Of course compared to this gruelling historical drama, Kramer Vs Kramer is the feel-good hit of the summer! Streep was so eager to get the starring role in Alan J Pakula's film she begged the director after getting her hands on a bootlegged copy of the script, despite the original novel's author imagining Ursula Andress in mind for the part of Sophie. Watching the film now, however, it's impossible to imagine anyone but Streep in the role. Kramer Vs Kramer might be the film that finally made her a household name, but it was Sophie's Choice that began Streep along the road of playing rich, complex and ultimately tragic characters in films that have some strong historical and emotional roots. As the Polish immigrant entangled with an emotionally unstable lover who seeks solace in a young writer, Streep is absolutely believable, relatable and sympathetic as she slowly reveals her tragic past: despite her father being a Nazi sympathiser, she still ended up in a concentration camp, forced to choose which of her two children was gassed to death, with the emotional scars still raw.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
