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Visitors Review

Rigor 2012-05-22 15:21:11

One of the best American films of the 1980's

This is one of the best American films of the 1980's. It is based onthe true story of the wife of the Allegheny County Jail warden, KateSoffel (Diane Keaton) who falls in love with a sexually alluringworking class inmate, Ed Biddle (Mel Gibosn) in turn of the centuryPittsburgh and plots to help him and his brother, Jack (Matthew Modine)escape. Director Gillian Armstrong and screenwriter Ron Nyswanerbrilliantly decided to deal with the story in an elliptical andindirect way. We aren't telegraphed anything. We don't know if theBiddle's are innocent. We don't really understand why Kate falls inlove with Ed. We aren't directly told why Kate is so disappointed inher life. The filmmakers takes this personal story and turns it into aprogressive feminist mood poem. It is extraordinary to see a post1970's American film this complex and this progressive. Diane Keaton gives a remarkably complex and nuanced performance. Thefilm is almost unimaginable with her in the leading role. Early in thefilm she communicates the torment and longing of Kate in a way thatwarrants comparisons with the greatest acting of the silent cinema. Wesee the depression and desperation in Kate's face in a way that rivalsMaria Falconetti in Dryer's THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC and Lilian Gishin Victor Sjöström's THE WIND and D.W. Griffith's BROKEN BLOSSOM'S. Oneof the remarkably subversive aspects of the film is its relationship toKate's Christianity (which becomes particularly pointed watched in thecontemporary context and thinking about Mel Gibson's PASSION OF THEChrist fundamentalism). She is a bit scary creeping about the prisontrying to sell doomed men on a faith that will set them free. Thesuggestion is that it is this same faith, or more precisely the wayChristianity is used as a structuring device of patriarchy, that hastrapped Kate into her own life sentence. When she becomes aroused by Edeverything shifts, she looks different, some kind of remarkableradiance shines forth from Keaton's face. Her bible lessons become apretext for sexual release. She literally makes love to Ed through thebars with his brother nearby, which adds a remarkable charge ofvoyeurism to the proceedings. Mel Gibson has never been photographed more sensually then in thisfilm. There is a scene late in the film, in which, he is lying in bedwith the sunlight playing on his face that in which his beauty isalmost angelic. He's photographed and contextualized the way maledirectors have often shot young classically beautiful women (think ofJulie Christie in David Lean's Dr. ZHIVAGO, Joseph Losey's THE GOBETWEEN, or Donald Cammell's DEMONSEED or Faye Dunaway in RomanPolanski's CHINATOWN or Sydney Pollock's 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR).Armstong also allows Gibson's sense of humor to peek out to suggestlayers to this character. We never totally trust Ed, yet we root forhim or at least root for Kate's vision of him.The cinematography by Russell Boyd is exceptionally original and theproduction design emphasizes the grimy oppressive nature of anindustrial town. this was actually a critique of the film at the timeof its release. It was too dark, mainstream reviewers said. Wellactually its historically accurate. Pittsburgh was so soot filled andgrimy that the street lights had to stay on all day long! This is thegreat environmental tragedy of the industrial revolution. Armstronguses this look for strong dramatic effect and creates a kind of moodpoem here that reminds me of the best work of Antonioni and of WernerHerzog remarkable NOSFERATU. Like in that great film we can never quietsituate ourselves, the oppressive dim look of the film suggests wemight be in a kind of waking nightmare. Is the environment part ofKate's psychic and physical affliction? Who could be happy or healthyliving in this kind of relentlessly dismal environ? When we finallyleave Pittsburgh Boyd and Armstrong present us with some of the mostlovingly photographed images of sun and snow in American cinema. Theviewer so ready for these brighter images that they alter our the waywe connect to the story. That this film was neither a critical nor a commercial success is atragedy for the contemporary Hollywood cinema. Its failure became oneof the many excuses for the overwhelming turn to the banal cookiecutter cinema that Hollywood is known for today. One hopes thatcinephiles everywhere will reclaim ambitious films like MRS. SOFFEL asan example

2012-05-22 05:46:20

Prisons

Well acted, well filmed and based on a true story. The studio likes to promote this one by saying both Mel's character and Diane's are seeking and finding freedom. In reality and figuratively, though, throughout the film it show's Mel's character's struggle to escape prison, while Diane's--deceived into thinking she needs freedom--is spiritually deceived into finding a prison in her sins, as well as one to physically sit in.Movie features some nice Biblical allegory and Scripture for discussion and a nice score by Mark Isham. For family friendliness there is a scene or two to fast-forward.

