of the most deserved win at the Academy Awards in its entire history of existing. Thank you for the video Brian, I hope you’re doing well. Happy Independence Day! Keep up the great work and take care!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thanks, Jared!! Thanks for your neverending support!

[@lonellfletcher]

I know people go straight to Teri Garr for the alternative Supporting Actress winner, but for me Lesley Ann Warren's turn in Victor/Victoria is iconic comic perfection and would've been one of the best all-time supporting wins.

[@TheAwardsContender]

OMG, I love the Warren performance!! Would love to make a video about her someday!

[@brettdarling1178]

Brian, you did not disappoint! There is no top five reasons why she won here, it was her trophy and there really was no competition. After over twenty nominations, this is the one that she is compared to. It’s a shame that it took nearly thirty years to give her a second Lead award. Meryl has given some of the best performances of any actor on screen. I can’t wait to see what you do next with this series! 👏 👏 👏

[@TheAwardsContender]

Wow, thank you, Brett, glad you enjoyed it!

[@Marcepan541]

I'm from Poland and let me tell u. Her accent is incredible. Totally spot on 😮

[@TheAwardsContender]

Awesome!

[@arontamas5639]

Jessica's win for Tootsie is one of the biggest 'we didn't mean by this one" Oscar win. Glad she has been awarded that night but everyone knows she actually got that for Frances. But Meryl was unbeatable that year, no question about it.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yup!!

[@Ronnie34118]

The greatest female performance in movie history

[@jonathanvelazquezph.d.2719]

Darn right!

[@Nishanth_mementomori]

You should put a "one of the" before greatest female performance One of the greatest female performance in movie history Hollywood isn't the ONLY movie industry in the world you know

[@Ronnie34118]

@@Nishanth_mementomori italian here didn't really grow up whit Hollywood excpet Spielberg ones e Superman if you want a non-english performance cottilard in la vie en rose

[@Nishanth_mementomori]

@@Ronnie34118 I'm Indian we have atleast 5 different movie industries with movies being made from the 1940s and i could rattle off atleast 20 other acting performances who i would put ahead but I won't coz this isn't a competition

[@TheAwardsContender]

👏👏👏

[@tjh12473]

Julie Andrews, Jessica Lange and Meryl Streep all had their greatest performances that year. It would be interesting to see what the voting numbers were that year.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Agreed!

[@outinsider]

Sophie's Choice remains my favorite performance of hers. And I don't think it's wrong to compare this performance to her future ones. Something resonates with this one. Maybe it's still Meryl proving to us that she is a master actor. Maybe its the compelling performance that keeps you fixated for almost three hours. Maybe it is the dramatic intensity and the interesting plot thread of the film. Honestly, if there were other films she could have gotten an Oscar for, imo, it would be for The Bridges of Madison County in 1996 (though Susan Sarandon WAS hard to beat that year for Dead Man Walking) and for The Hours in supporting. I still think she didn't deserve Oscar number three for The Iron Lady, but that doesn't take away her stature.

[@1957DLT]

I remember feeling like my socks had been blown off watching her play Sophie, and then utterly hollowed out by The Choice. I have never rewatched the movie since, I can't go through that emotional devastation again. Clearly, Meryl's best role and performance ever.

[@darrensmith4932]

Number 3 should have been for Doubt

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yes, agreed! Thanks for watching!

[@backto-il9ne]

FINALLY!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO! THANK YOU!!! Already looking forward to Part 5: Iron Lady Haha. But first, we will enjoy this for weeks and months, Thanks for all the hardwork you put into these and good luck with the channel. I know you are going to keep growing.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yay!!! Thank you so much!

[@camronm.4633]

i’ve been waiting on part 4!! thank you!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yay, hope you liked it!

[@kristyphillips547]

Thank you, Brian, for working so hard on these Meryl Streep videos! I've been looking forward to the Sophie's Choice installment and it was fantastic. Can't wait for the next episode!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yay, thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@tggfriends92]

I LOVE this series! Can’t wait for the next.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thank you!! Means a lot!