2012-05-20 23:49:03

suffer the little children

An excellent movie. A little gloomy. It seems to me that the major sufferers in this movie were Mrs Soffels children. She left her 3 children, sacrificed is a better word, for the sexual pleasures of a murderer. That aside, Diane Keaton was wonderful in the part of Mrs Soffel. She was exquisit. I doubt that the real Mrs. Soffel looked anything like Diane. The movie ended without telling us what happened to her or her lover and his brother. I wish I knew. I can only guess that the brothers were executed and Mrs. Soffel died in prison. Why didn't the movie tell us?

rose_81 2012-05-20 08:53:30

Dark & beautiful...

The first five or ten minutes didn't impress me. But as the movie wenton, I found myself more and more intrigued by it. It's much darker thanI thought it would be, but still it is one of the most beautiful lovestories I ever saw. I don't understand why this is one of the leastnoticed Mel Gibson movies, because in my opinion this is one of hisbest performances. He really shows you what his character Ed is: angry,desperate, and confused. Diane Keaton is great too. If you get a chanceto see this, do it. It's sadly underrated.

2012-05-10 18:04:35

Beautifull, but sad movie

I watched "Mrs.Soffel" recently and i think it's a beautifull movie! It's also very sad because it has a very tragic ending. The caracters are really played wonderfull and the storyline is also fantastic!! Also i think that the location where this movie is made (Pittsburgh) is a very importand reason that this film touches you. It's a very dark and sad place to be. It makes this film even more dramatic and sad than it would be if it was filmed recently in a more colourfull place. I'm a big fan of Diane Keaton and i think this is one of her best movies. I really recommend everybody to watch this film! It's a sad, but also beautifull movie!!

2012-05-10 08:06:30

Vividly and brilliantly made!

Yet ANOTHER film to add to my favorite list of films! Could Diane Keaton be any more appealing and exquisite?!?!?! This beautiful movie deserves much MORE credit than it got! On a basic note, this movie is about a prison warden's wife, Kate Soffel, who meets and falls in love with a prisoner, Ed Biddle, on death row. Of course, that's very intriguing because how can two people on total opposite sides of life be together? I cannot say how emotional I was at the ending. It's impossible to sum up this exceptional movie in a few words. More or less, this story only applies to every person who have experienced true love, but also felt pain. Despite the conditions, the lovers manage to find a way to be together forever, and that's true love in its purest. The landscape, winter, contributes to the emptiness and instability of Kate and her husband's marriage, and the violet poem contributes to the youth and beauty of Kate and Ed's doomed, but beautiful relationship. It strikes your emotional chords at very opportune times, and it also gets you thinking about love back in the 1900's and the real Kate Soffel. Simply remarkable.I cannot put any of the words I'm thinking about the movie in clarification- I am telling this abstractly and undefined, because it's the way I felt. I felt the way I felt, and this is the best I can do. I am still emotionally attached to this movie, and of course, no clear explanations come with emotions. I have to admit, I found the ending S A D and unpredictable. It still brings tears to my eyes whenever I think of it. It's beautiful and painful. When Kate felt pain at the very ending, I also felt pain, too, for the doomed lovers. It's just so sad. I found the very last minutes striking. A voice sounding out lines from the violet poem while the camera looms down and swoops past prison cells... "A little violet from across the way came to cheer a lonely prisoner in his cell one day...." and from there, unfolds the heartbreaking story of Kate Soffel and Ed Biddle. DO N O T MISS IT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

ecjones1951 2012-05-09 13:13:44

Ignored, overlooked, forgotten. And why?