[@nickBLT]

I love all your videos This one was really great!!!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Oh my gosh, thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@VeronicaHernandez-lm9db]

Best performance ever done by any actor

[@TheAwardsContender]

❤️❤️❤️

[@patrarus6097]

Thanks once again, Brian, for excellent commentary. I am American born but of Polish descent, so I am accustomed to Polish accents. I heard these from my relatives when they spoke in English and Polish. Their conversations included a few Polish cuss words that I still remember from childhood. I would say that Meryl's accent was one of the most impressive parts of her performance. I look forward to your Part 5. Hope that you enjoyed your Fourth of July holiday!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@katwil89]

It's too bad for Jessica Lange that she was up against Meryl Streep in the same year. She was mind- blowingly good in Frances. That was a performance that doesn't get nearly enough love and it's almost as difficult to watch as Sophie's Choice (almost). Only Meryl Streep as Sophie could have beaten her, imo.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yep, 100% agreed!

[@alisdairmckenzie]

So true - it was a shame they were up against each other that year as I am a huge fan of Jessica Lange in Frances and believe that were they in separate years, Lange could easily have taken the Oscar, so she got the runner up Oscar for Tootsie, which being good in, wasn't deserving of an Oscar - I would have definitely given it to Garr for the same movie, or Warren, for Victor Victoria.

[@reflectsonlife]

What stands out to me in your marvelous video is what a stacked year 1982 was. Every one of those movies and performances for Best actress were famous, mainstream audiences knew them and watched them, did good box office, etc. Nowadays a movie has to be alternative or indie to showcase a good performance. Oh how I miss the days when good movies were popular and popular movies were good. Also want to point out that Sophie Choice is a film that kind of writes itself. I mean to say, the Sophie's voice scene is so harrowing, that like with a good horror film, we are experiencing the emotion ourselves and projecting that onto the actor.'s work If Meryl streep had been 50-75%as good an actor as she was, the scene would have been just as compelling to the viewer, because the circumstance itself is just that compelling. So while I agree that this might be the best performance on film ever, I prefer performances where the actor brings something that isn't obvious from the script/ story or that i as a viewer wouldn't have thought of. I do love the Meryl - Kevin chemistry, totally makes sense that Sophie would want/need an emotional maniac to make her feel something inside.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Great commentary here, I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jerryburg2333]

SO good! Thank you.

[@TheAwardsContender]

You’re welcome!

[@alpe1987]

Meryl kinda went the Bette Davis route when it comes to the Oscars in the 80s and 90s. Davis was notorious for wanting a third Oscar and she didn’t exactly hide it. Meryl, I feel, wasn’t as hungry as Bette for a third Oscar everyone knew it would happen it was just a matter of timing. Jessica Lange might’ve been the only spoiler in the category but her performance wasn’t up to par with Streep

[@tiffanywitherspoon8722]

I disagree, many people that are close observers of this category have picked Land over Streep.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Pretty much! Thanks for watching!

[@arontamas5639]

You got so much work going on if we only include all of the nominations of Meryl! I'm literally so glad universally we all could agree that this was the greatest performance of all time! It's incredible because acting can be so subjective, someone we love others deeply don't... but when it comes to Meryl.... We can all agree she's exactly where she's supposed to be!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Absolutely!

[@pophector]

Thank you so much for this video, Brian! This was truly the best 4th of July present we could have asked for, your videos are fireworks 🎆 in their own right! I actually found your Still Of The Night summary just as fascinating as the Sophie's Choice summary! An all time great performance in a film that's not fully easy to watch, though now that it's on Hulu, I'm going to give it another watch. An all time classic performance that proves why she's an actor's actor, to begin with. I believe Jessica would have had perhaps a stronger chance to win in 1982 rather than in 1983 but with Jessica sweeping the Globes, National Society Of Film Critics, and New York Film Critics Circle, Oscar voters found a way to award her for both Tootsie and Frances in a way. I just wish Sigourney Weaver could have had that same luck in 1989! Jessica's best film performance against Meryl's was just too mighty, would have loved another Hepburn-Streisand like tie if possible. Very smart & creative idea to combine the rest of Meryl's 80s nominations in one video. I will be very excited to watch it. Thank you again for such a superlative video!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Wow, thank you for the kind words, your comment made my morning! ❤️

[@thomasschmidt9186]

I agree, the best acting job to win an Oscar!

[@perryjones7771]

So basically we could have had Meryl Streep as a SCREAM QUEEN!!!!

[@bev9708]

So wonderful how spoiled we are now that you've gone professional youtuber Brian!!! Hope you're really enjoying it!! The book was absolutely WONDERFUL and so incredibly full of just soooo many topics and issues ... of course Stingo was the "writer" of the story, it was all his memories, which is why the film is done that way too of course. As good as the other actors were, I certainly felt that the only part of the film that lifted it even close to the level of the book was Meryl's performance ... yet that performance was just so sublime that it was easy to forgive and even forget that the movie wasn't a patch on the book!!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Glad you enjoyed it, Bev! Yes, I’m having a blast!!

[@tjh12473]

There is no doubt this is one of the best performances to win an Oscar, however there are others that are just as great who won or are nominated that didn't win. Examples of winners, De Niro "Raging Bull", Hopkins "Silence of the Lambs", Hepburn "Lion in Winter", Taylor "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and Day-Lewis "My Left Foot" and "Lincoln" (honestly all three of his wins are deserved and this other 3 nominations are worthy of wins). Non winner Montgomery Cliff "From Here to Eternity", Davis "All About Eve", Kidman "Rabbit Hole" and Hepburn "Long Days Journey Into Night", Close and Pfeiffer "Dangerous Liaisons" I think the scene where she makes her choice is one of those scenes that someone wins an Oscar. There are many cases of this happening, Jennifer Hudson singing "I am telling you", Streisand singing "My Man", Hopkins "wanting is mommy" in "The Father", Foster on the witness stand in "the Accused" and Malik being able to lip-sync.

[@kevinwilson3609]

Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard, Paul Giamatti, Sideways

[@B.Arthur]

So interesting to see you contrast the artistic highs and lows the early 80’s brought to Meryl’s career! It’ll be interesting, come Episode 5, to see her preferred projects become clearer as the 80’s go on. More accents, more wigs, more deeply serious tragedies, more stories about, or inspired by, real women. Many of those roles would’ve been award magnets for actors without Streep’s high bar for acclaim. It took Katharine Hepburn 36 years to win three Oscars. It seems a reach to suppose anyone, even someone with Meryl’s superlative skill, could match that inside a decade. For my money, her best 80’s performance outside Sophie is Silkwood, and coming out so close to Sophie’s Choice nuked any chance of a win there. Lots to think about. How terrible is it that this video genuinely made me want to watch Still of the Night? Maybe I’ll just mute it and look at Meryl’s hair…

[@TheAwardsContender]

Haha, do it! Thanks for watching!!

[@DavidN369]

Fabulous take on a nonpareil turn. "Sophie's Choice" remains her paramount performance, though there are many worthy contenders in her canon, to be sure. "Manhattan" notwithstanding, "Still of The Night" remains her hair's best performance. In the interest of charity, will leave it at that. Cannot wait for the next installment. Thanks ever so, Mr. Rowe.

[@TheAwardsContender]

You’re very welcome! Thanks for your interest!

[@charynoy]

"Sophie's Choice" has become a part of the lexicon. It has come to mean "an incredibly difficult choice between two bad options" and also "an actor's defining role, his/her most important and prestigious work."

[@MyraJean1951]

I would have loved for Streep to win for Ironweed. A heartbreaker!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Great performance!

[@MyraJean1951]

@@TheAwardsContender Watching her fall apart while trying to sing broke me.

[@chazm3]

It’s a crime how that movie seems to have been pretty much forgotten

[@1957DLT]

Not going to lie: I squealed out loud when I saw this vid was up!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yay! Hope you liked it!

[@justhangingaround804]

You know, this is so well acted that I don't even need anyone to tell me, why!! Is it this good.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yup!

[@justhangingaround804]

@@TheAwardsContender but you can always tell me that.🤪

[@nathaniel4780]

I’m looking forward to at least some discussion of Plenty!

[@TheAwardsContender]

You can count on it!

[@kellie-nd1yp]

The year before I would have gone for Diane Keaton in Reds. Supporting Actress I prefer Glenn Close in The World According to Garp or Lesley Ann Warren over Jessica Lange. Sophie’s Choice is not my personal favorite role she’s played but it’s flawless. The flashbacks are harrowing. Her appearance far different to from how she looks at the boarding house, even her gait changes in the flashbacks. I can’t see anyone else playing Sophie or winning over her that year. I wish she and Kevin Kline would work together again maybe even a comedy.

[@drstranger7430]

If only K.Hepburn wasn't an Oscar darling, Keaton would've easily taken the gold home. And I agree, Glenn should've won an Oscar by now!!