"Mrs. Soffel" is a wonderful movie I have seen many times, but the lastviewing was so many years ago I'm watching it right now on TCM.I'm a sucker for movies whose main characters suddenly, inexplicablymake a decision which goes against everything they seem to embody, orat least that which the viewer has come to know about them. That KateSoffel's story is a true one makes it all the more intriguing.In early 20th-century America, the lot of a wife, even that of awell-to-do-man and mother to lovely children, was a lonely, empty,barren existence. In a wealthy household with servants, there was verylittle meaningful work for the mistress of the house to do every day.Even the layers upon layers of clothes Victorian women wore served nopractical purpose except to restrict movement and render their wearersmerely decorative. Express your opinions and you got packed off tovisit relatives in hopes that maybe the change of scenery would "do yougood." There were millions of avenues for creative expression andenterprise that were simply cut off for women.Good minds went to waste. Souls shriveled and died.Kate Soffel (Diane Keaton) was the wife of a prison warden inPittsburgh at the turn of the last century. She served as something ofa missionary to the prisoners, giving them Bibles, holding prayerreadings with them and hoping to guide them towards remorse andredemption. She never expects to fall in love with one of the inmates.But fall she does, for the charming Ed Biddle (Mel Gibson), who alongwith his brother Jack, (Matthew Modine) are in jail on murder charges.Kate is suffocating; the Biddles are desperate. Prone to fits ofmelancholy and depression, plagued with fears that she is not a goodmother and that she has failed her husband -- whom she has come tolearn she really doesn't know very well -- Kate, like so many women ofher era, is desperate for something to end the tedium, the frustration,the despair. She is a perfect candidate for the dangerous voyage shehelps plan and sets out on with the Biddle brothers."Mrs. Soffel" raises many ethical and moral issues, among them thedivergent path Kate takes from her religious teachings, and the Biddlebrothers' guilt or innocence. It can be appreciated equally on one ormore levels, but it remains a remarkably restrained depiction ofemotions and passion that are anything but.

Michael DeZubiria 2012-05-09 00:05:12

True, it's a true story, but HOW true?

I can't say that I am entirely familiar with the events portrayed in Mrs.Soffel beyond what I read about it in William Coles' novel, `Another Kind ofMonday' (except that it was based on a book called `The Biddle Boys and Mrs.Soffel,' by a man named Arthur Forrest, who wrote for small, trashymagazines around the turn of the century, similar to The National Enquirer,magazines which were not very accurate but were packed with information), soI'm not entirely sure how much of the film is a presentation of true eventsand how much was glamorized for the pulp magazines and glamorized again forthe movie. What I do know is that the movie is based on true events, and asa loose adaptation of reality, I think it succeeds pretty well.Mrs. Soffel is the wife of a prison warden who is supervising thesensational case of the Biddle boys, two disarmingly attractive and charmingboys who are sentenced to hang for a murder that they claim to have nevercommitted and that the movie never tells us for sure whether they did ornot. Since she takes on the task of being the divine counsel of the boyswhile on Death Row (meaning she reads certain Bible verses to them to keepthem calm), she is in close contact with them for an extended period of timeand, as is to be expected with a criminal good looking enough to beportrayed by Mel Gibson, she falls in love with one of them. This is thefoundation of the whole premise of the movie, but if you're alreadywondering how a God-loving wife of a prison warden could possibly fall inlove with a convicted murderer on Death Row, let me just transcribe here apoem that he wrote for her while in prison:`Just a little violet from across the wayCame to cheer a prisoner gimmeattahere in his cell one day.Just a little gimmeattahere flower sent be a loving hand,As a kindly meaning that true hearts gimmeattahere understand.God has smiled gimmeattahere upon it and the sender gimmeattaherefair,And soon that little gimmeattahere token, wrapped in hand so gimmeattahereneat,Rests quietly in the gimmeattahere grave,For which a heart that's true gimmeattahere does beat.'Very sweet, and since it's Mel Gibson, this honest woman doesn't realize oreven consider the possibility that he wrote the poem during a suddenabundance of free time in an effort to get close to her and inspire her tohelp them escape. I have a particular fondness for movies that show people cleverly escapingfrom prison (and/or bravely enduring it, both of which Paul Newman does inCool Hand Luke and, even better, Papillon), so I though the idea of sawingthrough the prison bars and holding them in place with candle wax wasbrilliant, and the escape was wonderfully pulled off. There are a lot ofpeople who criticize the film for doing little more than making a comment onwomen's roles at the turn of the century (and as many others who criticizeit for almost making such a comment and then not making a real commitment toany specific point of view). I don't really think that something like thisshould be held against the movie, because it makes you THINK about women'sroles at the turn of the century. There is a very distinct value to moviesthat make just enough of a statement about something in order to get you tothink about it and come to your own conclusion. Kate Soffel, the title character, is stuck in a marriage to a man with whomshe is not necessarily unhappy as much as she just disagrees with his moralcharacter, convinced that he does not take the content of his professionseriously enough beyond just the fulfillment of his duties. She knows thatshe is a subordinate to him, which is why, after she protests the hanging ofthe Biddle Boys (this is just a little nickname that I made up for them…) hesuggests that she go away for a while to clear her head, to which sheresponds, `Go ahead and write to Elsie, or your mother, or wherever you wantto send me.' Later, there is a fire in Ed Biddle's cell (the one she fallsin love with), and Mrs. Soffel screams for the guards to come, and they draghim out of his cell barely saving his life. As they are dragging him away tothe infirmary, Ed chokes to Mrs. Soffel, `You should have let me die,' towhich she responds, `I won't.' She's already made up her mind about what she's going to do.The escape itself is wonderfully entertaining, even though clearlycontrived. It's more than a little convenient that the prison is absolutelysilent (apparently the Biddle Boys are the only prisoners in the entireplace), and there is a nice booming sound anytime an approaching guardenters for a periodic walkthrough, slamming a heavy steel door on his way inand on his way out. They might as well have had a bell for the guard to ringto warn them anytime he was coming. He also runs his nightstick across thebars as he passes through one time (interrupting Ed's and Jack's franticsawing), foreshadowing a discovery of their plan, although such a discoverynever happens. But things like this do not take away much from the movie asa whole, because the important scenes work so well.(spoilers)Just before the escape, Ed suggests to Mrs. Soffel that it might be helpfulto them if they had guns, and she gets angry, refusing immediately to therequest and, as she says, `You think you can sweet-talk me into anything!'forgetting that she is saying this to a prisoner through bars that he andhis brother have been able to saw through, using saws that she provided foreach of them. Evidently he CAN sweet-talk her into anything! It is also awonderful scene when the warden is faced with the task of explaining wherehis wife is at a press conference concerning the escape of the Biddles.Again, back to the fact that the movie doesn't take an immediatelydiscernable standpoint on women's issues, it at the very least does notpresent flat characters. There is a scene after the escape where the movieintroduces the possibility that she doesn't after all, want to go with them.Ed jumps off the train that they have hitched a ride on, and Mrs. Soffel ishesitant, first telling Jack to go first (hinting that she may just stay onthe train and be rid of them forever once he jumps), but ultimately she goeswith them, accepting her fate as she leaps from the moving train.If the movie does not make a specific comment on women's role at the turn ofthe century, it most certainly does make a strong comment about the flaws oflaw enforcement. The film, as is to be expected, ends with the Biddles lyingin snow soaked in their own blood and Mrs. Soffel in prison, but as theBiddles lie there dying, one of the men goes to fire the final shot to killEd but is stopped by a fellow officer, who puts his hand on the man's armand says, `Leave him be, he can't hurt nobody no more.' Given the fact thatthe Biddles are likely innocent, the slow-motion panning shot of all of theheavily armed men who just gunned down a couple of young brothers fleeingfor their freedom and their very lives makes you wonder who is reallyhurting who. As a side note, I would also like to mention that this is one of thoseextremely valuable films that Mel Gibson made before the Lethal Weaponseries turned him into a Rambo-style Hollywood badass, doomed to make onegoofy action film after another, which vainly tries to capture the successof the excellent Lethal Weapon movies (which was, as all series' are, adiminishing one from the first film, although the rate of descent was not asprecipitous as many other series I've seen, like Austin Powers) and, to alesser extent, the Mad Max films. Another of his meaningful early films tocheck out is the staggering anti-war film Gallipoli, which stands with Mrs.Soffel as one of the most effective dramas he's ever made.Bravo.

2012-05-01 20:24:05

Pulled me into 1901 Pittsburg from the very first scene.