[@kellie-nd1yp]

@@drstranger7430 the thing is I really didn't care for Hepburn in this one.Loved The Fonda's but not so much Kate not for that film.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thanks for watching!!

[@maximo240693]

They did! Twice. Meryl as a rock singer with her own daughter. ❤😊

[@signatureroles]

Me too - agreed with everything u said.

[@TheJeffro94]

I love your page I am huge fan of yours. Could you do a video on the Oscar Best Actress race of Whoopi Goldberg and Geraldine Page in 1986 or why the Color Purple did not win any of its 11 nominations that year. I think it would be a great video with the new musical version of the Color Purple coming out soon !

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thank you! And great idea!

[@tiphanieth]

When do we get part 5, please?

[@andrewharkin9774]

It's coming out tomorrow

[@dustymuniz]

When do we get part 5?!

[@andrewharkin9774]

It's coming out tomorrow

[@richardmarker5308]

Hi brian rowe what documentary of meryl's is this?

[@TheAwardsContender]

It’s the main doc about the film. Available in two parts on KZbin.

[@ilikepastas7775]

Where’s part 5?? We want it!! Hahaha

[@andrewharkin9774]

It's coming out tomorrow

[@Mrlittlemonster1986]

Where is part 5???

[@andrewharkin9774]

It's coming out tomorrow

[@TeresaLevy]

What about the manchurian candidate

[@joser1853]

Who's the all time great... Streep or Hepburn?

[@TheAwardsContender]

That’s a Sophie’s Choice, ahhhh!

[@tomfleischhacker3172]

What a bummer. Such an outstanding performance with a masterful foreign dialect & you get your revered Best Actress award from mush-mouth Sly Stallone.

[@TheAwardsContender]

LOL

[@michauxborns]

Director Mike Nichols: "I rejected 'Sophie's Choice'. ...I cannot imagine sitting on a crane on the set of Auschwitz, saying 'Alright, let me see all the prisoners camera left'. I just can't conceive of my doing it. It's not that I read the script & burst into tears. It's that I'm physically incapable of dealing technically with those events'." {-N.Y. Times Magazine - May 27, 1984}

[@alisdairmckenzie]

I am in that minority that enjoyed Still of the Night, lol - and despite Streep's own opinion of it, even average Streep is still good Streep, wouldn't you agree? It's campy fun and I've seen it a few times.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Yeah, it’s not awful, just kind of pedestrian.

[@Davyd_UA]

Can you make a video about Jessica Lange?! Please!

[@TheAwardsContender]

Would love to!!

[@petrvarfolomeev1993]

Thank you so much for the video! Waiting so much for your take on her controversial "Iron Lady" win over Viola Davis. Still can't get over that racist choice.

[@marrmart7690]

Sophes choice Good film..myreel streep make great performance... but the story was romance🤔 they make long romance story becase flashback about natzi time was so short. So the story not good same myreel streep performance..becase the love more than drama..she win bacase she deaserve it..and academy give it as a jewish character Still in the night😂😂😂 Thank you ❤❤❤👍

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thanks for watching!

[@marrmart7690]

@@TheAwardsContender ❤

[@NJGuy1973]

Sometime around 2005, the Best Actress Oscar should gave been renamed the Streep Award, and Meryl Streep herself should have been made ineligible to win again.

[@thedarkbaby]

What kinda role would win lady Gaga the award? Playing herself failed (asib). A period piece failed (gucci). Is joker 2 perfect? Since it’s a punk rock villain, along with dramatic musical theater influence? I don’t think Gaga can win it any other way without music in the role, she’s pretty made fun of.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Thanks for watching!

[@LironMuis188]

Jessica Lange deserved both Oscar’s. She should go won Lead as well!

[@SoulKnightKing]

Care Blanchetts TAR is one of the closest Sophies Choice Ive ever seen, and I cannit evlieve she lost that Oscar

[@Square-ow7oq]

Girl, it isn't even Cate's best performance.

[@TheAwardsContender]

Great performance!

[@kevinwilson3609]

TAR was an unlikeable character which goes a long way to explaining why she didn't win.

[@Nobody-nv6ds]

Her Polish accent isn't impeccable, WE DON'T SPEAK LIKE THAT. Great acting though

[@TheNathanj2009]

I personally preferred Jessica Lange in Frances that year. I thought Streep should have won in 1988 for A Cry in the Dark