Mrs. Soffel (Diane Keaton) is based on the true story of a emotionally starved Mother of three. Her prison warden husband is not unsypathetic, but hasn't a clue as to what she's feeling.Her daily routine of reading the Bible to the inmates can nolonger fulfill her emotional void...that is until the day she encounter's the new, guilt-in-question, death row inmates Jack Matthew Modine) and Ed (Mel Gibson) Biddle.Rules of society were strict in 1901, but with death at stake, Ed Biddle begins a methodical plan to seduce the warden's wife to help them escape.Black and White turn grey when it comes to just who is seducing who. Once the Biddle's escape the confines of their cells, it is Ed(Gibson)who doesn't want to leave "Kate" behind. After the breakout is discovered the next morning, it seems only a Sheriff with a mind that can think the "unthinkable" suspects the warden's wife has escaped with the two deathrow inmates and not as their hostage...On the run, Kate and Ed's passion grow until most certainly, one feels death is the only thing that can break them apart.Mark Isham's dark film score is perfect. Who would have imagined Keaton and Gibson paired? Up until this movie, I had chalkedGibson up to a pretty face with not much depth, BUT...

2012-05-01 15:32:06

so so

Beautifully shot, with an interesting story. But there's really not a whole lot TO the story, really, and it is rather slow. And while Diane Keaton hasn't aged a day since this film was made, Gibson now looks a million years older than in this movie! Just shows what chain smoking can do to your skin!! END

laurraine 2012-04-30 09:15:43

Not one of Mel Gibson's best

I skimmed the other comments before writing this one in case I'd missedsomething, but I think my initial lukewarm reaction to the film, whichI saw on Turner Classic Movies, is the one I'll stick with.I tuned into this movie because of Mel Gibson and also because I alsohappen to like Matthew Modine and Edward Hermann.One commenter said something about the director liking strong femalecharacters, but I didn't see Mrs. Soffel as being strong. Yes, she wasunfortunate to be born at a time when women were basically seen asappendages to men. Her husband was not terribly understanding. As themovie opens, she is ill. Then she seems to undergo a miraculousrecovery after being bedridden for months. My interpretation of this isthat she had probably been suffering from a depressive episode. Yes,Mrs. Soffel is weak. Instead of doing something positive to stir herout of her situation, she falls prey to a criminal, who, admittedly,may not have been all bad. I suppose she had formed some sort ofromantic image of Ed Biddle. And perhaps he also had a romantic streak.Both characters are shown to be not at all realistic in the way theysee life.I also found the film rather slow-moving, especially at the beginning.I almost stopped watching. Overall I found, though there were sometouching emotional moments, especially at the end, that the movielacked much of a plot and the characters lacked depth. With such a weakscript, I think it would be difficult for me to see much for the actorsto have worked with and cannot praise their performances. I wouldn'tconsider the movie to have been a complete waste of my time, but Icouldn't really recommend it.

Bruce 2012-04-29 16:23:12

The Condemned

The people who created this movie from a true story present a fascinating exploration of love and desparation in the doomed world of the condemned. Dianne Keaton and Mel Gibson give excellent performances in a rather dark and existential work of art.

2012-04-29 16:03:02

Mrs. Soffel

Mrs. Soffel is one of Mel Gibsons first films after Mad Max,it is a heart warming but quite.Mel is a prisoner, Mrs Soffel is the wardens wife who visits the prisoners and reads to them from the Bible, this is meant to be a comfort for the prisoners but Mel sweet-talks her into helping with his escape,I wont give the end away i would just tell you this is a great film and well worth even a second look. Try it you will love it,i bought mine from Amazon.

2012-04-28 22:49:07

Touching with Wonderful Performances

Diane Keaton gives a remarkable and haunting performance as Mrs. Keaton. Her character stays with you long after the movie's end. Simply brilliant!

2012-04-26 18:59:19

Love the movie and the soundtrack with it

This review is from: Mrs. Soffel (DVD) Such a good movie. Have watched it a dozen times. Doesn't get the credit it deserves. I was so surprised about the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton.

Jugu Abraham 2012-04-26 05:06:34

Australian cinema personalities rarely sparkle in America

Australian director Gillian Armstrong makes great films with strongwomen characters--her earlier Australian film "My brilliant career"being a perfect example. I watched "Mrs. Soffel" because of myadmiration for Armstrong and found that "Mrs. Soffel" could not hold acandle to "My brilliant career" even though American actress DianeKeaton was admirable compared to the Australian actresses in thelatter.Armstrong had the talented Australian cinematographer Russel Boyd (whowas responsible for the seminal works of Peter Weir and BruceBeresford) once again to work with. While Armstrong and Boyd usedjustifiably darkened interior shots, I had problems seeing anything forlong periods and had to rely on the soundtrack! Armstrong loves to develop the female characters but leaves the malecharacters totally undeveloped (Mr Soffel and Jack Biddle). This is onereason I prefer the works of Weir and Beresford over Armstrong--eventhough her latent talent cannot be ignored. It is amazing to seeSoffel's daughter getting equal or more prominence in the script thanMr Soffel towards the end.Mel Gibson has made a name for himself by directing "Braveheart," but Igive more credence to his acting phase in Australia ("Tim", "Mad Max",etc.). I am convinced that he is a director's actor--doing well withgood directors. In "Mrs Soffel" Armstrong has evidently invested timewith Diane Keaton, who carries the film. Gibson only lends support toher thanks more to the script than his acting capabilities.Most of the fine tribe of Australian filmmakers of the Seventies havedrifted to the US to become richer and gain internationalrecognition--but their work in Australia in the Seventies remainsunsurpassed.

stefaan van bockstal 2012-04-24 14:38:18

Diane Keaton & Mel Gibson were lovely, they should make more films together.

Mrs Soffel is based on a true story. It goes about a woman who falls inlovewith a prisonner who will executed soon. She helps him to escape with hisbrother...Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton give very thouching performances and it is alittle bit like 'Romeo and Juliette'. I loved it very much and Gibson &Keaton are just wonderful.I hope that Keaton & Gibson will make other great masterpieces ...Rating: 8/10 or *** out of ****

2012-04-24 06:20:17

SATISFYING

I love the steely, snowy look of this movie, and its bizarre, infinitely compelling love story. Diane Keaton, one of the best screen actresses ever, here portrays a woman who is teetering on madness; that we never really know her state of sanity or Mel Gibson's true intentions only adds to the mystery and desperateness of the story, which by all accounts is true. The warmth of the warden's home, at Christmastime no less, contrasted with the chill of the Pittsburgh snow and the brutality contained within that prison, is remarkably effective. Gillian Armstrong directs like a painter with a brush, and every scene contains a stark beauty. I thought the chemistry between Gibson and Keaton was electric. Mark Isham's spare and original score punctuates the tragedy and isolation in these characters in a very effective way; it is a musical score that never panders or overstates, but quietly does the trick. It is not a classic film, but it does pull you along, and there are plenty of wise choices along the way. If you do not mind taking an emotional journey without an uplift, this is for you.

cultfilmfreak 2012-04-20 06:42:14

Dead Man Running

Somewhere between BADLANDS and DEAD MAN WALKING lies MRS. SOFFEL, atime-period melodrama about a warden's Christian wife, played by awistful Diane Keaton, who, while handing out bibles on death row, getsenamored with a slick, handsome folk hero, a young Mel Gibson soon tobe hanged with younger brother Matthew Modine.Whether it's true love, or the fact Gibson's character (who soundsstrangely like Eric Roberts) has a way of conning naïve women, theunderlying passion between the polar opposites, with the gray prisonbars between them, is an engaging buildup to the inevitable escape and,during the final act the trio: Keaton, Gibson and Modine, ride a sledthrough the snowy winter with Terry O'Quinn's posse on their tail. Theromantic aspect is somewhat thin – if Gibson resembled an everymanprisoner, would we have a film at all? But the direction, gorgeouscinematography and apt performances provide a spellbinding combinationof style and substance, although there's more of the first than thelatter.For More Interviews: http://cultfilmfreakreviews.blogspot.com

2012-04-19 20:37:19

GRIPPING MOVIE! MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING!

This masterpiece should have been nominated for every Oscar possible! It was so brilliant I almost died. When Gibby read that poem about the violet, my eyes nearly popped out because I was crying so hard. It is the greatest movie ever made (after Mr. Frost with the phenomenal Jeff "The Fly" Goldblum).